The Dark

CHAPTER Twelve



Isabel


The day doesn’t pass fast enough as one lesson merges into another. My thoughts are with Arkarian, wherever he is. What are they doing to him? Who was that giant of a man in the crimson cloak who kidnapped him? Something about him prickles my senses. An image of Marduke comes to mind. But that’s not possible. Is it? No. No one can come back from the dead.

Even having Neriah by my side all day doesn’t help me focus. I do learn a little more about her though – she’s smart, artistic, and shy because she’s lived a reclusive life. Up until today she never attended a regular school. She’s been home taught by her mother and a variety of private tutors. Security around her has been tight. It still is. She’s driven to and from school, and whilst at school she will attend the same classes that I do. Mr Carter is also keeping a close eye on her.

One thing that didn’t come up, and she didn’t volunteer, was where she lived before she moved to Angel Falls. It probably has something to do with her past, or who her father is. My guess is Neriah and her mother have been living in hiding on some foreign land. But now the Tribunal have deemed it necessary for her to make an appearance and start fulfilling her role. She is one of the Named after all, and her part in the Prophecy will soon start unfolding.

At last the buzzer sounds for the end of last period. Even though I’m burning to get out of here, I walk Neriah to the school car park and prepare to wait for her driver to arrive. But her car is already there. Two large white dogs, apparently Neriah’s pets, sit as if on guard beside the rear passenger door, while a uniformed chauffeur holds it open. When the dogs see Neriah their whole rear halves start wagging excitedly, but they don’t change position until she calls them each by name.

The dogs follow her inside the back seat, and she waves goodbye through darkly tinted windows.

At last I’m free to do what I’ve been waiting all day for – work on rescuing Arkarian. Shrugging off the strangeness of this day, I go and look for Ethan, so we can make a start. But Matt finds me first, and worst luck, Dillon is right beside him.

‘Was that Neriah?’ Dillon asks, craning a look at the dark receding car. ‘She comes to school in a chauffeur-driven Mercedes?’

‘I have no idea what make of car it is, Dillon. Have you seen Ethan?’

Dragging his eyes away from Neriah’s disappearing tail-lights, he finally looks at me. ‘Oh yeah. He said for you to meet him at the back exit.’

Matt and I take off. Finally we can attend to the business needed. But Dillon tags along. I’m not sure if I’m imagining this, but today it feels as if Dillon is suffocating me. It’s probably just my nerves stretched to breaking point.

But how do I get rid of him without being rude? An idea hits me. I try to sound casual, posing my question to Matt, but making sure Dillon can hear, ‘Did you see Neriah’s artwork today?’

Matt frowns at me. ‘You know I don’t do art. I don’t go near those classrooms. What’s up with you?’

I try to motion towards Dillon with my eyes, and mouth the words ‘Shut up’.

‘Oh well, that’s a loss. What about you, Dillon?’

‘Nah, I don’t do art either.’

‘She’s so talented,’ I ramble on. ‘She did this drawing. It was an abstract of a forest, but it was so captivating, I swear, I couldn’t stop staring at it. The whole class couldn’t.’

‘Yeah?’ Dillon sounds impressed. ‘Beautiful and talented.’

I smile as he takes the bait. ‘Yeah, well, I only mentioned it ’cause I heard she’s taking an after-school art class today.’

‘Did you say this afternoon?’

Briefly I flick a look at my watch. ‘In about twenty minutes. She said she was going to grab a cappuccino at the Falls Café before her lesson.’

He glances at his watch. ‘I could get down there in five.’

Ethan finds us just as Dillon makes an about face. When he’s out of ear shot Matt asks, ‘What was that all about?’

‘He just keeps hanging around.’

‘That’s because he’s our friend,’ Matt explains.

‘I know that. I just needed to get rid of him. There are things I have to plan and I can’t do them with Dillon overhearing.’

Ethan stares after Dillon for a second. ‘Well, it’s just as well you did. Carter wants to meet us in Arkarian’s chambers right away.’

Matt is quick. ‘Let’s go then.’

Ethan puts a hand out towards Matt’s chest. ‘Ah, he meant Isabel and me.’

Matt groans and looks up at the sky. ‘And what am I supposed to do?’

‘Train,’ Ethan says. ‘It’s your physical skills that are going to get you by until…’

Matt’s eyebrows lift accusingly. ‘Yeah, I know. We all know. OK?’

‘You’re too hard on yourself. Just relax.’

‘Well it’s hard to relax when so much is expected of me.’

‘Just concentrate on the physical aspect, the rest will follow.’

‘But my Trainer’s about to take off.’

Ethan has a quick think. ‘Jimmy’s back.’

‘No way! I won’t train with him.’

‘That’s a shame. You could learn a lot from Jimmy. He’s a master trickster you know. He planted the booby traps in Veridian.’

Matt’s head shifts up and down. ‘That’s another thing. If Veridian is so important to us, why haven’t I been shown it?’

My patience finally erodes. ‘Oh for pity’s sake, Matt! Why don’t you just shut up and stop whingeing. You never know, if you stop fighting yourself, your powers might finally emerge – all by themselves!’

Without another word, Matt takes off. Instantly I regret my outburst. I make to go after him, but Ethan pulls me back. ‘He’ll be all right.’

Nodding, I turn around, but from the corner of my eye I get a glimpse of someone staring at us from near the front gates. Spotting me, this figure slips behind a brick wall as if to conceal himself.

‘What’s up?’ Ethan asks, dragging on my arm to make me hurry.

‘Do you trust Dillon?’

Ethan studies me with a deep frown. ‘What do you mean?’

I shrug. ‘Oh I don’t know. I just have a feeling.’

‘Like what?’

‘Does he ever ask you weird questions?’

‘Dillon? Yeah, all the time. That’s what he’s like. Don’t go getting paranoid. Dillon is like … well, my best friend.’

I stare at him, slowly raising my eyebrows.

‘After you, of course,’ he corrects himself with a smile. ‘Seriously, Isabel, you don’t know Dillon like I do. He’s OK.’

‘Do me a favour, all right? Don’t take your friendship for granted. Keep an eye on him.’

‘You can’t be serious! Dillon doesn’t work for the Order!’

We move on through the back gate. ‘Ethan, you can’t know that for sure. Just like none of us knew Rochelle worked for the Order. What if he’s a Truthseer, like her? He could be reading our minds and we wouldn’t even know it.’

‘All right,’ he agrees softly. ‘I’ll be more careful around him.’

That settled for now, I try to put my suspicions aside. Hurrying up the mountainside, we soon arrive at Arkarian’s chambers. The secret door before us opens, allowing us entry. It feels strange walking down this corridor, expecting, yet knowing Arkarian will not be here. Passing many doors on both sides, I have to fight the urge not to look behind each one of them. Many of these doors lead to training rooms, others I know nothing about. But it would be a pointless exercise as Arkarian is not here.

We get to the main octagonal chamber and see Mr Carter. He’s staring into the 3-D holographic sphere that monitors the past. His focus is so absolute, that when Ethan taps lightly on the wall, he jumps.

‘What took you so long?’ Moving away from the sphere Mr Carter directs us to some chairs he’s brought in. But the sight of these chairs, nothing like the ancient stools Arkarian always provides, has tears hitting the backs of my eyes. I blink them away before anyone notices, and plonk myself down, trying to remember when I last slept.

Mr Carter doesn’t quite make it into his chair before he issues us with new orders. ‘The Tribunal has summoned your presence. Immediately.’

Ethan gets his exclamation out before me. ‘What! In Athens?’

‘But we don’t have the time,’ I explain, hoping Mr Carter is ready to back me on this, to the Tribunal if necessary. All day I’ve been thinking about tonight’s rescue mission. Now I’m told I have to go to Athens instead. ‘Arkarian is our first priority, then Ethan’s …’ I decide not to say the word ‘mother’. Her depression, while linked to past happenings, is not strictly a Guard issue, and really none of Mr Carter’s business. Ethan wouldn’t want me telling him, I’m sure.

But our arguments fall on deaf ears. Mr Carter is adamant. ‘Look you two, you can’t go off on a rescue mission without help from the Tribunal anyway, so whatever their reasons for summoning you, look upon it as your chance to get their assistance. Do you have any idea where Arkarian is being kept – exactly? Do you know where to go? How to get there? Or even where to start? Hmm?’

His questions make me think. He’s bringing up some valid points. But to lose another night is almost too much to bear. And there’s the added worry about Laura. The days to her possible suicide are counting down, and quite honestly I have no idea how to stop it happening. Arkarian said he would help. I believe him. I believe he has a solution, or a plan or something. Without him, in a thousand different ways, we are lost.

Ethan groans. ‘You’re right. We’ll have to go to Athens.’

Well if we have to go, we’d better get everything out of it that we can. ‘Who can we rely on to help us? Which of the royals should we approach?’

While Mr Carter thinks, Ethan comes up with a suggestion, ‘Lord Penbarin. He helped me once before. I think he would do it again.’

For the first time Ethan and Mr Carter don’t argue. After ironing out a few more details, Ethan and I make our way back down the mountain. It’s dark now, but there’s enough twilight to enhance my gift of light, making the path clear for me. Ethan follows, knowing my sight is a thousand times better than his in the dim light. But suddenly my head is hit with sharp pain. It makes me double over, and I wonder fleetingly if I’ll ever get used to these things. I try to relax, to breathe deeply, but the pain is accompanied now by intense white light. I stumble, my head heavy and unbalanced.

Ethan takes me by the waist, helping me to the ground. I look up at him in a daze, my mind still recovering from that whirlwind flash. But Ethan is impatient to know what I saw. He has to be thinking of his mother. I know this. But while it wasn’t his mother I saw this time, it was someone equally close to his heart.

‘Are you OK? Was it another vision?’

Still overwhelmed, I try to form words. In my silence Ethan’s fears leap. ‘What is it? Did you see Mum again?’

I take a deep breath and try to explain, ‘I was shown the past.’

‘Yeah?’

‘Arkarian said that might happen.’

‘So what did you see?’

‘I saw the woods where your sister was killed. And … I saw Marduke kill her.’

He frowns at me, then lifts his eyebrows. ‘Yeah well, so have I. A million times in my dreams.’

‘But I saw something else, Ethan.’ He waits for me to explain. ‘I saw her afterwards.’

‘What are you saying?’

‘She was running through a field of unusual flowers that were growing under a deep red moon. And then I saw her inside a very tall building. It’s her home, I think, but it’s not where she’s supposed to be.’

‘Are you saying Sera is still alive somewhere?’

I think about this and the gaunt and waif-like figure I saw in my vision, then shake my head. ‘I don’t think so, Ethan. This Sera was …’ How can I put it? How do I explain the transparency of her body, the lack of colour to her skin except for a faint luminescence, the haunted look to her eyes, or how she appeared to be running through the flowers themselves? I decide there’s only one way, just come out with it. ‘Ethan, your sister is a ghost.’