The Last Alignment: Cry of the Scorpions (25 page)

“
Hektor,” asked Hudson,
“did you use me too?”

“
Yes,” said Hektor. “I did
the same to you as I did to Natalye in order to heal
Awbrey.”

“
Why did you have to heal
Awbrey,” asked Hallie, letting go of Andrew’s shoulders. “What
happened?”

“
This is all my fault,”
spat Kate. The scattered outbursts of questions stopped and
everyone looked at her. “I knew that there was something wrong with
Sarah. I knew it a while ago, but I just couldn’t tell and I didn’t
think to mention anything.”

“
You had absolutely no way
of being able to tell,” said Emma. “Kate, you can’t Sense
anymore.”

“
But I could’ve asked
Sylvia to Sense her for me!”

“
No, Kate,” Sylvia said
letting go of Zander. “It’s my fault. All of it!” His mother fell
to the floor facing Androse and she reminded Zander of a peasant
begging a king for clemency.

“
Mom,” Zander said softly
as he kneeled beside her, “stop it. Get up-”

“
No! Androse, I am so
s-sorry!” Sylvia started crying uncontrollably and Zander didn’t
know what to do because he had never seen her like this. “I
sh-should’ve woken up earlier! If I had Sensed, Sarah wouldn’t have
even m-made it to the front door! I would’ve been able to stop
her!”

“
Sylvia,” started Hektor,
but she kept going.

“
It’s all my fault! I’m
responsible for two members of your family d-dying! F-first
Nicolas, and now Ch-Charles!”

“
SYLVIA!!” Zander fell
backward and hit his head on a table; Hektor was in front of his
mother before the sound of his yell had even faded from their
eardrums. He grabbed her by the shoulders and hoisted her up. “This
is not your fault! Neither was Nicolas’ death!” Zander moved along
the wall and stood beside a large wooden grandfather clock; Hektor
was terrifying when he raised his voice. “I have been asleep for
almost a month. If there is anyone to blame for the events that
took place today, then it is me. If I had come sooner, they never
would have been tricked and snuck out. If I had come sooner, all of
you would not be here and this would not have happened. If I had
come sooner, everyone would have been able to act accordingly and
do what needed to be done. But ultimately, it is Mordikin
who-”

“
No, Hektor,” Awbrey said
letting go of her grandmother
. This
isn
’
t the time
for you to run your damn mouth
, thought
Zander, wishing that Awbrey would keep quiet. But of course, that
wasn’t going to happen. “If there is anyone to blame, then it’s my
dad,” she said. “Sylvia was exhausted, Androse,” she said turning
to him. “You’ve seen her over the past two and half weeks just like
the rest of us. She was the only person in charge of security
because she was the only one out of all of us who could Sense.
Obviously, it took its toll on her. She’s had to do it for an
extended period of time with no breaks! If my dad and Tyler were
here, then at least they could have traded out with each other and
had shifts! Do not blame Sylvia for any-”

“
AWBREY, WOULD YOU SHUT
UP?!! DID I SAY THAT I WAS BLAMING ANYBODY FOR ANYTHING?!!” Zander
rubbed his forearms trying to stop goose bumps from rising. Tears
finally started streaming down Androse’s face and Awbrey, looking
stunned and affronted, backed away from him and returned to Oren’s
side. Everyone was quiet and it felt like they were all afraid to
speak in case they were to get lashed out at too. Androse lowered
himself and Charles’ head was now in front of his grandson’s knees.
“Has anyone called my mother or my grandma yet,” he
asked.

“
No, honey,” Hallie
replied.

“
I will do it,” Oren said
wiping under her eyes, “but only if you want me to.”

Androse didn’t answer right away. Instead,
he put a hand on Charles’ arm and inhaled deeply. “I’ll do it. He
would expect me to.”

At that moment, Andrew signed something to
which Hallie and Hudson frowned. “Why,” asked Hallie, but Andrew
walked over to the coffee table and grabbed the remote control to
the television and cut it on. It was already on the news. An older
but friendly looking man with gray hair was speaking slowly and
carefully as if every word that he said wounded him.

“
Earlier this morning at
around nine-fifty two, authorities received a call saying that a
student had pulled two guns from their locker and opened fire at
Vancent E. Redding High School here in Vairlden, Arizona. We are
now being told that the situation is under control and at the end
of it all, thirteen students were injured and six were killed,
including the shooter who has now been identified as
sixteen-year-old Amanda Lyerly. Not many details surrounding the
situation are being released, but it has been confirmed that Lyerly
took her own life. Gephry Leed, who is the principal of Vancent E.
Redding High School, has declined to comment thus far, but we do
know that there is a memorial gathering already being planned to
take place sometime within the next week or so. Our deepest
condolences go out to the families of the six fallen Scorpions, and
we send out our prayers to not only the thirteen that were injured,
but all of our young Scorpions that were affected by today’s
catastrophic and heartbreaking events.”

“
Shut it off,” said
Awbrey.

“
This is the worst tragedy
to hit Vairlden, Arizona since-”

“
SHUT IT OFF!!”

Emma reached over and hit the power button
on the television and then returned her hands to her mouth.

“
Mom, I’m sorry,” Awbrey
pleaded. “This was all my mistake. It was my idea to sneak out and
go to school because I wanted to apologize to Amanda because Hudson
and I left her alone. You know what it was like for her there. If
I’d have known that-”

“
It does not matter what
you did and did not know,” said Hektor. He walked over and stood in
between Awbrey and Hallie. “The fact of the matter is that you
intentionally disobeyed a direct order that all of you were to
remain in this house, an order that was given with all of your
safety at its focus. I do not care whose idea it was to leave. All
of you left, so you are all accountable.”

“
Androse didn’t want to
go, though,” Natalye spoke out. “He didn’t want any of us to go. He
told us that we should stay, but we wouldn’t listen to
him.”

“
That does not matter,”
said Hektor.

“
How doesn’t it matter,”
asked Zander, feeling like he was close to tears. Hearing what he
heard on the news made him feel terrible, and even though he had
been fighting it, his feelings of guilt and responsibility had
finally started to sink in. “Androse told us over and over that we
should stay put. We pretty much dragged him along.”

“
You did no such thing,”
Hektor refuted, clearly not having any sympathy for them. “I am
sure that if Androse really wanted to, he would have found a way to
prevent you all from leaving. He easily could have told an adult
what was happening if he could not stop you all
himself.”

“
That’s not fair!
He-”

Zander shut his mouth and leaned back into
the wall as much as he could; Hektor was inches away from him.

“
I am going to say this
once and I am going to say it for all five of you. I do not do well
with quarrelling and I do not do well with insolence, especially
when I know that I am right,” Hektor said boring into Zander.
“Amanda was doomed from the moment that Isabel turned her into an
Agonimin. If you all would have stayed put, then the worst that
would have happened was that Isabel would have killed Amanda and
moved on.”

“
And that’s the worst that
would’ve happened,” asked Awbrey.

“
As opposed to the
situation now where six innocent teenagers were killed and thirteen
were wounded? Yes,” Hektor answered finally stepping away from
Zander toward Awbrey. “I understand that you loved and cared about
your friend, but because of all of your actions, there are families
that are now in mourning. There are families in hospitals with hurt
children, and a whole community has been shaken. Not to mention the
death of Michelle Green.”

“
Wait…they didn’t report
that on the news,” said Zander. “They didn’t report Isabel
either.”

“
That is because I took
care of their bodies and wiped the school clean of them and the
five of you,” said Hektor.

“
When,” Zander asked
quietly, not wanting Hektor to get back in his face.

“
When I told you all to
wait by the back door. I collected Isabel and Michelle, and I then
Sensed the school for traces of you all such as blood and finger
prints. I removed all evidence that you all were even there today,”
said Hektor. They must’ve stood at the back door waiting on him for
all of two minutes. How did Hektor do all of that so
quickly?

“
Our pictures are in her
locker, plus we were seen,” said Awbrey. “The police will want to
question us.”

“
No, they will not,”
Hektor sighed. “I will take care of that.”

“
But-”

Hektor held his hand up to silence Awbrey.
“The five of you need to understand that being a Wielder means
detaching yourselves as much as you can from all that you can
unless you want to see innocents get hurt. People outside of your
immediate families and each other’s immediate families do not
matter anymore. They become liabilities, and they become targets.
Isabel never would have chosen Amanda if she had not seen your
pictures in her locker. She was selected because she was tied to
you and Hudson, and that is the only rationale that was needed.
Isabel did not care about who Amanda was, what she has been
through, or anything else. She was a pawn and nothing more. What
you all experienced today was barely a small fraction of what you
will face with Mordikin. If he succeeds in getting you all into a
situation like the one that you were in, there would have been no
playing around, no sick hedonism, and no hesitation. You all would
be dead without question.” Zander melted down to the floor.
“Mordikin returned before I did and I do not know the time span in
between,” said Hektor. “He has somehow gained enough of a degree of
intelligence within that time to have been able to figure out where
Awbrey and Hudson went to school. He now has surnames, residency
information, and who knows what else.”

“
Mordikin didn’t have much
before that I don’t think,” Zander said wrapping his arms around
his knees. “Isabel told us that they had no idea about Androse,
Natalye, and I. She said that the only reason she figured out that
we were the new Alignment was because there were five of us and
because of Androse.”

“
Androse,” asked
Kate.

“
It’s like what everyone
has said to him. He looks like his dad,” Zander said eyeing
Charles.

“
So, what you’re saying is
that if we want to protect our friends and loved ones who aren’t
directly related to us, we have to sever all ties,” asked
Natalye.

“
Correct,” said Hektor,
“but not even that will save them. If anyone is found to be linked
to any of you, they will either be killed immediately, or they will
be possessed and used and then they will die later. The best that
you can do is distance yourself as much as you possibly can which
is why I have confiscated and destroyed all of your cell
phones.”

Zander reached into his back pocket; his
phone wasn’t there. When had Hektor taken it?

“
We also have to alert
Marcel, Patrick, and Regina,” Hektor said to the adults. “When you
all transferred the kids to the same school, Isabel was able to
retrieve all of the information present in their files. Everyone
has to go into hiding, and now that I am on the subject, what
exactly was the justification behind the decision to place them all
in the same school?”

“
We didn’t want to arouse
suspicion,” said Emma. “Instead of having Androse and Zander not
show up to their schools, we thought it would be best to go on
ahead and transfer them here since we were coming down anyway.
Natalye was homeschooled, so-”

“
Why did you not think to
have it to where all five of them simply dropped out,” asked
Hektor. “That is exactly what they are doing in all actuality. That
is what you could have reported to their schools and it would not
have aroused any suspicion. Kids drop out every day and they are at
the age where they are within the law to do so.” All of the adults
exchanged looks of embarrassment and regret, clearly not even
having thought of that as an option. “Look, this is not the time to
be remorseful and apologetic about what was and was not done, or
what decision was or was not made. We have to act and we have to
act fast. Oren, if you would make phone calls to Marcel and
Patrick, please. Androse will call his family.” Oren nodded and
left the living room. “Kate, if you would contact O’Ryann, Tyler,
Pamela, and Talia and inform them of everything, then-”

“
I don’t have any means of
getting in contact with Pamela. I don’t think that any of us do,”
said Kate. Hektor looked to Sylvia who shook her head, and he then
looked to Natalye who seemed as tense as Zander had ever seen
her.

“
Where is your mother,”
asked Hektor, but Natalye just stared at him and didn’t respond. He
walked over to her and Natalye suddenly went rigid. Emma looked
concerned for her granddaughter, but she kept her mouth shut. They
stood staring at each other for a moment or two and then Natalye
relaxed, blinking quickly as if she had forgotten something.
Hektor’s eyes fell to the floor inquiringly, but then he looked up
at Natalye and shook his head as if to say that he understood
something. “Everyone else, go and get packed. Now,” he ordered. “We
have to leave this place. But, Androse…take a few moments with your
grandfather first.”