Ascension (28 page)

“Your uncle…, Monica murmured, her breathing now heavy. “Any idea where he might be? Or when he might return?”

Justin frowned. “He's up the coast on another fishing trip. That's why I couldn't help it, and needed to throw a party in his absence.”

“And what about when he inevitably returns?” Margaret asked. “Look, the reason we're here, is to find out if you remember anything about last night that might have been out of the ordinary...”

“That is, did you see anything you'd think to be out of this world?” Monica added, seeing that the boy looked confused.

He giggled back at them. “What like aliens? What is all this really about?”

You know full well… of that much I am almost certain,
thought Monica, as she wandered over to the window and glanced down at an old wooden chair.

She gazed downward at her feet. She thought her shadow appeared unusually long, for it trailed from beneath the windowpane, to where she stood before the foot of Justin's bed and out into the hallway. She then felt chilly hands reach up from the floor and claw at her waist. Perplexed, she scratched at her hips, trying to dislodge what felt like the caressing of frost-covered fingers. She wanted to scream: to warn Margaret about what was happening to her. But nothing would come out.

“Did I happen to mention, apart from two, that all of your party guests were found in a comatose state?” She heard Margaret ask him.

“Look, a number of us raided my uncle's liquor cabinet. It was stupid, and I am sorry. But you can't hold me responsible for their actions as well.”

Unable to move, Monica watched as Margaret turned for the door and closed it by using her celestial energy. Once the door had closed, Kishar emerged from the Senator's handbag and climbed atop her master's shoulder.

“What the….”

“There is no need to fear Mr Ellis. This is Kishar; and she will retrieve for me all the memories you might have suspiciously suppressed. It will allow us to see, what we believe you did last night, and get any information beyond your own understanding,” Margaret explained. “Now just relax. I promise you won't feel a thing. Then we will leave you so that you can get some much needed rest.”

Monica, petrified in her place and feeling disoriented, continued to helplessly watch as Kishar and Margaret closed their eyes in unison to focus their energies. But then, and as expected, she witnessed both sets of eyes abruptly open with shock.

“Blocked? But how is this possible?” She heard Margaret cry.

Justin sighed, and pressed forward, pinning both Margaret and Kishar up against the wall with the unique nature of his own energy. “I'm sorry Senator Gates, but I cannot allow you, or anyone else, to pry into what my mind conceals. Although, I must admit I would have preferred your little ‘
Project'
to continue to remain ignorant of my true identity. Now, I haven't really any choice but to unveil myself as my master's own Indigo.”

Monica looked on as Margaret swiftly broke free from Justin's hold and glanced back at her for support. But all that Monica could do was gaze back, hoping that the Senator might come up with a way to get them out of this predicament.

“What have you done to her?” The Senator questioned.

“It's not what he's done…” With gloved hands in motion before a mask of porcelain, Monica could only look on as a new Corrupted entered the room and confronted the Senator.

“Your guardian is not the only spirit here who can manipulate the will of others,” said the masked Corrupted, placing himself between the bewildered Senator and Justin, this newly identified Indigo.

With her hands outstretched before her face, Margaret stood her ground, resolved to fight. “It's been a while since I last fought with your kind. But there are some things that one never forgets.”

Margaret swiftly repelled both Justin and this new Corrupted against the back wall with significant force, before she proceeded to lightly whisper the words of an old incantation. This incantation was something Monica hadn't heard for many years, and with the little movement she had, she tilted her head to look down on the Senator's guardian. She saw that Kishar's dark beady eyes had turned a ghostly blue; for the petite spirit was attempting to enter the Corrupted's mind. But alas, Monica had also noticed that the Corrupted seemed unperturbed in spite of Kishar's efforts.

“Such tricks won't work on me,” she heard the masked Corrupted proclaim, as he gently tapped at the porcelain of his mask.

“That may be so, but telepathy is not the only ability at Kishar's disposal,” Margaret warned, beckoning her guardian to attack.

Kishar immediately leapt forth into the air and dived toward the masked Corrupted with her teeth bared. As the little spirit flew toward him, Monica noticed that Kishar had closed her eyes, and thus she quickly sought to do the same. For when the spirit drew ever closer to this masked Corrupted, a bright spectral beam instantly followed that radiated out from the tips of her antennae.

“I can't see…,” she heard Justin cry out.

Excellent work Kishar
, she wanted to cheer, feeling that Margaret and Kishar had gained the upper hand in this fight.

Only, the Senator then uttered something which she knew stifled any chance they might still have to get out of this mess.

“Blast, I can't move…,” Margaret had said, panicked, and confirming that she too had fallen under this masked Corrupted's spell.

But when Monica opened her eyes, she quickly learned there must be yet another Corrupted present. For as she glanced downward, she could no longer see the material of Margaret's pant leggings; from the waist down, the Senator was now covered in a blanket of crawling insects.

“There's little use in struggling,” chortled what sounded a feminine voice. “For these particular insects of mine secrete an enzyme which paralyze its prey.”

Kishar…, where has she gone?
Monica instantly wondered, praying that the guardian was still capable of fighting.

But her eyes soon came to rest upon the little sprite who lay bound within the gloved grasp of this masked Corrupted. Their hopes were dashed. With a wicked smile, this womanly shaped creature whose horns pierced up through her hood, stepped toward her.

“For the sake of some friendly competition, is there any way we can measure which one of our tricks is the more potent?” the horned Corrupted questioned, glancing back at her peers.

“On another note, remind me to dispose of that worthless Reaper once we've brought an end to this organisation,” Justin requested, rubbing at his neck. “Rabisu has clearly outlived his usefulness.”

The masked Corrupted grumbled. “I could have told you as much quite a while ago. But for some reason our lord keeps giving him second chances.”

“We have company,” the horned Corrupted then hastily informed them, glaring toward the door.

Monica could immediately recognize Walter's gruff voice barking out orders from within the hall. Soon Lance, accompanied by both Gavin and Aleisha, burst through the door with revolvers drawn. They proceeded to fire upon the Corrupted pair, but the masked Corrupted effortlessly waived the bullets away through the sweeping motion of his cloak. Justin also had quickly moved to disarm the operatives of their weapons; while the horned Corrupted sought to restrain them through her paralyzing swarm.

As the swarm had now dispersed to engulf the other operatives, Monica was only able to look on as there were now insects creeping up her own leggings, their paralyzing agent adding to the debilitating grasp of these shadows about her body. In one last desperate attempt, and having suddenly regained control over her arms, she stretched out with open palms and telekinetically thrust the bedside dresser toward the masked Corrupted. But Justin, having stepped forward, countered her efforts with his own energy before it reached them. With the bedside dresser now lying on its side, she could only cry out in vain as the insects took hold of her arms and scurried toward her face.

Lance cried down into his wrist communicator. “Sir, we need backup.”

“Fascinating device,” she heard the masked Corrupted comment, as he closely examined Lance's wrist. “Still, such things seem primitive when one can communicate telepathically. I suspect the day will never come when humankind reclaims its lost arts...”

Justin glared back at him, indignant. “Am I not proof enough? Some of us have ascended to the next level. Wouldn't you agree Senator? Ms Hawthorne?”

“Why now of all times does he choose to return,” Margaret murmured. “Have you any idea who you serve?”

Justin retrieved a cloak. “I can assure you that I'm well aware. My lord has simply lost patience with humanity. He has waited for us too long to regain the most valued qualities we once held. And so he must rebuild this world anew. Only those worthy will then live to serve his will.”

“Young lord, may my children feed upon what remains of their energy?” the horned Corrupted asked him.

“No, we shall spare their lives for the time being. Besides, there will soon be plenty of opportunities for them to get their fill.”

He knelt before Lance. “Your Indigo's will find Ms Hawthorne and the Senator alive within the grounds of Anabasis High. Tell your masters what you've seen, for we'll be waiting.”

“If you intend to use us as bait, it won't work,” Monica clamoured, as the insects crawled about her lips and injected their toxin.

“I suppose that depends upon whether the organisation values your lives or not,” Justin told her, as the insects slowly approached her eyes. “Now that you are numb and unable to feel any pain, I pray you find peace. For when my lord resurfaces, there will be none.”

Chapter 23

Although she'd been dating Justin for only a few months, Katherine felt aggrieved by the organisation's suspicions of her boyfriend. Worse still she'd been forbidden going to visit him. Despite her suspicions that he'd cheated on her, she thought of what he must be going through there alone in hospital, and with no one there to support him. This made her desire to be by his side all the greater. Despite concerns for his wellbeing or hers, she needed to cling to anything that had made her happy before this misery began. But when she reflected on it, aside from the basketball and the tragic story of his parent's untimely deaths at sea, she really didn't know him well enough to disregard the organisation's concerns.

As she stood outside her room, she decided to do something proactive. Walter had reminded her that she had a history test next week and should take the time to study, and study was exactly what she had on her mind as she hustled along the corridor. Albeit, the study she intended to occupy her time with, was unlikely to help her in any upcoming assessment.

“Blake, have we got a library? Or at least some place where I can study in silence?” She asked, upon passing him by.

Dumbfounded with her question, he pointed back toward the training facility. “We do have a library, but this is starting to become disconcerting. Tell me: what have you done with the real Katherine Munroe?”

“Where specifically,” she urged, not willing to waste more time in his presence.

“Follow me…,” he sighed, as he led her back along the corridor and into the training facility.

Upon reaching the opposite side of the facility, he punched an identification code into a control panel before yet another secure doorway.

How many rooms does this facility house? And are all these security measures really necessary?
She wondered, as she followed Blake down a winding hallway.

He continued to gaze back at her with incredulity. “It's the first room on your left.”

Inside this room, and as expected, there were numerous columns of book bearing shelves and each categorized by way of the English alphabet. But as she looked deeper into the library, beyond the range of shelves labelled with English letters, she found an entire shelf dedicated to, and labelled with very peculiar symbols. As she scanned each book's spine, her eyes soon came to rest on the markings of an Egyptian deity.

“Well that wasn't so difficult to find…,” she whispered to herself, as she struggled to wrench a large leather-bound tome from the shelf.

“What is it you're looking for?” Anzu questioned, the guardian having appeared behind her and scaring her half to death.

“This here…,” she murmured, her heart in her throat. “I thought it might shed some light on the true identities of those Corrupted we'd fought.”

As she gazed down at its cover, she noticed that the mark on its spine was also on its front. Embroidered with gold strands, and embossed in the leatherwork, was an unusual looking half animal and half human hybrid; with long rectangular ears, and a large snout like that of an aardvark.

She heard Blake snigger from over her shoulder. “Most productive….”

“You know, it's rather rude to sneak up on people.”

“Demonology of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia; the histories of upper and lower Egypt, and the Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian empires…such a long title,” he said, reading across its bulky cover.

“I'm trying to find anything that might help us with combatting these corrupted.”

“The further back we search for something in history; the less factual evidence there is to prove its existence,” he stated, as though he believed his words were unquestionable.

She snarled at him – agitated, wishing he'd go away. “You know what Blake? You're not nearly as smart as you think you are.”

“And this is coming from the girl with such poor grades and study habits… Believe me, if there was anything worth finding, I would have found it by now,” he snapped. “Most of what you'll find pertains to myth; the accounts of so many who've failed to understand what they've actually witnessed.”

“Are you quite finished? Now if you don't mind, I'd like to read in silence. This is a library after all.”