The Beholder (13 page)

“As soon as I found out what had happened, I fell into a sort of trance. I started talking, chanting, but even I didn’t understand what I was saying. It turns out that what I thought was gibberish was my first Prophecy. What I’d said came true years later.” She swallowed, and the gentle gaze in her eyes hardened. “But an hour or two later I recovered, and they took me away.”

“They?” asked Jason.

“The Darksighted. The greatest enemy to the Lightsighted,” she said. “Their main purpose is to wreak havoc all over the world. Now they have become the most influential creatures on earth. Even the power of the Light Ones cannot match the power of the Dark Ones.

“There are numerous legends concerning the Sighted,” she went on. “Some say all people were once Sighted. Everyone possessed a unique aura and could use their Energy to work miracles. But something happened in between, and almost everyone lost their ability to enter the Sight. Why that happened no one remembers, but it was a rough time for all people. There were only a few chosen ones left. They were the strongest, yet most of them were afraid to show their abilities because of the persecution they knew would be unleashed on them. Over time people started to forget about Energy and the Sight, and they had to comply with the harsh laws of an existence devoid of Energy.

“But the Sighted survived. New ones appeared, though it was rare. From then on, the Sighted divided into Light Ones and Dark Ones.”

Emily positioned her hands palm side up, indicating a scale. “The forces of Light and Darkness exist in a never-ending clash. During the last five decades the world became bogged down with disorder, and nowadays the Dark Side is becoming more and more powerful.”

“Where do the Dark Ones get their power from?”

“From people,” Emily said. “From you, from a lady in the supermarket, from anyone who has positive emotions inside them.”

Jason knitted his eyebrows. “How?”

“They tempt you to sin and cause misery. Violence, bloodshed, war, famine, drought—it’s all their doing. Lots of negative Energy is being created at this moment and it’s very contagious. The Dark Ones seek to destabilize the Librium through the Unsighted, and we Light Ones are the only ones capable of stopping them.”

“But how do the Dark Ones benefit from all this?”

“From the very beginning they wanted to control the course of history, alter it to their liking. They want to have absolute power over people, suck their Energy and turn them into slaves. They’ve achieved that to a degree. Now we know the Darksighted have learned to create and destroy Energy Threads, and to make Energy Patterns, which means they’ve grown stronger. They produce Energy Streams and even Whirlwinds, which are disastrous fluctuations of Energy that help them exert influence over mankind. The more enslaving Threads exist around people, the less control people have of their own actions. The more positive Threads are destroyed, the edgier people become. The Darksighted abuse this ability to make their profit, and we are left no choice but to resist them. The forces are uneven, and our side is losing.”

“Why exactly are they called Darksighted?”

“They see the world differently from how other humans see it. Darkness lures them, just like a rainbow calls to an ordinary person. They delight in it. When a person is enraged, they put out strong Energy. The Darksighted track the most violent positive Energy explosions, then destroy those people.”

“Hmm, so I’m like one of those explosions?” Jason asked. “That’s why they came after me? In the fusions I couldn’t see their faces because they were hidden under something black.”

She shook her head, confused. “Black smoke? I don’t know. It’s amazing that you could see them at all. I don’t know how it happened, but when your Energy was added to the Energy of the victims it might have created such an effect. You weren’t supposed to see them. Unsighted can sometimes feel their presence, but they never see them.”

“How do you plan to defeat them? What’s the plan?”

“So far, we’ve directed our attempts at spreading the Energy of Light, so people would feel emotionally positive. Our goal is to create a shield of Positive Energy, dangerous to the Dark Ones. The combined Energy of everyone in the world—although practically nothing in contrast to the Energy of the two archenemies—means quite a lot. It’s not real war we’re waging. It’s more like waiting for the enemy’s fatal mistake. I guess we can call this the lull before the storm.”

“War? They are preparing for war? Do they reinforce their troops or something?”

“Kind of. They recruit people, brainwashing them with Énergie Psychotique, or Insanity Energy, turning them into soulless puppets and making them into weapons for what they need done, like assassinations, terrorist acts, launching bacteriological warfare—anything that sows fear in people’s minds. That’s mostly the job of the Mindbroken, the ones whose minds are the most susceptible to the Darksighted’s suggestions. There are thousands of Mindbroken all over the world. They’re like viruses undermining the stability of other people. I’ve already mentioned the Legates, the assassins and servants of Pariah. They control the Mindbroken but fulfill the orders of the Gifted Ones.”

“Gifted Ones?”

“Yes. Those Sighted who possess phenomenal charges of Energy and are capable of lots of things.”

“And Pariah is above them all?”

She took a deep breath, then let it out. “Yes, he was among the first who acquired the ability to see reality as it is. For decades he nurtured his power, studied Energy, so that now he’s among the very best of us. And the most conceited, I might add. Conceit and thirst for power took possession of his mind, I think, and whenever new gifted Sighted appeared he tried to dispose of them if he deemed them dangerous.” She winked. “So you can imagine his rage when he heard about the coming of the Beholder.”

“How do you know all these things?”

“The Darksighted told me some of it.”

“And they came after you when you were only ten?”

“Yes. They told me I had a special gift. Apparently they spotted an outburst of Energy around me that occurred when my parents … you know. I spent a few years with them before I realized I was just one of their puppets. So I left, tired of being their spy. Unfortunately, as you know, Pariah found me the other night.”

“And now you are on the side of Light?” Jason asked.

“I’m neither for nor against Light. I’m fighting against the Dark. That’s what I’m supposed to do. Prophecies guided me when I desperately needed to know where to go next. If something dark was going to happen, I went there.”

“Have you ever had a Prophecy concerning yourself?”

“Yes. One of them was about me and my friend, Tyler. And if you remember from the Prophecy I told you, I said I would find you. And I did. All I need to do now is show you how Energy works.”

Jason shifted in his seat, troubled. Despite everything, he still didn’t feel as if he was anything extraordinary. And if that were so, he’d never get into the other Reality. What would have to happen in order for him to see? What had changed Emily? Tragedy.

“To you, the Sight came after the accident. Can it happen in another way?”

“Of course. That’s not the only way to become one of us. Some are born with it, others acquire the Sight during their lifetime, but it’s not necessarily after a disaster. Sometimes it happens unpredictably. Theoretically it could take place when a person’s body is in a place of an infinitely and immeasurably small dot with ultra rarefied Energy, where large quantities of the Librium to be restored flow in all at once and penetrate the point and the person. But this happens only once in a millennium. To be honest, I doubt that will happen to you. I think that’s how Pariah entered the Sight, though. Whether he wanted to or not, he somehow got into that infinitesimal dot.”

Emily’s face lightened for a brief moment. “Everyone in the world has at least one chance to see reality in a different light, and that happens immediately before death, before their brain is dead and their soul is set free from the body. A soul is a Bundle of Energy with its own path of either evolving or degrading.” She glanced at Jason, whose mouth was hanging slightly open, and smiled. “But that’s another story.”

Jason listened, mesmerized. The more Emily talked, the more he wanted to listen. Almost nothing remained of the candles on the table, and the black veil of night hung over the other side of the windows. Now that Emily had cut her story off, he became aware of his body’s many aches and pains. He couldn’t hold back a yawn.

“It’s late,” she said. “You need to sleep.”

“But—”

“We’ll talk tomorrow. I want you to know everything I know. The one thing I want you to remember for now is that this will only work if you believe it is possible for you to become one of us. You belong here. I see it. But your brain isn’t in the Sight yet. The hardest part of all this is leaving behind the doctrine of Unsighted people. But I know you’ll manage it.”

“I’ll try,” he promised.

Emily got to her feet and pushed in her chair. “Come with me. I’ll show you to the guest room.”

More exhausted with every step, Jason dragged his leaden feet upstairs then collapsed onto a large, soft bed.

Before leaving, she whispered, “No one will find us here. Good night, Jason.”

Chapter 23

They were walking through a forest, sheltered by an elaborate pattern of low and heavy branches. Though they had to bow their heads to pass underneath, the branches didn’t bother Jason. He was distracted, his gaze lost in the magic of Emily’s amber eyes. Each time she turned to him they changed to a different hue of brown, like the predominantly yellow-brown amber they were now. Not as dark as they had been in the fusion … where he had been in
her head.

Emily teased as she went, and her smile made her face even more appealing.
Where are we going? Who cares?
The only thing that mattered was her light footsteps beside him.

“Catch me if you can,” Emily said, then broke into a run among the weighty lattices of boughs.

Jason ran after her, admiring her nimble movements, and just when he’d almost caught her, she tripped and fell into a pile of leaves under a massive beech tree. He tripped, too, and rolled into the foliage beside her. Emily turned to him, her cheeks flushed as she giggled. They were so close to each other, closer than ever before. Her gaze met his fascination, and his fingers drew invisible lines, sliding from her forehead to her nose, then lower. His fingertips reached her lips, so alluring, so soft. He felt her hot breath and leaned in to kiss her—

Knock-knock-knock.
Her lips were so close to his. Almost there—

Knock-knock-knock
again, louder and more persistent.

“Wake up, sleepyhead!” Emily called through the door.

“Not now!” he muttered, still half asleep.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he said with a groan. “I’m coming.”

He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, then looked out the window as he stretched his muscles awake. Just like the house, the garden had bloomed overnight, becoming a completely different place from the neglected nest of weeds he’d seen the day before.

Clean, ironed clothes had been laid on an armchair near his bed. With a smile, Jason pulled on the white cotton shirt and flannel trousers, pleased to discover they were exactly the right size. She’d even placed a toothbrush and toothpaste in the washroom for him. Clean and refreshed, Jason headed downstairs, his mind still on the near-kiss. He wasn’t surprised to see the kitchen table already set with toast, croissants, orange juice, strong black coffee, milk—whatever he might want.

It was a beautiful day, and he poured himself a coffee before stepping into the sunlit garden. Emily was there already, wreathed in smiles, dressed in a clean, sleeveless shirt and purposefully crumpled shorts. If it were possible, she looked even more beautiful than she had the day before.

“Did you sleep well?” she asked, leaning forward to snap off a dead bloom.

I sure did,
Jason thought. “Yep,” he said, the dream still vivid in his memory.

“Any dreams?”

He flushed, thinking the interrogation seemed awfully suspicious.
She knows!

“Sort of,” he said, matter-of-fact.
Two can play at that game.
“But no nightmares. I see you’ve rearranged things around here. Looks great.”

Emily’s teasing smile was deliciously wicked. With a wink, she turned and walked among the flowerbeds, trailing her fingers along the bright dahlia petals, bending down to admire the daffodils and vermillion tulips along the way. She smiled the same ingratiating way as in the dream, making Jason’s heart hesitate for a moment before it started up a feverish drumming.

“Thank you for breakfast,” he said. “Croissants and coffee were yum. This is beautiful. How did you find time to do it all?”

“You’re welcome. And the garden, well, yeah. I worked on it last night. I just couldn’t get to sleep. I tried to return to my childhood years so I could remember what it looked like back then.”

“You look happier today. This makes you happier.”

She nodded. “There’s still a bond between me and this place. There will always be part of me here.”

“Yesterday you said it was protected. Don’t they know about it? Didn’t they come here years ago?”

“Yes, they did,” she replied. “I was here at the time. My parents’ and grandfather’s Threads, which led to the house and to me, disappeared. Mine got erased, probably because I was too inexperienced in controlling my Energy. During all those years I wanted to return here, but I was scared the Darksighted would follow me and take it away. Fortunately, the estate is located deep in the forest, and no Sighted has stumbled across it in years.

“I asked Tyler to find it for me,” Emily continued. “Since the Energy Threads were gone, I could only see this house through a dim veil, as if all my memories were a blurred dream from someone else’s life. I tried to explain to him where it might be, and he found it. Said he had to break the shield to get in. I actually didn’t want to return here, but we needed a hideaway. This place is perfect.”

They walked for a few minutes, listening to the birds and soaking in the peace of the garden.

“If Sighted are able to project things, how do you hide us from the eyes of the Dark Ones?” Jason finally asked.

“‘
Project
things’? That’s an interesting term,” Emily said with a smile. “Well,  when we put a place under protection, we create a Fraud Energy Image. It’s just an image of something that isn’t really there. The Image has to be convincing, because our Sight is like scanning. So if it’s done well, you can scan the place but only see the Image, not what is actually there. When Tyler found the estate he created an image of an impenetrable forest over it, just like the rest of the trees that surround this clearing. It’s like another dimension. You can only enter if you know where the Entrance is, and only if you are allowed to be here.”

“Why could I see it?”

“Because I let you and the taxi driver in. The driver knows the way here, but he will never be able to find this place again, because I shielded the Entrance.”

A ladybug perched on a petal, and Jason urged it onto his finger. “Here,” he said, nudging Emily. She turned, then smiled and held out her own finger. The little creature obliged, crawling onto her soft skin.

“How do you open the hidden dimension?” Jason asked.

Emily lifted the ladybug to eye level, watching the tiny legs navigate through the even tinier lines on her finger. “If you want to take something, you have to be ready to give something of your own to the hidden place,” she said, then puffed lightly on the ladybug, who took wing and disappeared into the garden.

“Give what?”

Her amber eyes glowed. “Kindness. Sincere and genuine kindness.”

Jason nodded, ingesting the information. When he really thought about it, the whole concept was ingenious. For a Darksighted it would be a trap.

“Tell me again why we couldn’t stay in the Hall of Refuge.”

“Because the Energy coming from you and me and the rest was practically the same as the Energy of the Shield. If we had stayed there any longer you might have broken it and exposed us. Exposure of the place would mean a complete disaster. We wouldn’t be able to use it anymore, because the Dark Ones would know where to find us. That’s one of the reasons Tyler and I decided to split into two groups.” She looked back at the house, and Jason could see its windows were no longer forbidding. “Fortunately, this estate has a solid Energy Shield for you and me.”

So they were sort of in another dimension,
he thought. To all the other uninitiated people it appeared to be just a forest. It was difficult to believe, but then again, why not? After everything he’d seen, he was beginning to accept how illusory the real world was.

“Why do we have to return? We could just stay here.”

Emily stopped walking, and met Jason’s eyes directly. “Pariah will never stop. He’ll keep searching for you and killing innocent people along the way. That’s his favorite game. Until he finds you, he will seek and destroy. To him, the more people dying, the better.” She sighed. “Don’t forget—your dreams are not over yet.”

“But … what if I can’t stop him?”

“You are the only one who can put an end to these beasts.” Emily’s voice hardened and her fists clenched at her sides. “But I’ll do everything I can to help you. We just need to be careful,” she said, then continued her walk along the flowers. He followed, watching her fists loosen with each step.

Two trees stood ahead of them, lonely against the dense background of the forest.  The leaves of one had yellowed and dried slightly, and its bark was patched with white. The two seemed connected by a rope of some sorts.

“What’s that?” he asked, pointing.

She beamed, suddenly carefree again. “Oh, that was my favorite place here when I was little. Let’s go. I’ll show you.”

Jason set his cup on a huge stone then had to jog to catch up. The rope, he discovered, was actually a hammock, sheltered from the cheerful warmth of the sun by the trees, turning the place into a sanctuary for really hot days. Emily stood by the tree with dried leaves and fondled the bark softly with the tips of her fingers.

Jason stood beside the other tree, thinking his new life was like a fairytale, made even more incredible by Emily’s presence. If only it could go on forever.

“When you live in a city all your life, a place like this seems like paradise,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever imagined myself on a hammock, and especially not since the nightmares began.”

“Get on,” she said, giving him a friendly shove towards the hammock. “What are you waiting for?”

They both sat—or at least they tried to. Emily leaned too far over, and if it hadn’t been for Jason’s quick reaction, she would have fallen off.

“Whoops!” she exclaimed. “Nearly keeled over. I’m so clumsy.”

“You are so
gorgeous
,” Jason corrected her, then pulled her close, surprising them both.

“What
did
you dream about last night?” Emily asked quietly, her eyes smiling.

“You.” He couldn’t pretend anymore. “I’m sure that’s no secret. You knew from the very beginning.”

“How would I know that?”

“Because you can do anything you want.”

Her voice dropped even lower, and her lips parted slightly. “You can do anything
you
want right now.”

“I wish I could,” Jason whispered, holding her tight. He slid his right hand over her hair, tucking back the strands that curtained part of her luminous face.

“A lot of things have happened to me recently, things that I’ve never experienced before,” he said. “Nightmares, murders, amazing new worlds …” Emily listened without saying a word, mesmerizing Jason with her stare. “But there’s still one thing missing.”

“What is—”

His lips were quicker than her words. In that moment his dream came true, and he swept her into a tender embrace. Her lips responded enthusiastically.

When he opened his eyes, hers were still closed. In comparison with her beauty, the rest of the world around her faded, became colorless. She opened her eyes, and Jason saw amber lakes in which he could drown. Then they both became aware of tiny drops falling from the sky, tingling on their faces and hands. The sun beamed overhead, but a whisper of a drizzle fell through the canopy of the trees.

“Rain in the sun,” she cried. “It’s a sign of good luck!”

Before he could stop her, she’d leaped off the hammock and started running, arms stretched towards the sky. The sight was something sublime, something that made all Jason’s past troubles worthwhile. It was a scene from another world, full of magic and innocence and beauty. Emily beckoned as the rain picked up, the drizzle becoming a sunlit shower, and he didn’t make her wait. He took off his shoes and rolled up his trousers, then darted towards her. He grabbed her around the waist and lifted her high, then spun, whirling and laughing until he lost his balance and slipped. With a little shriek, Emily fell on top of him, her fall broken by his body.

The grass beneath him was already wet, and the rain grew stronger, but Emily rolled so that she lay beside Jason on the damp ground. Raindrops dotted her skin, ran in little rivulets down her cheeks, and the sun made them twinkle like tiny suns.

Emily glowed, and in her eyes Jason saw the reflection of his own desire. Her finger touched Jason’s forehead, nose, and lips, and the contact was an exquisite delight. He lay watching as she propped herself on one elbow then leaned in until her hot lips touched his cold ones.

“When all this is over,” Jason said softly, “we’ll have years ahead of us to be together.”

Emily lay silent, her eyes sad. “And yet even with all those years ahead of us, I wish we’d met earlier.”