The Turncoats (The Thirteenth Series #2) (16 page)

“I knew this was the wrong thing to do.” Zac said, shaking his head. “Something will happen to her and it will be my fault.”

“44798. It’s a Summari,” Wendy announced. “So what can the Summari do?” She and Fran looked at Zac for answers.

“Pass me the book,” he demanded. Wendy placed it gently on his lap.

“You need to hurry.” Fran started pacing, waiting for information to take back to Jason.

“Yes it’s here. The Summari.” Zac looked up. “We have a problem.”

Fran groaned impatiently. “Zac, we always have a problem. Just tell me what I need to tell Jason and hurry up.”

At the top of the stairs Val came to a halt. She was feeling the pressure. Knowing that Jason didn’t have a clue where she was had left her confused. And Sam wasn’t answering his phone when she was in danger. How dare he!

“Val, it’s me, Fran.”

“Any news? I could really do with some information,” Val whispered.

“Not good I’m afraid, and when I say afraid, I really mean that. You’re coming up against this thing called a Summari. They are quite rare. They cause you to hallucinate, so you need to make sure that it doesn’t touch you. It’s something to do with an acid that their skin secretes. Zac said if it comes in contact with you, you would start to hallucinate instantly. Why don’t you just come back and we can go catch this thing when we have a better chance of success?”

“Look, I have my trusty sword I’m sure I can keep it at arm’s distance. Don’t fret; just find out where I am.”

“So as you can see, this is the main reception room, Mr Crow.” The woman’s voice came quite clearly up the stairwell. “Please call me Excariot,” a man’s voice replied smoothly.

“Oh hell, this is not good,” Val whispered. “Fran, get upstairs with the phone now. Excariot’s house hunting.” Val’s stomach was in knots. She leaned against the wall for support. This was the last thing she had ever expected. Who was the woman? Was she the one Val was supposed to help? If so, how could she beat Excariot?

“Would you like to see upstairs, Mr Crow, oh sorry, Excariot. That’s a strange name. Is it foreign?” The woman asked as they headed up the stairs.

“Well, it’s from such a distant place I’m sure you wouldn’t know where it was, but please, less about me and more about you. What part of Brazil are you from, Miss Alvarez?”

“Please call me Eva.”

Val caught her breath. So he was with Eva. She could hear them making their way up the stairs.

Zac spoke calmly into the phone. “Val, please return now. You are making a big mistake.”

“Too late. They are coming upstairs and I’m stuck.” Val turned towards the closest door and opened it, unbothered by what might lay behind it. The only other option was a ‘show down’ with Excariot. She stepped into what turned out to be the bathroom. “What’s going on?” Zac asked, but Val was far too close to the others to speak; he would just have to wait until she was alone again. In the meantime, she needed to save Eva; the poor woman was like a fly in a web.

“Do you have a family, Excariot? Is that why you are looking at such large properties?”

“No, no direct family, just lots of visitors,” he responded.

“Yes tied to walls,” Val thought to herself.

“This is the bathroom.” The handle started to turn. Val stepped back knocking into the bath. The door opened.

Eva walked in first. “ARHH!” she screamed when she saw Val. Eva was visibly shocked, but not as much as Excariot seemed to be.

“Long story,” Val said, grabbing Eva’s hand and taking advantage of the fact that Excariot was so surprised to see her, she push him onto the toilet unit and ran. This would have worked if Eva hadn’t pulled in the opposite direction.

“Let go please,” Eva cried as Excariot stood up behind her.

“Val, teleport now!” Zac shouted.

“Please come with me. That man is a very bad person who wants to hold you captive. You must remember me; I’m from the bookshop.” Val extended her sword with her free hand; she needed to keep Excariot away.

“Please teleport!” Zac shouted again. Val pulled her earpiece out, throwing it on the ground. Zac shouting down her ear wasn’t helping.

“Miss Alvarez, stay still. This person is obviously crazy. Please let her go, little girl. You can take me instead.” Excariot smiled.

“Yes take him,” Eva exhaled still trying to pull her wrist free.

“Look Excariot...”

“How does she know your name?” Eva stopped pulling quite so hard.

“I know his name because he has tried to kill me on several occasions in the past, and he wants to do the same to you.” However Eva was still not prepared to trust Val.

“Please Val, I didn’t try to kill you, that’s an exaggeration.” Excariot shrugged. It took Eva a few seconds to register what he had just said.

“Do you want to run now?” Val asked.

“Yes but...” Before Eva could say another word, Val felt a hand on her wrist. She turned as soon as she felt the contact to see a slim, dark haired oriental woman. Val gazed into her eyes. They were violet. Val thought how pretty they were and then she slowly started to drift away.

Clouds of candyfloss came towards her and as they passed over her she found herself sitting at a table with her mum and dad. As always there was enough food to feed a small battalion. Susan made her way to her side. “Honey you need to wake up.” She gently stroked Val’s forehead.

“No, it’s ok, Mum, I think I want to stay here just a little longer.” She reached out for her mum’s hand.

“Sorry, but it’s time to go back.” Susan kissed Val softly on the cheek and as it contacted her skin so her eyes opened.

She was now lying on the ground out in the open, looking into Sam’s eyes. Beyond him was a starry night sky.

“Hello my love. I need you to teleport.” He leant down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

Val knew instinctively that this was her Sam. She was so tired. “I love you, Sam, please don’t leave me here alone,” she whispered, shutting her eyes once more and drifting off into what felt like a deep sleep.

Through the strange fog in her mind, Val could hear voices. There was screaming and shouting, and then she felt herself being lifted off the ground. She wanted to open her eyes, but nothing seemed to be happening. Now she could distinguish Shane’s voice, telling Jason to call an ambulance. Fran was crying. She knew it was Fran because Wendy had a different tone when she was upset. Val wondered what was going on. Why were they panicking?

Val was desperate to talk, but her throat wouldn’t work. She tried to wriggle one of her fingers, but nothing happened. She needed to tell them about Excariot and that he most likely had Eva now, and they needed to do something fast.

Sirens started in the distance then got louder and louder. Val felt herself being lifted onto a stretcher, heard the paramedic reassuring Shane, saying that they could only help her if they got her to the hospital. She heard them saying they had never seen anything quite like it, but there must be a logical explanation. Val listened to the chaos raining down on her. They asked for her parents and Shane explained that he was her guardian. Then came a series of thuds and jolts and she knew she was in the back of the ambulance with Shane holding her hand tightly.

As they travelled he talked to her about how much he cared about her, told her that he would never forgive himself if something happened to her. She allowed her mind to drift again, hoping it would go back to her mum and dad for one last moment, but it didn’t, she just slept.

“Please, someone tell me what’s going on.” Zac demanded from the bed. He could hear the confusion downstairs, but was still not strong enough to stand. He waited, looking at his watch. After what seemed like an eternity Wendy arrived in the flat. “Where’s Val? What is happening, Wendy?”

“Calm down. It’s going to be ok.” Wendy sat down on the bed. “We still aren’t sure how she got back to the bookshop, but at least she did. Until the doctors can give us a little more information we can’t tell exactly why she is in the state she is in, but at least we have her, not Excariot.”

“The Summari touched her, that’s what happened. I need to get to her. Your doctors will not know what to do. Get the books and take me to where she is now. That’s an order.” Zac pushed himself up, but fell back again.

“Look, our doctors will do the best they can for her, and you aren’t strong enough for anything,”

Zac knew Wendy was right, but he wasn’t going to give up that easily. They couldn’t afford to both be out of action. “Will you please get the book with the blue cover, just so we can take a look?” Zac smiled as he had seen them do when they wanted something.

“Ok,” she trotted off.

Zac took a few deep breaths, he knew this was going to leave him weak, but it had to be done. Wendy came back book in hand. “Thank you. Please hold it open for me?”

Wendy settled on the bed and did as he asked. Before she knew what had hit her he had her arm and she felt her stomach being wrenched out of her body and shoved back in as she landed with a violent jolt on a grey plastic floor. The retching was actually not the worst part of the experience.

“Please forgive me. You will be fine. The feelings of unwell will pass quickly,” Zac said.

Wendy lifted her head up and muttered. “You will have feelings of unwell when I get my hands on you. What the hell are you doing? And where on earth are we?”

She soon realised they were in a hospital room. Zac was resting against the wall, looking exhausted. Still looking very sick, Wendy wobbled over to him. “Why have you brought me here?”

“This is the closest I could get you to Val without bringing attention to us. You must do the rest. Take the book and find her. She needs to connect with the dellatrax, it’s her life force. Now go, she doesn’t have much time.” Zac slumped onto the floor and Wendy realised he had done this with the last of his energy.

“I’ll do it and then I’m coming back for you.” Wendy felt for a wall for support. No wonder Val always landed on her backside she thought. After a few moments she was steady enough to make her way out into the busy corridor, trying to make the very large old blue book under her arm look as inconspicuous as possible. She decided reception would be her best option.

When Val woke again she was in Wyatt’s hut in the woods. It was daytime now and she was alone. Why was she here? Did her mum need her? Or maybe Excariot had sent her there. She stood up and made her way out towards the familiar pond. There wasn’t anyone in sight. It felt strange, eerie; she looked towards the woods. Had they all gone for a meeting? She started towards the trees but had taken only a couple of steps when a man emerged from between two bushes. Val was immediately struck by his unusual appearance. He was almost angelic, but although he was smiling at her as he approached, Val felt nervous. She wanted to hide behind someone, but that wasn’t an option.

“Hello V,” he said. His voice left her heart thumping; it was as if he was speaking straight to her soul.

“Hello,” she replied in an inaudible voice.

“Things aren’t going so well for you are they?” He moved closer and reached out his hand, touching her gently on the arm.

“Well, I’ve had better days, but we’re coping,”

“I’m sorry about all this mess you have to clean up. It was never my intention to cause you so much pain and trouble.” She found she couldn’t tear her eyes away from his. “You need to listen to me now, V; your friends are going to help you but the final battle is for you alone.” His expression became serious and Val began to feel uneasy. He walked past her towards the pond and looked into the water. Slowly Val came up next to him and gazed in. Their faces, seen together in the reflection, made their resemblance uncanny. And then she knew.

“Are you Gabrielle?” she asked, hardly able to breathe.

He sighed and nodded.

“But you’re dead.” Val stepped away from him.

“To you and Wyetta I am, but that has no relevance in this place.” He took Val’s hand. “You must not lose sight of what’s important, V. I was so focused on Excariot that I left you and your mother open to him and his ways.”

“Why can’t I come back in time and save you? I bet I could do that.” Val’s voice was full of desperation. “I know I could do that.”

“Because sometimes we are meant for other things, things greater than our own wishes. You need to learn that. I made a choice. If I changed that choice I would bring shame upon my existence. This thing you call life that you grasp onto so desperately is only as good as you make it by your actions. Some of your people only see a single grain of sand; others see an ocean of life. You would do well to remember to never change anyone who has had honour thrown in their path. Now I’m going to leave you once more, but now you know that I’m proud of you. Remember that and do not break under Excariot’s pressure. You, my daughter, were sent here for a greater reason than any of them know. Only the fearful try to change their reason for being. Are you afraid?”

“Sometimes.”

“Don’t worry. I am with you always.” He took Val’s wrist and held her bracelet, and she understood. Then Gabrielle placed his other hand on Val’s arm; she jolted as if stuck by an electric volt. “It’s time to wake up.” He let her go and started to walk away towards the wood.

Val tried to follow him, but something was stopping her. Something was pulling her backwards. “Gabrielle!” she screamed. But he just kept walking away.

Wendy turned a corner and spotted her friend. “Fran! Fran!” she didn’t want to shout and attract attention, but she knew time was of the essence.

Fran ran to her. “How did you get here so fast? Um, I don’t mean to insult you car, but...”

“Zac teleported me here. I need to get to Val now.” Wendy flashed the book at Fran.

“Let’s go witch girl.”

Jason was guarding the door. “Wendy! How...?”

Fran raised her hand, signalling him to be quiet, then went into the room where Shane was sitting at the side of the bed, still holding Val’s lifeless hand. Jason came in behind them and locked the door.

“What’s going on girls?” Shane asked, sensing their urgency.

“Zac got me here,
just
. Now I have to wake Val up.” Wendy sat down next to her. “She looks so pale,” she said placing the book on Val’s chest.