Blue at Midnight (7 page)

Chapter 15

Cale decided to
miss out the savoc, even though he could have done with a meal after building
the Room of Rituals alone. Rourkes (soldiers of Orsa) could go days without
food depending on how much energy they used. If he’d turned up alone it would
have highlighted Christian’s disappearance and Sebastian would not have taken
that lightly. As he searched through some of Christian’s belongings he realised
his sash was not there. A Rourke could identify the owner of an item from a
single touch as it would then flash the image of the owner in their mind.

“Anything I can help
with?” Stunned by this unexpected interruption Cale waited a few seconds to
compose his expression, before turning around to see a not so familiar face.
From his cinnamon skin tone you could tell he was not from these waters. His
posture was strong and tall as he stood there waiting for a response.

“Who are…
”

“I’m Lameer. You must
have seen me around with Sebastian,” he patronised.

“Not really. Are you
looking for the savoc?”

“I can find my own way,
yet it seems you are lost.”

“My brother seems to
have left his sash somewhere here, I was just…”

“That’s interesting.
Highly unlikely for Sebastian’s favourite, don’t you think?” Cale chose not to
respond and stood there with a straight face, hoping the newcomer would take a
hint.

“Well, you know if you
lose anything or anyone…”

“What do you mean
anyone?”
 

“It’s just a saying.
Like I was saying if you lose something or someone you can always seek
Morbidma, the mother of all. Mothers tend to know where their offspring are,
even when they least expect it.” He saluted before walking away, taking the air
of arrogance with him. As paranoid as this made Cale he knew Lameer had a
point.

Although he continued
to search through Christian’s belongings he knew it was hopeless. It was as if
Christian had just disappeared from Orsa. A confused Cale decided to search
within a one-mile radius, hoping to come across his brother’s trail. Wary of
being seen, he kept a watchful eye out whilst travelling swiftly searching
between every ridge, plain and sediment of basalt for clues.
 

Just before he started
to panic he came across a fragile, silver light emitting itself like a small
radio wave within the ocean. Only one weapon could emit such a delicate light –
a sash. Cale stood over it with a heavy feeling in his chest, dreading that his
suspicions were true. Gently Cale knelt down and placed his forefinger upon the
sash, only to see a vision of his brother swimming through the darkest part of
the ocean. He forced his eyes open. He had enough evidence to suggest that
Christian was missing and maybe in some sort of trouble. Astonishingly, there
wasn’t a clear trail around the sash apart from two angry, cracked footprints.
What could this possibly mean? That’s when he caught a glimpse of a slender,
scale-less fish with a tadpole-shaped body – a snail fish. They weren’t very
common around this part of the ocean but Cale knew that if he could find more,
they would lead him to his destination: Morbidma.

It wasn’t long before
he saw another snail fish, which he followed, only to find more. Eventually,
Cale found himself down in the abyssal depths. An unfamiliar murmur distracted
him from the snail fish.
 
It started to
become so subtle that he had to concentrate to listen to it when a tingling
sensation rose through his skin. Next his surroundings started to vibrate,
releasing a humming sound as if everything in that area was magically
communicating. Amongst the coral and marine plants numerous minute creatures
coexisted in extremely high temperatures. He saw a blue light shining from a
turquoise coloured space in the ground. The closer he moved, the higher the
light rose from the ground. Facing him was a cloud-like mist. Slowly, the edge
of the mist started to disperse forming hair-like edges which swayed
aggressively, shining gold and silver. Its light was almost blinding, forcing
Cale to take a step back and cover his eyes. A few seconds later he heard a
warm, female voice in his mind telling him to open his eyes.

Staring directly at him
was a life-force. Yet not one that appeared physical, more like one partly
dissolved in the ocean, swaying like chiffon in a breeze. There were no legs,
just a light which seemed to disappear into the ground. As his eyes moved
upwards he could see a mesmerising, angelic face that somehow expressed an
age-old wisdom. It was almost as if she’d found him. Being in the presence of
Morbidma was captivating. A rare and unique beauty consumed her, almost making
Cale forget his purpose. He just wanted to stand there in awe forever. It was
hard to believe that she used to be an elder, a physical being.

“Be wary of your
choices Cale as you have no idea of what may pass, whilst you delve into your
distraction.” Although her voice sounded surreal as it entered his mind, it was
impossible to tell when she spoke each word as her lips did not move. Her locks
weaved in and out of each other, shining bright gold or silver before going transparent.
Impatiently, Morbidma repeated herself, helpless in dulling down her
appearance.

“My sincerest
apologies Mother.”

“You have been brought
here by your unsettled mind,” she informed Cale. Overwhelmed by her sheer
presence he found himself doubting his visit, wondering if he should be making
such serious accusations. What if Christian had actually returned whilst he’d
been here? Morbidma was forbidden to express any opinions or even speak of what
she knew, unless she was simply answering a question asked by a Child of Orsa.

“Ask only once, as when
we have spoken it becomes a moment in time and is never replaced.”
 
This time Cale managed to concentrate as he
knew that once this moment was over he would have missed his chance to ask. It
was now or never.

“Where has Christian,
Son of Orsa, been since the beginning of this day?” His heart was shaking with
each beat like a locked cage desperate to keep in the turmoil that was dying to
burst out if his suspicions were true.

“Neither here nor
there,

 
As his mind now cares,

 
For the one who unknowingly dares

They coexist as a true
pair

Above Orsa he
prepares.”

Suddenly he felt the
weight of the ocean paralyse him, crippling his mind from thinking. He couldn’t
even blink. Did he have the strength to react? Afraid to move, he knew that if
he broke free so would the dangerous levels of outrage and fury. Bitterly, Cale
looked up with his fists curled and a violent fire burning through him, only to
see a blanket of darkness around him. Not a single sign of her presence
existed. Even all the miniature sea creatures had disappeared.

A short distance behind
Cale was a large cluster of rocks. Lying casually between them, pleased by
Morbidma’s
telling,
was Lameer...

What should I do first?
How should I deal with this? Deep down Cale wanted to go after Christian and
drag his insane brother back to Orsa in the hope that he’d be able to remind
him of the consequences of the path he’d chosen. However, Cale was well aware
of the fact that it was too late, for Christian had gone too far. He’d broken
the numbers, betrayed his people and left his brother’s reputation in ruins.

Sebastian had
questioned Christian’s absence on a few occasions. Now that Cale knew the
answers he knew he’d have to tell the elder everything, otherwise the elders
would apply their own methods for seeking the truth. All it required was Cale
to stand directly in front of an elder with his eyes closed whilst the elder
stared piercingly through his eyelids. It was known that when a Child of Orsa
closed their eyes, naturally their most alarming thoughts would rise to the
surface which was the layer the elders were able to see. We called this gift
‘the sight’ and it could only be achieved after five hundred years of true
devotion to the numbers.
 

Cale hurried back to
where he had started, hoping to somehow see Christian carrying on like normal. Getting
back didn’t take long. As soon as Cale arrived at Christian’s dwelling he found
himself facing someone he was not ready to see. Standing tall with his
square-jaw clenched, feet firmly in the ground, was Sebastian. He looked how
Cale felt when he’d found out what his brother had done. Looking wildly
infuriated he continued to stare, standing still with the waters radiating his
hysteria. As Cale drew even closer, to his horror he saw Lameer who cunningly
stepped out from behind Sebastian. Suddenly everything made sense! Somehow
Lameer must have known something wasn’t right and followed him. Lameer wanted
to get to Sebastian first and gain his trust so that he wouldn’t be the
stranger anymore. I wonder what havoc he must have created in his own waters
before bringing his venom here thought Cale.

“How loyal you have
been, for brotherhood is such a precious bond.” Cale sensed the bitter undertone
in Sebastian’s voice like a blade slowly running down his spine.

“My loyalties are to
you and your teachings, to Orsa!”

“So you’re here due to
your loyalties to Orsa? Not because you are tempted, just like your brother.
Except you don’t have the courage to betray us?”

“NO!” Cale shouted.

“Poison has already
started to spread and your brother is the root of it all!” Lameer spat. Even
though Cale hated what Christian had done he couldn’t believe that someone as
calculating as Lameer was judging him. After another smug grin from him, Cale
found his patience becoming non-existent. Like a ferocious predator Cale leapt
towards Lameer only to feel the hit of a thousand bricks catapult into his
chest, slamming him onto the ocean bed. After blacking out for a minute, Cale
went to rise again but was overwhelmed by the sheer force upon him. When he
focused he realised why. Sebastian was
towering
over
him.

“Calm your temper! Do
you now understand how it feels when someone attacks you? When someone betrays
you?”

“I do understand, as I
too am a Son of Orsa. Christian has betrayed me as well; I am on your side!”
Sebastian summoned Cale to stand in front of him.

“Close your eyes…”

Chapter 16

For the first
time I actually felt less nervous than usual at college, probably because I was
in my favourite place, the library. Here no one could raise their voice and
start hurling abuse over silly things. Furthermore, there was minimal
opportunity for people to spread rumours. Being surrounded by what felt like a
never-ending rainbow of knowledge was like endless presents on my birthday.
Thankfully this was the last place I’d see Jenny Summers, unless she was
desperately behind in her studies. Even then I expect she’d make one of her
minions visit the library instead.
 
Regardless of how pathetic she seemed she must have been doing something
right, to have so many friends. Whatever it was I never really saw it.

Sonia had gone to buy
some coffee from the canteen five minutes ago, so I decided to wander amongst
the tall bookshelves looking for inspiration.
 
Fine art was one of my favourite sections as I was always intrigued by
the way a painting could evoke such acute emotions and raise so many questions.

Startled by Sonia’s
voice, I dropped a book. After a loud thump, I started giggling as I knew any
minute we’d be told off by a librarian. A second later came a rather annoyed
‘shush’ from goodness knows where but this didn’t help as it only provoked my
crazy friend to pass the ‘shush’ on as if it wasn’t her who disturbed the peace
in the beginning.

“Gosh, some people are
so loud,” she whispered.
 
However, the
sight of a familiar face, with short dark hair and ocean-blue eyes, stopped me
in my trail of giggles. He was broader than I remembered and this time he was
wearing a long-sleeved navy top outlining his lean muscular physique.
 

“This is Christian.
Christian
meet
Izzie, my amazing friend.” I stared
hard at Sonia hoping to transfer the words ‘why is he here?’ into her mind but
was unsuccessful as she continued to smile gormlessly at me.

“Christian’s new and he
wasn’t sure about where the library was so I thought he could come with us and
we could show him the ins and outs.” I was sure he was more than capable of
finding his way around as he seemed to know more than he let on. So far he’d
seen me in a fight with Jenny, heard all the rumours, chatted up the college
staff and eavesdropped on my conversation with the college mentor. He knew more
than Sonia and he’d only been here five minutes. I wondered what he was up to
as I was starting to feel quite over protective of my gullible friend.

Christian handed me my
coffee and I noticed he’d been carrying the cups, as Sonia’s hands were full
with bags and a cinnamon swirl. I politely accepted it yet couldn’t help but
notice the dark leather jacket draped over his arm. It looked ever so familiar.
Just then Sonia started coughing and asked Christian to kindly bring her a
glass of water from the water cooler which sat at the library entrance.

Impatiently Sonia
dragged me to a desk.

“What’s wrong? Do you
know him or something?”

“No.”

“Then what’s up with
the face? He’s new; poor thing must feel so alone.”

“I understand. We’ve
all been there, it’s normal.
 
Anyway you
never take so kindly to random men, so what’s this?” Just then a smile flashed
and disappeared within seconds on Sonia’s face.

“You fancy him!”

“Shush, we are in a
library
remember
and yes he seems nice so we must
help!”

“Help him?”

“Yes, what if that
Jenny Summers sees him and tries to...”

“Seriously?
I’m sure he can handle her.” Any excuse would not have been enough to convince
my generous friend. She was already fond of him and starting to get quite
annoyed.

“Handle who?” Sonia
shouted when my heart jumped into my mouth as her cinnamon swirl went rolling
like tumbleweed down the aisle towards the main desk.

“Oh crap!” she
accidently blurted out in a banned volume. With the expression of a serious
hedgehog wearing reading glasses and pierced lips, the middle-aged librarian
that had been behind the main desk came marching towards us sharp.

“There is strictly no
eating or speaking in this zone. I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to
leave!” She reminded me of an angry school teacher. I’d never felt so
embarrassed in my life and what made it even more humiliating was that
Christian was there to witness this. Aggressively, the librarian picked up the
cinnamon swirl in its paper bag and threw it towards the bin. The pastry
bounced off the wall before landing straight in. Just then someone shouted out
‘shot’ which irritated Sonia even more.

“How dare she throw my
food
away.
I spent money on that.” Sonia looked like
she was on the verge of exploding whilst angrily gathering her belongings.
 
That’s when I locked eyes with Christian; we
both knew what was to come next. Any time now Sonia was going to lose her
temper and start arguing with the lady, which would result in security throwing
us out. Quickly we both grabbed her arms and bags before dragging her out of
the library. Christian apologised to the hedgehog on the way out. I did think
she’d over reacted by throwing away Sonia’s cinnamon swirl; she could’ve just
given it back and told us to leave. Some people forget that they work with
adults and not children.
 

Christian went to class
and I decided to take Sonia outside for some air. Twenty minutes later, she
told me that when she went to buy coffee she noticed her purse wasn’t with her
and was worried she might have dropped it in the old factory. She’d already
cancelled her debit card but was hungry and bought the cinnamon swirl from the
last bit of change left in her car.

“Next time anything
like that happens tell me straight away. Don’t get yourself all worried. You
know I could help.”

“I just thought you had
so much going on. This was the last thing you needed to hear – more bad news.”

“Trust me; it would
have made me happier knowing you came to me when you had a problem. Next time…”

“I know, sorry.”

“After class we’ll go
to the bank and get this sorted, unless you want to miss the chance to sit with
Christian,” I joked.

“Bless him, he bought
the coffee.”

“OK. Because he did
that I’ll let him off. I’ll be nice,” I promised.