The Key (8 page)

Eventually I lose sight of the cab altogether and become aware of other lights beyond the gates. Dull lights. I walk up to the iron bars and peer into the yard, but from here it looks as if I'm peering through glass or perspex. It's some sort of barrier.

A sudden voice pierces the quiet night. It asks my identity and has me jumping almost clear out of my skin. I look to where the voice bellowed out of a small white box. ‘My name is Rochelle Thallimar and I want to see Neriah. I was here earlier today, when I brought her home.'

It takes a minute, but eventually the gates make a clicking sound, then slide open to about the width of my body. But the gates are only a decoy for the barrier
behind them. A hole appears before me, enlarging to an opening about the size of my body. It's strange how it happens, like the glass – or whatever the barrier is constructed of – becomes malleable. I reach up to touch the edge of the hole when that voice returns. ‘Go through now!'

It makes me jump again. I walk through the opening and the barrier folds down behind me, the hole completely disappearing with a sucking sound. I look up, and even though it's dark, the barrier can be seen high above the trees, distorting the view of the night sky. The whole yard is shrouded beneath this protective dome. And now that I think about it, Neriah is chauffeurdriven to school and back in a black Mercedes, her two white dogs along for the ride. I guess she needs the security to protect her from Marduke.

I start walking along a paved, sweeping driveway when lights ahead illuminate Neriah's house. For a second I stop and simply stare. ‘Wow,' I say to nothing but cold air. The house is like a palace, with little jutting windows on the upper level and overhanging balconies adorned with pretty flower beds beneath a series of thatched rooftops. ‘Someone sure is looking after you.'

As I say this, the thoughts of someone in the yard flit through my head. It's a brief encounter. Did I imagine it? The hairs on the back of my neck freeze at the roots, making my spine tingle. I look around, but it's dark beyond the few garden lights outlining the driveway.

I have to force myself to take another step because my legs have decided to stay put. That flash of thought could have come from anywhere. Now more than ever, I can hear thoughts from quite a distance away. Maybe there's someone in the forest, camping illegally. People
do that around here all the time.

Then it happens again, just as a twig falls from a branch that hangs almost directly over my head. I look up. But with no moon out yet, and that protective barrier overhead blurring the night sky, it's too dark to see anything except the rough shapes of branches in shadow.

OK, I try to reassure myself, just keep walking. It could be nothing. I could be hearing things. I look ahead, but the house is still a good distance away. Too far for my comfort. Why did I take it upon myself to visit Neriah? And why did I choose to do it at night?

A sound to my right stops me dead. Slowly I turn my head. This time I see something – two glowing lights, oval-shaped and small enough to resemble a pair of eyes. And this time I hear a distinctive snarl. There's an animal in the yard!

It moves and I see a shadow bolt across the lawn beyond the trees. My mouth goes dry.
Move!
I scream this word as loud as I can inside my head.
Just move!

I get to the house and Neriah opens a door for me. Beside her are two white dogs looking restless, whining and jumping about. ‘Hey, Rochelle,' she says while telling her dogs to heel. ‘Come in.' She glances down at the dogs, who still look uneasy. ‘I don't know what's got into these two.'

‘There's something in your yard.'

Her eyes come up to meet mine. ‘Are you sure? What did you see?'

‘Some sort of animal.' I'm reluctant to tell her this ‘animal' had thoughts like a human. At least, human enough for me to detect them briefly. I can't hear the thoughts of animals. That's not my skill.

A woman comes up behind Neriah. I wonder if it's her mother. They have the same wide, oval-shaped eyes, flawless skin and silky dark hair. ‘Let the dogs go,' she says.

Neriah raises her arm and points to the open doorway. The dogs give a short bark each, then leap. They leap high and long, and, to my amazement, as they do so, they change shape. They turn into leopards! Snow leopards with thick, whitish fur, sprinkled with black rosetta spots. I stare after them, my jaw hanging open.

Neriah's mother closes the door. ‘I'm Aneliese. Welcome to our home, Rochelle.'

‘This is nice,' Neriah says. ‘I don't often get visitors.'

‘Well …' I don't finish the thought out loud. The girl lives deep in a forest, at the end of an old fire trail, in a house that looks like something out of a fairy tale, surrounded by two-metre-high brick walls, a thick barrier right over the top, with two dogs that change into leopards, and a strange animal roaming the yard. Is it any wonder? ‘You're a little out of the way.'

Aneliese remarks softly, ‘Security is tight here, but it's necessary.'

I'm still trying to get my heart to slow down after that encounter with the creature in the yard, then seeing dogs turning into leopards, so words are a little hard to form.

Neriah notices I'm trembling. ‘You've had a fright. Here, come into the living room and sit by the fire.'

I follow her into a large room furnished with antique buffets, tables and drawers, the walls covered in classic paintings. They look authentic. Aneliese leaves us alone, but soon returns with two mugs of hot chocolate.

We talk for a minute about how Neriah is fitting in at
school, and I notice how Aneliese chooses her questions carefully. And then it hits me what else is strange around here. It's the silence. I mean, the silence in my head. Like Arkarian, Neriah and her mother know how to shut their thoughts off. They've both been trained. And that gives me the creeps.

‘Do you two live here alone?' I shiver at the thought.

Aneliese replies, ‘We have a small staff of five.'

Hmm, then why can't I hear
their
thoughts? ‘Ah, the voice from the box.'

‘Yes, that's William. I'm afraid he can sound abrupt at times. I hope he didn't frighten you.'

Did she see my reaction? ‘He was fine. I just wasn't expecting it.'

Aneliese gets up. ‘It was nice to meet you, Rochelle. When you wish to leave, our chauffeur will drive you home.'

That's a relief. I don't want to walk through that yard again. ‘Thanks, that will be great.'

‘Don't hurry.' And to Neriah she says, ‘I'll inform William about Rochelle's encounter and get him to check on the dogs. Nothing is coming up on the monitors.'

She leaves and Neriah closes the door behind her. As she does this my eyes skim around the room. The furniture is not just antique, it's ancient. Every piece in this room must pre-date the colonisation of this country! A gold-coloured metal clock on the mantel gets my attention. I go and run my hand over it – late Renaissance period, 1600, Augsburg. But there's something else my touch reveals – it makes my chest tighten as if something is crushing it. Neriah goes to lift the clock when her fingers brush mine. And there it is again, that
strange familiar feeling. She pulls her hand away and stares at me with a frown. Don't tell me I've hurt her too?

‘Are you OK?' I ask, ready to apologise.

‘I'm fine. Your touch tingled and took me by surprise. What happened to your hands?'

I'm not sure how much she knows. ‘Just an accident,' I reply lightly, and focus back on the clock.

‘It was my father's,' she says.

Her words surprise me. From what I understand, she has lived in isolation and in hiding from her father since she was a small child. ‘So you know him, then. Your father, I mean?'

‘Of course,' she says, looking straight at me. ‘He is the most evil man in all the realms.'

She knows more than any of us realise. I wonder what else she's aware of. ‘Are you a Truthseer?'

‘No. But you are. I can tell by your wariness. I think Truthseers know too much. The hearts and minds of people must be an uncomfortable burden at times.'

She's not wrong there! Especially lately, now I'm having trouble shutting them out.

‘I've been trained to screen my thoughts from a young age,' she continues. ‘It was necessary because my father is a Truthseer, and we never knew when he might find us, or be near enough to hear our thoughts and discover our identities.'

I decide to be honest, as she is being with me. ‘I was under the impression that you didn't know anything about us.'

‘Do you mean the Guard?'

I nod.

‘If it wasn't for the Guard, and the protection they
offer us, I would be under my father's control right now, and my mother would be dead. But I have lived in hiding and now I have to take my place among the Named and fulfil my duties to the Prophecy. I'm the last,' she adds, and pauses. ‘When I'm Initiated, the Named will be complete.' A shiver passes through her, and her whole body shakes with it.

‘Are you afraid?'

‘No. I'm looking forward to being a Guard. To being part of a team. It's been … lonely, growing up on my own. It's just, I believe that my joining and completing of the Named will act as a trigger, a catalyst, you might say, that will bring forward the deciding battle.'

What a horrid thought! She's probably right, though. I try to think of something to say to lighten the atmosphere. ‘Do you know that Ethan is going to be your Trainer?'

It works. She smiles. It makes her look very young. ‘That's great! He seems nice.'

I can only nod at her words. ‘Nice' is an understatement. He's everything I could ever want.

‘But I wish …' Her dreamy look snares my curiosity.

‘You wish what? Or should I say
who
?' I prod when she stops.

She glances down to the floor and doesn't tell me. When she lifts her head her eyes meet mine and I'm overwhelmed by a sense of loyalty, courage and calm emanating from her. Neriah is more than she appears. Much more.

‘Whoever he is, he would be lucky to have you,' I say.

She giggles and we talk for a while about the boys she's met since starting at the school, and I tell her what I think of them. We talk about a lot of things, and she
tells me of her concerns that her father will find them and exact revenge on her mother, as he has sworn to do. ‘He wants to punish her for taking me away from him.'

‘Arkarian won't let that happen,' I try to reassure her.

The door opens and Neriah's dogs come bounding in ahead of her mother. Neriah introduces them. ‘This one with the droopy ear is Aysher.' She tugs his ear playfully, then nudges her face against his. The other dog clambers half on top of her, trying to get his mistress's attention. She laughs at his playful, attention-seeking antics. ‘And this is Silos, not known for his patience.'

‘They're beautiful. Are they really dogs? I mean, they changed into leopards earlier.'

After patting them both, she tells them to sit and they do so immediately, keeping their intelligent eyes on her every move. ‘It's something they do when they sense danger.' She looks up at her mother. ‘Did they find anything lurking in the yard?'

‘Nothing.' Aneliese turns her attention to me. ‘Do you think you were mistaken, Rochelle? That yard can be rather intimidating at night.'

She's not wrong there.

‘Other than Aysher and Silos,' she continues to explain, ‘there are no other animals here. There's a protective barrier that covers the entire property like a dome. Nothing can get in, not even a bird, unless we allow it.'

‘Is there another way into this place besides the front gates?'

Aneliese and Neriah exchange a worrying look at my question. ‘There are the escape tunnels,' Aneliese explains. ‘But the doors are secured and are checked regularly. I carry the keys with me at all times.' Her hand
flutters over her chest while her voice rises, revealing her concern. ‘There's been no breach or it would have been reported.'

‘Look, I don't want to alarm you, but I know what I saw. Something has broken through your barriers. Something
unusual
.'

I drop straight on to my butt, into a Citadel room that is more like a florist shop, but with rainbows streaking across the ceiling. I can't help but stare, and then sneeze as the scent of the flowers irritates my nose.

A hand reaches down and I grab it. It's Ethan, looking apologetic as he helps me up. ‘I thought I taught you how to land.'

‘Well, I don't remember getting any instructions.'

‘Oh. Sorry.'

‘Forget it. I've got a tough hide.'

‘You're more generous than your sister was. She used to yell and hit me when she missed her landings.'

I shake my head. ‘That would be right. Isabel is obsessed with proving her ability to stand on her own two feet.'

Arkarian materialises before us and notices the fragrant air and shifting rainbows above. ‘I haven't seen the Citadel this happy since my return from the underworld.'

‘You say that as if the Citadel has emotions. Isn't this place just a building?'

‘It's far more than a building, Matt. It was designed by
one Immortal, restructured and perfected by another. And when I speak of it having emotions, I'm referring to the beings that live there and are as much a part of it as the bricks and mortar that make its walls. But let's not get distracted from what you two are about to do.'

He runs his hand along the back of a white leather high-back chair, one of three in the room, then decides to sit in it, motioning for Ethan and me to follow. ‘You will be assuming the identities of scientists,' he explains. ‘Ethan will be the botanist Henry Robins, and Matt, you will be the astronomer Edward Cowers. These people do not really exist, but we have been able to establish your reputations. The
Endeavour
's official astronomer, Charles Green, is especially looking forward to meeting you, Matt. His particular talent is finding the longitude at sea purely from observing the moon and stars. Not many scientists of his time can do this. He is keen to discuss navigational instruments with you.'