Lumen (16 page)

Chapter Nineteen

Karsar couldn’t get too comfortable. He couldn’t keep from splashing water in his face and glaring at his reflection in the mirror, thinking about what he was going to tell his peers, those who had entrusted him with a simple task…
a simple task
, he repeated to himself.

“And what is troubling you?” a deep voice rumbled from behind him.

“
Richard
,” Karsar said, turning the taps off and picking a towel from the handrail.

“Hmm. So what is it?”

He dried his face and hands. “Nothing. I’m tired.”

“I hope Elisa isn’t working you too hard,” Richard said, walking out into the fluorescents of the bathroom and revealing his shiny black suit.

“No. No, I’m working myself too hard,” Karsar chuckled. “I’ve been watching him a lot, in fact I think he’s watching me as well, that, or he’s stronger than we thought.”

“What do you expect, we all thought that line was gone, but we felt the shift, we know that he’s real,” Richard said, walking around the bathroom, admiring the use of glass and mirrors.

“I’m still young. I can’t read them like you can, any of you.” Karsar sighed and glared at his bare feet, cold against the rock tiles.

“Daniel is too. Daniel is younger in fact, the more you have in common with him, the more trust you’ll instil in him. We need that trust. Does he know yet?”

Karsar shook his head. “I just don’t know what to do. Can I tell him? Elisa keeps on telling me to wait, but he’s getting restless and the more I tell him, the more I worry that he’ll become strong all on his own.”

Richard burst out into a hum of laughter. “The more we tell him, the more he’ll trust us, and the more he’ll tell us. But hold up on telling him anything that could make him spiral out of control, it’s for his guardian to tell him 
that
 little
 
secret.”

“My father ruined that for me, taking my guardian with him,” Karsar said with a scowl, and lifted his arm to show his scar etched into his skin, it was a horned circle with an upside down Catholic cross; the astrological symbol of Mercury.

“That’s natural. You must
 bleed
 for them. We’ve been through this before, Karsar, so stop fretting about it. You are a Luminary. You are a pillar of existence, and when we get Daniel, the world will truly know our names.”

“You always know what to do.”

“And you always need to be told what to do,” Richard said, “I felt your upset, but I must be off. You can’t keep a lady waiting,” he winked, and then disappeared.

Karsar sighed, holding himself up on the basin with one hand, and with the other he rubbed his eyes. He stood and studied his body, lifting his arm to himself in the mirror to see the red scar across the left side of his ribcage. His fingers lingered across it as fragmented pieces of the past tickled at his ribs and chest.

Daniel watched as a solid and steady downpour clattered on the single glass pane, listening to the drum rolls of thunder entertain the sky and break at the centre, spreading electric charges throughout the thick black expanse outside. It was mesmerising, Daniel had never really watched it rain before, he couldn’t get the views back home.

The screen on his phone flashed white, taking his interests from the rain. He sat on his bed and picked it up to see a missed call from Mia. “I don’t think I can talk to you anymore, Mia,” he said throwing his phone to the end of his bed. “It’s not fair, why’s it not fair?” he whined, closing his eyes. He hadn’t hoped for anyone to answer him, but hearing his own voice was a gift to him.

Life—is—it’s—
each word ending with a loud crackle inside his head. He scratched at his head and winced at the sounds, but it wasn’t Karsar, the voice didn’t feel ominous or cold. 
Never—not—really—fair—is it
, the voice finished and loud static started to flood Daniel’s body; he plugged his fingers into his ears but that didn’t contain the pain inside his head.

“
You can actually hear me?
” The voice asked as Daniel ground his fingers into his new duvet, trying not to tear this one as well. “
Get some cold water on it.
” Daniel gritted his teeth, telling himself that he wasn’t going mad. He got up from his bed and rinsed the cloth by the sink with cold water and then slapped it across his face. As soon as the cold touched his fingertips and the water dripped down his neck, he found immediate relief.

“I’ve been better,” he said to himself.

“
So you can hear me, I knew it!
” The voice broke out again in his head again.

“What?” Daniel said.

“
It’s me,
” the voice replied, “
Jac.
”

“How? How is this even possible? I’m asleep aren’t I?”

“
It is possible! And no you’re not asleep, you’re perfectly fine! I woke up from this dream the other night, and then everything seemed to slot into place.
”

“But how is 
this
 possible.”

“
I met with a woman from Carster. She reads dreams. She read mine, and found something, well she sparked something really.
”

“And at what part did you realise you could do this?”

“
Actually, she said it isn’t uncommon, and it’s not just us. It’s natural; the woman told me that this is something twins can do, but also friends, especially if they’ve got a connection like twins
.”

“So we have a connection. And I’m paying for it,” Daniel chuckled.

“
Yeah, wait, no. What do you mean?
”

“My head is hurting, like I fell from a tree and then cracked my head on a pile of rocks at the bottom, and they all had sharp edges,” he said expressively.

“
She said that would happen, in fact I had that same feeling, just drink lots of water. And watch the rain, Templar is beautiful this time of year, not had this good of a storm since spring.
”

Daniel reached for his cup full of water on his bedside and glugged it all in one. He wiped his mouth and felt the cold spread inside his chest and trickle to his stomach where he tensed and clenched. “So, what was this dream?”

“
Oh, you were killed. He was swiping at you, his claws full-on and everything. He was going for your throat, and then…and then, you weren’t there, and I was…and I was standing at your gravestone.
”

Daniel’s eyes glossed over, as he blinked away a tear. He thought he was content with death and dying, considering he was in almost every situation facing it. But when his best friend had dreamt it, standing at his gravestone and being witness. It was almost the truth, it sounded like something that could happen, yet anything seemed possible lately.

“
Are you okay? Do you want to know more?
”

“Yeah. Dreams are dreams,” Daniel tried to reassure himself.

“
It was a lion, he was huge! And there was a girl on her knees in tears watching you, but she couldn’t see me. In fact I don’t think I could see me. She was at your funeral as well. Her name was Mia. But it was a dream.
”

“Mia,” he said, sucking in a sob.

“
Why? Who’s Mia? Are you crying?
”

“She’s not from the island, and no!” he said, “I’m just ill, sniffles and everything, that water did nothing but make me cold.”

“
Yeah, sure. You’ve been off the island?
”

“It was accidentally, and they know that someone has breached the island. That someone was me! You know what happens to them? They’re killed along with everyone they bump into along the way and everyone that they’ve ever known!”

“
That’s some serious shit you got going on there.  But really, how would they know who you talked to, do people you touch start to form large black ulcers on their skin?
”
 
Jac asked.

The phone at the bottom of Daniel’s bed started to buzz, and the screen flashed. He picked it up, it was Mia.

“How do you stop this?” he asked, gesturing his hands to his head.

“
Well she only told me how to start it. And even then she said that it might not have been possible.
”

“I just need it to stop.”

“
Why? What’s more important than a good catch up?
”

“That girl, Mia, she’s phoning me.”

“
Phone? Well, haven’t you gone up in the world,
” Jac laughed. “
I’ll just try and do the opposite of what she said then, and pull away.
”

Daniel didn’t speak back. He felt the phone vibrate several times in his hand before it finished, and then started up again.

“Hey,” he said, answering the phone.

“Daniel, come back again. I need to see you,” she said, sucking back a sob.

“Mia, what’s up?”

“It’s my dad. He woke me up shouting, and rambling about how I needed to adapt to the city or he’d send me – to – to one of them homes where parents send their children if they don’t like them,” she seethed.

“He wouldn’t. That would be stupid. Does he drink?”

“I don’t know. I pushed him away. And I was crying. And he told me how much of a disappointment I was,” she said between sobs and breathes.

“He did? I’d come over…”

“Will you?”

“But I can’t. These people are strict, and they know that someone has been going off the island. You know I can be killed for that, right? And you will as well. I don’t want that,” he said.

“Me either. Keep safe. I don’t want you to die.”

“Just avoid him and finish school. And when I finish school I’ll know so much about what I can do that we can go somewhere they can’t find us,” he said, smiling to himself.

“You know, I’d like that,” she sniffled.

“And if anyone asks you if you know me, you have to say no.”

“I will do. I should really be asleep, my dad will be extra mad if he comes back in, unless he wants to apologize for acting like that,” she said.

“Okay then. Phone tomorrow, even if I’m asleep, I’ll answer the phone,” he chuckled, “just don’t let him get to you. But if he acts like that again, I’ll come visit you.”

Daniel hung up and pulled the phone from his ear. He didn’t know what to do. He was stuck. She was stuck. He contemplated on trying to talk to Jac again but what he wanted more than that was to see Mia and make sure that she’s okay. He bit into his lip and winced as it bled.

“Ow,” he moaned, tonguing the cut in his mouth.

He turned to face the window, but the storm was quieter now. He sat on his bed and trudged the duvet up and around him, settling in them for the night.

A soothing voice swept by as he bordered the edge of sleep. “Hush. Don’t let it get to you. She needs saving, and of course you could just go there now and take her in your arms, take her and bring her here. But then you’ll both be hung by the peak of the Trident Mountains. Wait it out, and you’ll both be saved, but don’t wait too long, Saturn.” It was soft and serpentine, spinning him to sleep.

Chapter Twenty

The campus had been quiet for about a month, there had been no dramas, or scuffles, and Daniel had been restricted to his dorm room and classrooms; it was in his interests apparently that he stayed out of the way.

He woke to his phone buzzing in his hand; he pushed it up to his face and winced at the blinding screen. “Hey,” he answered, trying to wipe the sleep from his eyes.

“Good morning,” Mia said with a pinch of cheer.

“I don’t even need an alarm clock,” he chuckled, flicking the rest of the sleep from his eyes.

“It’s the afternoon now, well nearly 3 p.m. I thought you’d have been up already.”

“Wait. What. Three?” he asked and leapt from his bed.

“Yeah, why?”

“Shit. I’m meeting with the principal at nine,” he said, grabbing clothes from his closet and throwing them on his messy bed.

“Are you in a rush?”

He hummed and grit his teeth together. “Yeah, but I’ll phone you right back when I can,” he said, resting his phone on his shoulder and up to his ear as he tried to jump into a pair of jeans.

“Okay,” she said and hung up.

Daniel dropped the phone on his bed and hurried into his clothes. He shoved it in his jeans pocket and flipped the hood of his jacket up before leaving.

He’d become lazy, but more active at the same time. He was trying to master the art of teleporting, probably why there had been less trouble around the school, yet people still knew who he was, and his family roots were definitely still being talked about. Reuben insisted that Daniel stay at the school and learn, although he could have benefited from one-on-one teaching and not being shoved to the back of the room where he still had to endure the people in front of him calling him names into sly coughs.

He teleported right outside Reuben’s office door and took a deep breath. He didn’t know what Reuben thought of him, everyone else had made it clear that he was hated, and sometimes he could see it behind Reuben’s eyes and beneath the intent in his voice. So he had to worry when Reuben had specifically requested that Daniel visit him.

He knocked twice on the thick office door, the sounds bounced around while he waited, grinding his teeth. A different door opened slightly, it was to Reuben’s personal quarters, the door opened fully and Reuben ambled out straightening his tie with one hand and clutching his walking aide with the other.

The office door swung open with a wave of Reuben’s hand. “Go on in then,” he said ushering Daniel into his office. “Just running a little late today.” He passed Daniel and pushed his office chair with his stick to sit down; he comforted himself and pulled in to his desk.

“You wanted to see me?” he asked, holding his hands behind his back so that he didn’t fidget or stare down at them.

“Nervous?” Reuben grinned.

“
Ask if I can visit?
” Jac asked, popping Daniel’s ears and wobbling him.

“No,” he said, holding his nose and popping his ears.