AfterLife (29 page)

Once the soldiers were sure no more darts would be fired,
they were rushed and Wes hit the ground with a thud as two of them grabbed him
from either side. Chloe managed to get past them with the last few darts she
had and sprinted down the hallway out of sight. Meri was on the floor next to
him, but she gave him an encouraging smile as she was carried off. Wes
struggled wildly against the Mortuis who were holding him, but then remembered
Meri’s words about playing their game. Well, he’d at least give them a good
show.

In his earpiece, Wes could hear that Jose, Amanda, and
Xander were faring better than the three of them in the basement. No doubt that
was due to the fact that he was the person of interest, and he was down here.
Wes hoped they could hold their ground long enough to maintain an exit for them
should he be fortunate enough to get his brother out without being severed.
Hoping to speed things along, he allowed his captors to believe they had subdued
him.

“So you’re the one responsible for this unnecessary
confrontation.” Wes was pulled to his feet and turned into the room to face the
voice. The speaker was a tall, tanned man with dark hair. The smile on his face
was one of pleasure. Wes instantly knew he was Seth. “I’m so glad you could be
our guest tonight.” Jez stood behind the man and avoided making eye contact
with Wes. Seth turned to her. “Thank you for arranging this gathering for us
Jez, however, I’m sorry you can’t stay for the fun.”

Jezebel looked up at Seth questioningly. Before she could
process what he meant, she was grabbed by three soldiers who picked her up and
carried her down the hallway. “What are you going to do with me? I did what you
asked! I knew you wouldn’t keep your promise, Seth.” She screamed as they took
her away, “I knew it!”

“I never promise anything,” Seth said loud enough for
Jezebel to hear. The statement was followed by a chuckle.

Wes could still hear Jezebel as she was dragged away. “He’ll
lie to all of you too!” she yelled at the soldiers carrying her. “You’ll be
killed when he’s gotten what he wants from you.” She persisted until her voice
could no longer be heard.

Looking straight at Wes, Seth continued. “She’s going to be
thrown into our cremator.” Seth studied Wes’s face for a reaction. Wes didn’t
provide one. “However, you, Wesley, are very special. You’ve been a thorn in my
side for some time now, and so I’m going to break my “no promises” policy just
for you. First, I promise that I’m going to turn your brother into a Mortui
while you watch.” He paused and laughed. “Then I promise that your fellow
AfterLifers will be thrown into the cremator as well.” He stepped closer to
Wes. “Finally, I promise to sync with you and sever you. I do hope you enjoy
your evening with us, I will.” He stepped into the room where Doc was getting
up off the floor. The dart had finally lost its charge. “Bring Wes in here,
gentlemen,” Seth said to the soldiers holding him. “You can wake up his brother
now too, Doc, I’m ready to initiate our newest member.”

Doc nodded, approached Wes’s brother, and injected a syringe
full of clear liquid into the IV. In a few minutes Lyall began showing signs of
consciousness.

“He’s not yours to take, Seth.” Wes battled to free himself
from the soldiers who were restraining him.

“I beg to differ.” Seth chuckled again and pointed to Lyall
strapped to the table, “Looks to me as if he is.”

“He’s ready, Seth,” Doc said.

“Good. Now Wes, make sure you’re watching this. I would hate
for you to miss any of tonight’s events.” Seth approached Lyall on the table
and leaned over him.

“No!” Wes lunged forward trying to free himself. His actions
almost caused his captors to release their hold, but they recovered quickly and
pulled him back. He didn’t want to watch.

Holding Lyall’s still -heavy eyelids open, Seth looked into
Lyall’s eyes only for a moment before standing up again. He wasn’t happy. “I
can’t sync with him, Doc. Make sure he’s conscious. I’ll be back.”

Seth turned toward Wes, clearly irritated. “Well, Wes,
change of plans. Flexibility is an important quality in a leader, as I’m sure
you know, and it appears circumstances have intervened. Though your associates
are busy upstairs, I don’t want to wait for Lyall to be ready for me.
Unfortunately, you will have to miss the fun of watching the elimination of
your friends and the end of your brother’s life. Be assured though, each event
will occur as promised. You, however, now get to go first in the order of
things. I’ll make you another promise. It will be quite entertaining.” He then
stepped out of the room. “Bring him to the other side of the hall, I’m going to
get rid of him now,” Seth said to the two soldiers still holding Wes. “It’s
probably better to just sever you, Wes, and not worry about you possibly getting
away from us again.” For all the emotion in his voice, Seth could be talking
about going out to dinner with friends. Wes decided Seth had very few of those.

Wes was dragged to a room on the opposite side of the
hallway. It looked like a mirror image of the room where his brother was being
held captive. They passed Meri in the hallway, she was still being held down on
the floor by a few soldiers. She didn’t attempt to move as they passed. Once
inside the room, they were joined by a third soldier. “Well Wes,” Seth said,
“any last words?”

W
es was pushed
down so his back was on the floor. His earpiece fell out, disconnecting him
from the rest of the group. Two Atumra soldiers held him down while the third
held his eyes open. These Mortuis were stronger than the policemen he’d fought
with the night he died. The pressure on his limbs was greater than anything an
antemort could achieve and Wes was no match for them. He continued to struggle,
possibly overdoing it, as Meri had told him. Play the game, he thought.

“Keep him steady,” Seth said, stepping over Wes and placing
one foot on either side of him. “Blake, when I’ve synced with him, make sure to
watch until he’s severed. Once I’ve synced, I can take care of him. You two,”
Seth said, motioning his head toward the two men holding him down, “I need you
to go help finish off the other AfterLifers.” The two men nodded. Seth knelt on
Wes’s chest, a smirk on his face, his eyes wide. “No, no, Wes, don’t struggle.
This is your fate. When we sync, I will sever you and you will cease to exist.”

Seth leaned down, placing his hands on Wes’s head while the
soldier called Blake continued to hold his eyes open. Seth and Wes linked eyes
and Wes could feel himself being pulled into a soul-sync with the man who
intended to kill him. Seth’s pupils expanded, dragging Wes into the nothingness
that existed between their minds. It was a strong pull and Wes concentrated on
trying to prevent the sync but without success. He was pulled out of his body
in the same way he had been when he’d experienced his first sync with Emily
months before. Even now that he knew how to control his syncing abilities, he
couldn’t prevent Seth from connecting their minds.

He was in the very situation Ken had warned him of. He was
in a connection with an unfriendly Mortui. Now his very existence depended on
how strong his mind was and how much influence he could wield inside this
connection with Seth. He knew if he was killed in this sync his mind would be
severed and his time as a Mortui would be finished.

He needed to think quickly and knew it was imperative to
stay focused. However, as Seth’s mind started forming the images of a stone
building, Wes discovered he couldn’t concentrate enough to counter what was
materializing around him. The building’s shape started to form from the
nothingness with its large arches and circular shape. Wes immediately knew
where Seth had taken them. It was the Roman Coliseum constructed to look as it
might have thousands of years before while still in its prime. The sun radiated
down from directly overhead, reflecting off the stone and marble that
surrounded them. Seth’s attire didn’t match the surroundings, but instead he
wore a pair of jeans and a red t-shirt. It was simple attire for a match he no
doubt thought would be quick and easy.

Wes lay on the gravel and dirt that made up the floor of the
Coliseum. Seth stood over him with his foot on his chest. Wes knew he was
already at a disadvantage and began looking around to plan a way to survive. He
wouldn’t be able to fight Seth on these terms. He had training, yes, but his
small amount of preparation was no match for Seth’s years of experience. Wes
was sure of that. That left few options for survival in a world built in Seth’s
mind.

“Epic battles were once fought here, so it is only fitting
that you should die here as well. You may have special ‘abilities,’” he
sneered, “but it’s useless to try to escape. I’m very good at what I do.”
Seth’s face held an expression of pleasure. His eyes scanned the surrounding
structure and Wes wondered how long he had worked to create the arena. Was he
the first Mortui Seth had brought here, or just one of many? Seth finished
scanning the rows and rows of stone steps and benches. “What we really need are
spectators. It might be fun to have an audience witness your defeat.”

Slowly the stone benches filled with people. They shared
Seth’s simple attire, and rather than rows of Romans in togas, they appeared as
modern spectators in a sporting arena. With their appearance came the noise
that accompanies a cheering crowd. Seth closed his eyes and took in the noise
as his smile widened. It was obvious he was enjoying the attention, even though
it was from people of his own creation. “I want you to appreciate how very
talented I am. Look at this whole world of people I have created just to watch
you die.” He gestured expansively.

Well, that answered one question. Seth’s temporary bout of
narcissism provided Wes the opportunity he was waiting for. Rolling out from under
Seth’s foot, he sprang to his feet and began running toward one side of the
arena. After sprinting for a few seconds he realized he wasn’t being followed.
Seth remained where Wes had left him. The crowd grew silent. Wes suddenly
realized he didn’t have anywhere to run. There were no exits around the edge of
the arena’s large circular floor.

Wes’s thoughts were scattered and his mind still wasn’t as
focused as it should be. Now that he wasn’t under Seth’s boot he needed this
brief opportunity to arrange his thoughts. The world he was in was not of his
creation, yet he knew he could control it. He could do it while being synced
with others. Even in this world, Wes was just as capable of producing objects,
people, and places that Seth could see and would have to respond to. He looked
quickly at his surroundings. How could he use this place against Seth?

A pain suddenly radiated though Wes’s body and he screamed
in agony as he found himself once again on the arena’s floor. There was a flash
of white light and the image of the Coliseum disappeared and then instantly
reappeared. The onlooking spectators cheered. It was impossible for Seth to
have gotten close enough to stab him, but in this world of Seth’s making, Wes
was now sprawled on the ground with a knife protruding from his back and Seth
standing over him. Pain from the wound pulsed through his body. Seth put his
foot on Wes’s back and pulled out the knife. The pain subsided.

“I already told you Wes, this is your fate. You will die
here.” Seth jabbed the knife in Wes’s back a second time. “Let’s try to make it
last a little longer though, shall we?”

Wes screeched in pain. There was another bright flash of
light as he lost contact with the reality of the Coliseum. This flash was
slightly different than the previous one. It happened very quickly, but he was
positive he had caught a brief glimpse of the room his body was in; the room
where Seth pulled him into sync. He had seen Blake was the only Atumra soldier
left in the room and was sitting on the metal hospital table swinging his feet
back and forth. Seth lay next to him on the floor. During this brief escape
from the Coliseum, the pain had also vanished. Then the image of the room
disappeared as rapidly as it had come, and Wes was back in the Coliseum pain
and all.

The pain subsided as Seth withdrew the knife a second time
and Wes was able to think clearly again. What just happened? Had the pain
pulled him from the sync, or had his mind found a way to counter the pain
brought on by the knife? More importantly, could he control it without pain?
Seth stood above him gloating while Wes tried to process this new discovery. It
was an interesting development that now offered him two weapons. First, he knew
he could control things in this environment. Just because he hadn’t yet didn’t
mean that he couldn’t, although it was a safe bet Seth didn’t think he could.
Second, he’d just discovered he could exist in both the world created by the
mind and the real world simultaneously.

When Seth stabbed him, part of his mind had returned to the
room in the basement of the Atumra headquarters. He didn’t question that it
happened; he knew it did. At the same time, he must also have remained in sync
or Seth would have known he was gone. He wouldn’t have been able to withdraw the
knife if Wes wasn’t there to pull the knife from. The only question now was
whether or not he could divide his mind and maintain control of both his body
in the real world and himself in the world of the mind. It was worth a shot. If
he could exist in both places, he could take care of the Mortui named Blake and
then hold Seth’s body ransom against him. It sounded crazy even to him, but it
was a brilliant idea – if he could pull it off.

“You can’t fight me, you know.” Seth was saying. “I’ve
bested more experienced men than you.” As Seth prepared to stab him again, the
new plan gave Wes renewed motivation. He saw Seth’s knife as just a piece of
straw, and as Seth jabbed it at him he rolled away, jumped up, and ran. He
wouldn’t be able to defend himself against Seth in the Coliseum while he fought
Blake in the real world. If he was going keep Seth occupied, then he had to be
somewhere he knew better than anyplace else. He needed to be in his theme park.