Elysium (28 page)

It was no use though. I couldn’t stop whatever I had started, and Rhyker was moving quicker through the rip. I stumbled backwards, looking around frantically and hoping someone knew what to do. Blood dripped from my arms and legs, coating the snow around me a bright pink. I hadn’t realized how injured my arms were, but at that exact moment I couldn’t feel any pain. All I could feel was stark determination to finally end this. The chanting became louder, faster, and I felt a light touch on my arm. I turned to stare at a young girl. The white hood she wore concealed most of her face, but her smile was friendly and sent calm through me.

“Help us, young one. We need your strength to end this.”

Her voice was soft, almost childlike. Suddenly the words of the chanting around me flowed into my mind, like I had always known them. She turned me, so I was staring at Rhyker, half his body now protruding. His lips snarling, his discolored teeth jutting from his mouth, as he reached a pock-riddled arm towards me. I starting chanting, feeling the power inside of me grow, until it felt like I would explode. I felt my hair stand on end, like I was under water and gravity had no power over me. The snow fell harder and then suddenly stopped in midair, the crystal flakes suspended, as everything around me hummed.

We chanted louder, faster. Rhyker was still trying to come out of the portal. One of his legs was now on the ground, a fierce look of determination on his gruesome face. The odor was like decaying flesh on a hot summer day. He didn’t take his eyes off of me, as he reached for me, somehow trying to compel me to come with him. I felt a small tingling in the back of my mind, a need to go to him, to help him. I took a step forward, reaching out to him, as the chanting grew to deafening proportions.

The world disappeared, the noise vanishing, as I stood alone. Rhyker was still partially in the portal, but it didn’t seem out of place. His face was no longer grotesque, but very handsome and kind in appearance.

“Just a few more steps forward, child. Take my hand. Help me, won’t you?”

Yes, I wanted to help him, but just as I took another step the power burning inside of me burst forward. I felt strong arms around my waist pull me back. I fell back hard, landing on the frozen ground, the air forcefully leaving my lungs. The noise came back full force, and everyone once again surrounded me. The portal shined a brilliant white, and I wanted to cover my ears as Rhyker screamed so loud the leaves shook. I looked down at my hands, my fingers feeling as if they were on fire. A dull glow outlined the digits, pulsing and thrumming through me and making me feel stronger.

I felt Cadeon beside me, his deep voice loud as he chanted. We looked at each other. His face calm and relaxed, but I could sense how tight his body was, like at any given moment he could attack. I looked back at the portal, as the light became brighter, purer. I had to cover my eyes, its brightness blinding, Rhyker’s scream of agony making me take notice.

The light was intense, but soon started to dim. I looked back at it and saw the portal mend itself. Rhyker tried desperately to bring the rest of his body through the rip, but half of him was still on the other side and the portal squeezed him. Blood dripped from his hairline, and his eyes had a crazy glint.

Tears streamed down my cheeks, as I watched his body contort into the most gruesome of angles, his blood red eyes wide, as he stared at me. One of his hands still reached towards me, and there was a moment, when all I wanted to do was end his suffering.

Suddenly, there was a loud pop and again a brilliant bright light filled the night sky, such that it almost seemed like daylight. I shut my eyes, turned my head towards Cadeon’s chest and felt his arms wrap around me. The power inside of me subsided. I slowly opened my eyes, everything silent around me, as I stared in horror at half of Rhyker’s body on the snow laden ground. He started to decompose quickly, the centuries catching up with him in seconds. His eyes were the last to go, and I felt like he could still see me. I felt like he could still reach into my very soul.

I slowly woke. The steady sound of rhythmic beeping filled my ears. I blinked several times, the bright white room finally coming into focus. I stared at the flat screen television mounted on the wall. A young girl and boy sat at the beach, their fingers intertwined, as they stared longingly into each other’s eyes. I turned my head, my heart beating wildly, as I stared at Mikhail. Although I didn’t remember how I had gotten into one of the clinic’s rooms, I remembered everything that happened before waking up here. I also remembered everything Rhyker had showed me.

Mikhail, my father, looked up at me, dark circles under his eyes, his hair uncharacteristically messy around his head. He set his glasses on the table, stood slowly and took tentative steps towards me. The heart monitor betrayed my emotions, and the steady beeping quickened.

He stopped at the edge of my bed, his eyes downcast, his hands clasped tightly in front of him. “You talk in your sleep.” He looked into my eyes, his shiny from unshed tears. “Do you want to talk about what happened?”

I looked at him, my sleep fogged brain starting back up. I made a slow trek of my arms and pushed the sheets off my legs. I was healed, completely. A lump formed in my throat as I lifted my eyes back to Mikhail’s. “Is he dead?” I didn’t need to elaborate. All I could picture were all those things Rhyker showed me. All of those dead bodies, all of those memories crammed into one mind, one person. Rhyker had said he wanted to escape his prison, to be free and rule over everyone. I hated him for what he put me through, but there was also a small part of me feeling sympathy for him. I couldn’t even imagine what it would feel like to be locked away, never to see your family and friends again.

Maybe Rhyker and I weren’t so different. After all, had I not been ripped from the only world I knew? I had been thrust into this new and mysterious world that held supernatural creatures. I could never see my friends again and would never be able to see Marie and the kids. I guess we weren’t too different, but I had to keep telling myself Rhyker was evil. He tortured and killed people, and for what? To rule as king? To control the world? I shivered involuntary at my thoughts. They were too frightening to even think about.

For the next hour Mikhail and I talked about what had happened. I told him how Rhyker Rulon had wanted me to stay in the Shadow realm, so he could travel between the worlds. About how he wanted to rule over everyone and I was his only chance of doing so. Mikhail wasn’t surprised about this, instead telling me they had sought the help of the Witches and Warlocks of Arcane Manor—the people in the white robes.

“I believe the alcohol in your system lowered your resistance.” At my puzzled look he continued. “The alcohol let your inhibitions down. It left your mind and body fully open, and let your powers free.” He started pacing the side of the bed. “Of course, they would have come out eventually, but because of the alcohol, it was jumpstarted, you could say.” He stopped pacing and stood at the foot of my bed. “God, Meadow, I am so sorry.” He hung his head, and the urge to go to him, to comfort him, was strong.

When he finally lifted his head, after what seemed like hours, the anguish written across his face took my breath away. He told me that Cadeon was the one to reach out to him, telling Mikhail what he had witnessed, when we had been in my room.  Mikhail immediately went to the mystical beings of the Manor and sought their help. It was when the Witches and Warlocks had used their magic to locate me they had realized where I was and what they were up against.

“If you hadn’t locked into your powers when you did, we would have never found you, Meadow. The Witches and Warlocks work on our world, but when it comes to different planes, it’s difficult for their powers to penetrate that invisible wall.”

I was still so confused about my powers and what it meant. “I don’t understand any of this. What powers do I have?”

He breathed out. “We don’t know, Meadow. You’re rare, and because there has never been anything like you created before, you are a mystery to us.” He started pacing in front of my bed again. “What we can gather is that you have the ability to link directly between dimensions.”

“You can also suspend time, like you did in the forest, when you stopped those two boys from fighting. This is all fantastic to me, too, and I don’t know exactly why or how you have the powers you do, but I know they’re important. What I do know for certain is that only time will tell us exactly the extent of what you hold inside of you. There are no tests out there that will definitively tell us what we’re working with.”

I didn’t know what do say, so I didn’t say anything at all. This all sounded crazy, and if I wasn’t in the situation I was currently in, I wouldn’t have believed any of it. What Mikhail was saying was surreal.
I can stop time and go between dimensions?
I shook my head, and it started to throb painfully.

Even after everything he had just told me, the thing that racked my brain the most was the whole Mikhail was my father thing. I looked down at my arms, not wanting to look into Mikhail’s eyes, because we still hadn’t talked about the father issue. I didn’t know what I had said in my sleep, but I assumed I had said
something,
because of the awkward silence which followed. Mikhail cleared his throat, and I looked at him. He stared down at me, his eyes seeking my face for something.

“I think we should talk, Meadow.” His voice was low, distant.

“I think we should, too.” I pulled myself up in the bed and leaned against the headboard. The bag of blood hung from an IV pole beside me. It reminded me of when I had first awakened and saw what I was. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I knew I didn’t need to elaborate on what I meant. By the look on Mikhail’s face, he knew.

He exhaled and pulled a chair closer to the bed. He sat down, hanging his head as if he was defeated. “I don’t know where to start.”

“Why not at the beginning?” Any anger I had previously felt was gone. I was happy to be alive, and whatever reasons Mikhail had for keeping this information from me were in the past. I needed to start looking forward. I had the chance to finally get to know my father, and it felt incredible. I couldn’t lie. There was a part of me that hurt over the fact I was left alone, but after spending time with Mikhail at the Manor, I knew he must have had a good reason.

He nodded and started. “The first night I met your mother, she was walking home. It seems like ages ago.” He rubbed the back of his neck and brought his eyes up to mine. “She was so beautiful.” He was silent for so long I wondered if he would even continue. “You look just like her.”

My heart clenched painfully, as he spoke the soft words.

“I normally didn’t walk in town, but something urged me to go that night, to see how the world around me had changed. I had been staying at the Manor for years, so secluded from the outside world, because of my research,” he said. “When I saw her across the street, she was like an angel, like a bright ray of light shining into my darkness. After then, we were inseparable. She didn’t care what I was, and I loved her even more for her acceptance. She was everything to me, and when we found out she was pregnant, we were ecstatic. Never had a human and vampire been able to have children, but somehow your mother and I conceived.”

I didn’t know my mother, but, as I listened to Mikhail speak about her, I felt myself start to tear up. “I wish I would have been able to meet her.” Mikhail smiled and took my hand, and I let him.

“She loved you so much, even though she never got to hold you in her arms, she loved you.” A tear slipped out of his eye, and he quickly wiped it away. “I’m ashamed to admit I left her, thinking it was best, for both you and her, if I weren’t in your lives. I didn’t want to, but when I thought of all the harm which could befall both of you, if word got out a human and a vampire had conceived.” He shivered, as if the very thought frightened him. “I don’t even want to think about what the
Seekers
would do to you, or to your mother.”

I remembered reading about the
Seekers
, the rogue of the Arcane, the ones that prey on the weak and innocent. “Is that why you didn’t take care of me?” My voice caught, and I blinked quickly, willing myself not to cry.

He nodded and squeezed my hand. “Yes. If I had taken you, cared for you as a human child, your life would have been constantly in danger. But being raised by other humans in their world, you were far safer than in mine. By the time I realized I couldn’t live without her, she had already been hunted, had already been found by one of them. I found her in a dirty alley, my pure and innocent Lilly being drained by one of my own, a vampire. I couldn’t save her, but I could save you. I realized I needed to get far away from you for you to stay alive.” He leaned forward, his eyes reflecting the years of despair and sorrow he felt at the loss of his love. “I hoped maybe you would be able to live a normal human life, your mother’s genetics were stronger and therefore, you would be spared my side.”

We were both silent for a very long time, but then I found the strength to continue. “You always watched over me, didn’t you?”

He nodded. “I did at first, but then it became so hard to watch you grow up. I wanted to be there, when you said your first word, or when you took your first steps. It was so hard, and so I started having Cadeon watch over you. At first it was only sometimes, but then you started to look so much like your mother, it crushed me.”