“Oliver! Oliver!” I called down the darkened school corridors, barely able to catch up in my stupid flats. “Hey, slow down!”
He came to an abrupt stop and whirled around, panic etched across his face. “What now, Sage? We have to go!”
“Just tell me what’s going on!” I said breathlessly, brushing the dark curls out of my face and gave him a pleading look. “Please, Oliver, you’re scaring me.”
He smacked his forehead, seemingly frustrated and dragged me around the corner, picking up the pace. “Rosemarie gave me proper shoes for you to fight in.”
“Fight?” I echoed, panicking. “What the hell is going on?”
“I didn’t want to tell you in the gym but there are Seekers gaining in on the school,” he hissed in alarm and ran out onto the field where the mud squelched under my current shoes. So much for keeping them clean.
“Wait what?” I squeaked in horror, almost slipping on the grass and ruining the dress. I’m pretty sure Katherine wouldn’t like that!
“Not now!” he yelped, picking me up on his shoulder, my toes barely touching the grass as he dragged me across the field and into the school parking lot. “They’ve only recruited Katherine and Jocelyn because and they need you for some reason!”
“I’m in the same group as them,” I suggested unsurely. I caught several glimpses of several flashes of light bursting into the air followed by shrieks and shouts of alarm, not too far toward the centre of the town. Seekers? How could they have gotten through the barriers so easily? “How did they find us all of a sudden?”
“I would say it was that Terrance guy,” Oliver growled, earning a smack upside the head from me. “Hey!”
“Terrance would do nothing of the kind,” I snapped angrily as he dropped me properly on my feet and ran to his car. I followed behind hastily. In the trunk of his vehicle, it was filled with all sorts of first aid kits and medical equipment along with my one and only –
“Shoes! Sweet, sweet converse shoes – and socks!” I exclaimed in triumph and kicked off the muddy flats, snatching my pair from his hands and quickly shoved on the footwear. “Rosemarie is really well prepared!”
“Come on, we don’t have much time!” Oliver’s hands emitted a set of green platforms before us, ascending into the skies.
“I’m wearing a dress,” I hissed, hopping onto the first one in my comfortable shoes and felt my toes wriggle in relief in them.
“It doesn’t matter – not when the town is in danger of Seekers!” He grabbed my hand and helped me leap up onto each platform as though they were mere stairs.
I couldn’t help the blush crawling across my cheeks as my underwear was put on display above all the houses I ran across. With each step a green square vanished behind us and reappeared in front, creating stepping stones across the sky. “How come they’re coming for the gym?”
“Students are the youth of Fairwyn,” he replied at the top of his lungs, panic written all over his face. “They’re the rawest and strongest essence for Seekers to feed on!”
Oliver stopped abruptly while I kept going with momentum, jumping onto each one until I stopped at the last remaining one. I craned my neck to find Oliver running the other way. “Hey! Where are you going?”
“I’m bringing the medical equipment – I’m a Healer, remember?” he shouted and gestured ahead where the brilliant bursts of colours jutted into the air. “Get going, Sage!”
I groaned, thrust my arms out and produced another long line of steps, watching them fade as I passed onto the next.
As soon as I arrived where most of the bright lights seemed to be taking place, I let the remaining square I stood on descend to the ground with a whoosh, almost flashing my skirt up. I pushed it down and took in the situation.
Humanoid figures darted about the place, their limbs longer and lither, their movements rough and fierce. Several Specialists I recognised were combating these creatures under the moonlit skies, projecting destructive beams of light and colour of all colours from their bare palms.
“Sage, help!” Katherine’s voice caught my attention. I whipped my head in the direction of her voice and caught her backed up against an empty house with two Seekers on her hands. “Help!”
Katherine needs my help? I echoed in confusion. But she’s – nevermind.
I quickly leapt into action, running for her with ease and produced an array of exploding orange orbs. I watched them knock one Seeker off his feet, a frustrated wail escaping his open mouth.
Gaining upon him in seconds, I swung a foot forward into the side of his head swiftly and he was out like a light. The first trick I had learned when trying to knock out a Seeker: they fell unconscious like any normal human would. “Katherine, where did they all come from?”
A bright white light blinded me momentarily before fading out and leaving the remains of empty clothes on the ground. Now that trick, I hadn’t learned. For a moment, I wondered where the Seekers in the clothes had vanished to.
Katherine breathed heavily, stumbling towards me. “The Protectors think there are some hidden Seeker hives somewhere in the region. They’ve been sent for the Chromas at school because of the raw essence. They’ve come to recharge their energy.”
“Crap, how could this have happened?” I squeaked in terror. “Isn’t the town protected by a barrier?”
“The Keepers left town to deal with a Seeker crisis five hours away,” she gasped, wiping a bead of sweat off her brow and let out a war-cry, white beams shooting off her bare palms. “You’re the only one that’s been training with them so they specifically asked for Oliver to retrieve you.”
“But I –”
A heavy weight knocked me to the ground and swiped at the back of my dress with what felt like sharp knives. The jagged points gashed at my skin, forcing a scream of pain from my throat.
“Sage!”
Familiar yellow light engulfed my vision followed by a startling wail from my attacker who sat on top of me. The weight lessened before I could blink and I was able to roll back onto my feet, clutching at my back.
“Damn it, pay attention!” Jocelyn yelled in my face and shook me vigorously. “What the hell were you thinking?”
I wiped her spit off my face and glanced over her shoulder. My hands shot out from beside her, fabricating a shield of orange before three Seekers slammed into them, their icy-blue, almost white eyes burning with rage and hunger.
“There,” I sighed, arching my back and flinched at the obvious sting. “Is it bad?” I kept one arm in the air, securing the orange shield and turned my back to her.
“They’re swelling up but no blood – that Seeker’s nails were on steroids,” Jocelyn muttered with a shake of her head. “Oliver will patch that up for you.”
A sudden thought occurred to me. One of the Keepers had been particularly interested in Healing Codes and one of them she had conveniently asked me to decipher was a fast-healing one – a code which could easily heal surface injuries. I hoped mine were surface scratches.
“Go fight – I just need a moment to recover,” I told her hastily and urged her away. “Go!”
As soon as I let my arms down, three Seekers launched at us. Jocelyn took care of them with a single wave of her hand, letting with a thick yellow cord from her fingertips. The Seekers found themselves wrapped within the yellow cords. Jocelyn threw her hand towards the ground, the cocooned Seekers thrown violently against the pavement. I could hear the sickening crunch of bones breaking and shattering.
I winced, keeping my eyes on the humanoid Seekers. Their burning red and white-blue eyes scared me, sending shivers down my aching spine.
Quickly, I cupped my hands and produced a thread of orange, focusing intently to form the code I needed; it looked like a bass clef.
“Heal fast,” I commanded, keeping the code shimmering faintly within the confines of my hands. Without thinking, I bent my arms and placed my glowing hands on my back.
Almost immediately did the effects take place: the swollen skin deflated back to normal and the thin cuts had patched themselves back together. I was glad my injury hadn’t been any deeper than surface cuts.
The recognisable wail of a Seeker snapped me back into action. I recalled some techniques to do with my gift to help me incapacitate a Seeker from a few lessons with Mr. Harvey. I set my feet apart shoulder-width, raised my arms at the oncoming Seeker and flicked my wrists forward, fingers outstretched and skin white from the strain.
Long orange cords shot from my fingertips, producing a net of orange lines weaving together through the air. Oliver had specifically helped master this neat trick to encourage non-violence when I fought. Even I had to admit, the idea of trapping Seekers rather than killing them would ease my conscience better, especially when they appeared humanoid.
Two Seekers were down under my net when another tackled me to the side and started snarling at me in a beast-like fashion.
“Get off!” I shouted, punching it in the gut and slapped it across the face.
The Seeker leapt off me gracefully, baring its teeth like an animal yet remained a somewhat human composure. “Bring it on, Seeker.”
She launched at me without a second thought, unable to produce coherent words and resorted to incessant growling. I had no idea a human could even make such an animalistic sound – but then again, these weren’t exactly Seekers.
I flung out an arm and watched a spear of orange skewer it in the shoulder, emitting a shriek through the air.
Acting quickly, my knee met her gut, followed by a swing of my fist which rammed into her temple. She fell like a rag doll and I moved on.
The entire neighbourhood had suddenly grown eerily still and quiet, not a single wail or peep of a Seeker breaking the silence. I glanced up to find Protectors hurling dead humanoid bodies of Seekers into a pile. One of them held a bottle of alcohol, much to my distaste, but when they started pouring the liquid onto the corpses, I realised they were about to light them on fire.
Several unconscious bodies remained breathing on the ground. I would have considered them mere innocent, normal humans if I didn’t know any better.
“What are they going to do with these things?” I questioned to Katherine who limped towards me, blood running from her nose and her perfect brown hair matted.
Her appearance took me by surprise; Katherine always had the upper hand in combat: it was certainly shocking to see her so battered.
“Whoa, are you okay?” I caught her into a supportive hug and dragged her over to where Oliver was situated with Jocelyn, the two discussing heatedly with each other. “Hey Oliver, Katherine needs your healing skills.”
His eyes widened as he took his sister into his arms and settled her down against the trunk, starting to tend to her wounds. Oliver lifted his hands, producing a green glow from his palms. “Thanks, Sage.”
Jocelyn’s green eyes snapped to me, narrowed to slits in a cat-like manner. “You can go home now.”
“No, stay,” Katherine mumbled, smiling at me weakly and flinched when Oliver gently touched her nose with a glowing green finger. “Some idiot broke my nose.”
“I can see that,” he said grimly and whipped out a different first aid kit, rummaging through it vigorously. “Jocelyn, can you call our mum and tell her what happened?”
“Sure,” she said reluctantly through clenched teeth and gave me a furious glare. “Then what’s she going to do?”
I pushed some unruly curls out of my face and pursed my lips. “I can keep Katherine company. You know their parents well anyways.”
“Good idea,” Katherine said through a nasally voice. “Joss, please?”
Jocelyn spun on her heel and walked off, whipping out her phone from the sparkling silver purse she still managed to maintain on her arm through all that fighting. I had to admit, the girl had class.
“What is with her?” I asked aloud, bewildered at her sudden change in attitude. First she’s mean, then she tolerates me and now she hates my guts again?
“Oliver can tell you,” Katherine prompted, her voice sounding off due to the white tissues blocking the blood trickling from her nose.
“Jocelyn still doesn’t trust me,” Oliver sighed in frustration and gently laid the gauze beneath the tissue Katherine held up which was slowly soaking up the blood. “She thinks that look out for you too much but isn’t that what friends do? I know, I’m a cheeseball.” He must have noticed the dubious look on my face.
“Oh, the biggest cheeseball in the universe,” I reassured him with a light smile. “Nice to know you care but I’m fully capable of taking care of myself.”
“How’s your back?” Katherine asked, wincing when her brother started layering the dressing on her swelling nose. “Joss said a Seeker scratched you and trust me, it never turns out pretty.”
Oliver turned to me with a concerned look on his face. “Let me see.”
I tightened the ripped material down my back and shook my head. “I’m fine. I heal really fast and it was just a little minor thing.” Katherine shot me a doubtful look.
“Let me see,” he demanded, beckoning for me to turn around.
I rolled my eyes and did as I was told, revealing the torn black silk material and the skin where the scratches used to be. The code had healed me perfectly fine; I couldn’t feel a single ounce of discomfort along my back. Now I just had to figure out how to explain my perfect condition without giving away ancient code stuff.
“I guess I didn’t really get hurt after all,” I suggested once seeing Oliver’s confused face. “The scratches just got the material.”
“Well it looks like it,” Oliver approved and turned back to his sister, dabbing some thick white cream over the gauze. “So are you sure you’re all right?”
“Your mum’s coming to pick you up.” Jocelyn appeared with her blonde hair still perfectly intact while she tucked her phone away into her purse. Class. I envied her class. “And Rosemarie is looking for you, Sage.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Are you telling the truth or trying to get rid of me?”
“Sage,” Oliver warned.
“Both,” she snapped and glared at me. “Shoo. You’re not needed.”
Irked, I spun on my heel and trudged off, searching Protectors for the straight-haired, blonde godmother of mine. I spotted her helping other Protectors and Healers drag the alive but unconscious bodies of Seekers into the back of a truck which had arrived without me noticing.
“Rosemarie!” I called, waving to my guardian who glanced up at me and nodded to inform me that she saw me.
“Hang on a sec,” she called back, hauling the male body into the back of the pickup truck. Five adults hopped into the back and emanated different coloured glows lining their hands, ready to act if one of their hostages woke up. “Go on, Newton.”
With that, the truck drove off out of sight, presumably towards the Council House since the vehicle was headed towards the town centre.
Rosemarie had her hands perched on her hips, elbows jutting backwards while an irritated frown crept on her face.
“I don’t know how those things got in,” she muttered to herself and gave me an apologetic look. “It’s been a stressful night. Let’s take you home now.” A strange emotion flitting through her green eyes made me stop before she could drag me off into the car.
“What happened tonight?” I asked firmly and crossed my arms.
“The town is protected by ancient method used by the Keepers,” she explained with a sigh and rubbed her face stressfully. “They shouldn’t have been able to get in.”
“You know about codes right?” I lowered my voice while she gave me a curt nod. “Codes don’t work unless the Chromas who perform the code stay within contact or a certain distance from it so it can keep going..”
“With all the Keepers out, the codes must have weakened,” she realised and ran a hand through her tangled blonde hair which was usually so perfectly straight and silky. Rosemarie gave me a tired smile. “Thanks, Lex. We should get going now.”
A frown toyed on my lips. I had thought the anxiety in her eyes and expression was caused by the weakened protection of the town but it hadn’t. My explanation as to why the barriers must have fallen didn’t seem to faze her at all. There was something else on her mind that worried her and because of it, she wouldn’t look at me properly.
It was easy to conclude that that ‘something’ concerned me.