Ascension (33 page)

“Kul,” Lance called out, trying to keep up, and seeing that the water spirit was struggling. “Let me help you carry him.”

Chapter 26

Once the sun had set in Anabasis, Katherine knew the last thing Walter wanted was for this winged Corrupted to sneak up and take them unaware. There were other operatives weary and wounded in need of assistance, and who were trying to make their way back. So to help them see their way back, Walter had asked Katherine to set up lights outside his surveillance van.

As Walter had assigned her this task, she was eager to contribute in whatever way she could and took pride in the fact he'd put her to work. But she wasn't certain about her capabilities of setting them up properly. As she was the last operative at Walter's disposal, she believed it necessary to provide Walter with what he required. With the others already about the school and engaging the Corrupted, she saw it an opportunity to cultivate trust in this organisation's director.

But as she tinkered with each lamp, checking to ensure it was assembled properly, the suspense grew more unbearable. Her mind overflowed with worry for Monica's wellbeing, and with how Aleisha and Gavin were faring in trying to save her. This was also compounded by the fact she felt her real talents were being squandered. Never again did she want to lose someone, and feel that she could have done more to prevent it.

If this wasn't disheartening enough, she found herself kneeling in a chilling breeze that swept across the empty school. Goose pimples had developed up and along her arms, and she sneezed constantly. Although her imagination might be running wild, it occurred to her that this sudden plummet in temperature was brought forth by this wraith of Atlantis.

Perhaps we will soon encounter this subject of so many operative's fear
, she thought.

“Walter, you don't think Namtar might be somewhere in the school grounds?” She heard herself ask.

“I don't believe so,” he solemnly responded. “I can't imagine I'd ever forget the haunting and numbing nature of his energy. Why do you ask?”

She pulled at the hood of her cloak. “I'm probably overthinking it. This suddenly very cold wind has just put me on edge.”

Setting aside her fears, she glanced up toward the block of classrooms where she'd seen the winged Corrupted land. She thought about what she'd read about the Corrupted twins and Namtar; wondering if anything she'd learned of that could translate into a strategy. But at the same time, she also pondered if there was any reason to bother. Walter had been adamant about her staying put, and she knew she'd have to adhere to his wishes if she were to remain a part of this organisation. In truth, staying with the organisation had given her newfound comradery with some of the other operatives, and had strengthened of her bond with Anzu.

As for the winged Corrupted; she'd little to work with from her library search and she'd not been told much about him nor had she personally witnessed of his feats. This only made her more nervous about him in particular: it was this fear of the unknown. Nevertheless, she didn't have time to dwell on what this winged Corrupted might be capable of. She heard a voice call out her name in the wind that sent a chill rolling down her spine.

“Who's there?” She cried out, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end.

“Katherine, please…,” the voice again called out her name.

“Monica…?” She rushed for the surveillance van. “Walter. I mean, sir? I think I just heard Monica try and reach out to me.”

“I can't sense her presence,” he replied, sounding agitated. “If you please…, I really do need to concentrate.”

Angry with disappointment, she stormed back out of the van. Despite her frustration, she rationally agreed that a suggestion that Monica had called out to her sounded ridiculous. But she couldn't shake this feeling that what she'd heard was exactly that: Monica reaching out to her, and pleading for her to help.

“Perhaps you're just hearing things,” Anzu agreed, as he peered up at the school block's rooftop. “But, stranger things have happened.”

You can say that again…,
she thought, glancing down at her guardian, thinking about the bizarre nature of their celestial bond.

She paced up and along the line of vehicles. “I wasn't just hearing things, I heard Monica speak to me…I'm sure of it. This is insufferable. We should be out there helping them.”

Anzu sighed “Walter feels we're not ready. And I can see his reasoning, given the way we fared against those earthen Corrupted…”

“Katherine…, you must…help,” Monica's voice pleaded in the wind.

“You must have heard her that time?” She asked the guardian.

Although Anzu had briefly glanced back at her with confusion, the guardian appeared to concede that something was awry; for he briskly shifted the focus of his golden eyes up ahead to where this voice was supposedly coming from. It was then that Katherine noticed his keen eyes had suddenly widened, and his beak now hung open with a look of dismay.

He let out a dry gasp and motioned forward. “Are you seeing what I'm seeing?”

She followed his line of sight; her eyes coming to rest upon a grim and ghostly spirit. With hollowed blue eyes and long strands of black hair, this womanly figure quietly trudged toward them.

“Anzu, wait…,” she pleaded, Anzu having bounded forward.

Upon the guardian's approach, they looked on as the spirit abruptly spun round and trailed off back towards the block of classrooms.

“I may not have heard her…,” the guardian confessed with a shudder. “But I'm looking at her. At least, I think it's her…, only I can't work out how that's even possible?”

“That isn't Monica you're sensing,” Walter asserted, as he rolled toward them. “It is the Corrupted's doing…”

“I believe you're right,” Katherine replied, brimming with confidence. “It's an illusion conjured by the masked Corrupted Alu.”

“Alu, what do you know of that spirit?”

“He's the Reaper of nightmares,” she clarified, scanning about her surroundings. “He must have us all trapped in one of his spells. When they attacked me at eleven Delphi Crescent, he crafted an illusion of Anzu to deceive me. I thought he was hurt…, so I went over to help him.”

“And this was when they attacked you…, only to have their plans foiled by the real one suddenly coming to your aid,” Walter added, putting the pieces together.

She looked down at the concrete. “It's just as I thought. It's the same bluish glow…”

“And now we've made it that much easier for this Corrupted by setting up the lights, presenting him with shadows to weave his magic…,” the Director muttered. “Am I correct to presume that Monica has taught you about detecting foreign energies?”

She guided her finger along the asphalt. “She has, and there are patches of his energy everywhere. We only needed to step on one spot and risk being caught under his spell.”

She hustled over toward Anzu. “Can you still see the illusion?”

“No, it disappeared inside the block of classrooms.”

“And we're about to follow,” she affirmed, spinning round to face Walter. “I'm sorry sir, but I refuse to just stand here and do nothing.”

He looked up at her through bushy eyebrows and pushed his spectacles back up the bridge of his nose. She expected his admonishment, where he'd reiterate her lack of experience and insubordination. But he sat there in silence, rubbing the stubble on his chin.

“If we follow, we'd be walking directly into his trap,” Anzu murmured, as he anxiously glanced back and forth between both Katherine and Walter.

“We would, but we're running out of time,” she asserted. “Sir…we can do this. You must trust us.”

“Sir, I'm ready to do my part for the organisation,” said Anzu. “We've little choice with both Blake and Kulullu requiring treatment. And officers' Harkin and Spears will need an Indigo's support.”

He frowned back at them. “You are wrong to think that I readily grant permission to those who make requests…, especially to those who've yet to prove themselves. But as you say, and given your worthy convictions, I may not have much of a choice…”

“Thank you sir, we won't let you down,” Katherine replied. Immediately she and Anzu immediately tore off toward the school block.

As she carefully parted its front doors, she dashed along the corridor until she reached the first set of classrooms. She searched inside each room for any semblance of Monica, operative, or Corrupted's whereabouts.

“Katherine, you must stay away…,” she heard Monica's voice echo up and about the walls.

“Stay away?” She questioned. “We're here to save you.”

The further she progressed along the corridor, the more abundantly clear it became that she should have heeded Monica's most recent warning. For many a fallen operative now lay unconscious before them on the cold tiled floor.

“Anzu, we'll have to come back for them once we've freed Monica,” she told the guardian, as he was frantically trying to awaken each operative.

“Who is it you intend to free?” Monica murmured, as she now stood before the perplexed pair unscathed.

Katherine gulped, wondering if she was being deceived by the Corrupted's spell. “Monica…?”

“I managed to escape the masked Corrupted,” said Monica. “But Principal Heathgate is still their captive. We need to rescue him before it's too late.”

“Katherine, I don't believe this is Monica…,” Anzu mumbled, sharing in her concern that this would prove to be yet another illusion.

Sure enough, their suspicions were quickly confirmed. Justin casually glided towards them, calling to the Corrupted. “Alu, you keep underestimating her abilities. She can see through your little ruse.”

He extended his arm and took hold of her in a loving embrace. But Katherine wasn't going to ignore everything that had transpired in his name, and she promptly pushed him away before assuming an aggressive stance.

“I suppose that it's still too soon, and there are more than a few things I must confess if I'm ever to regain your trust,” he said, trying to take hold of her hand. “Kat, I promise you, not everything is as it seems…Or for that matter as it should be …, which is why I need your help to make it so.”

She balked, rejecting his advances. “You ask for my help? You have sided with these Corrupted; the very same pair who killed my father. How could it not be any clearer than that?”

“Because this organisation you've recently become a part of, and of which your father regrettably was also a member, has yet to tell you the whole truth,” he proclaimed, with a sincere tone of voice…or so she believed. “Am I also right to assume they have not yet to told you about what befell your mother?”

Anzu advanced toward the young man, ready to pounce. “Katherine, you must not listen to him. He's let himself become one of them. He only intends to deceive you through his malicious lies and cause us to question our resolve.”

He smiled back at her. “I needn't say another word. For that is all they are; words. But what I can do is show you the truth.”

He gestured toward Alu to proceed, and the masked Corrupted planted his gloved palms up against the corridor's walls. Before Katherine could blink, or look to counter what the Corrupted was doing, she found herself alone and inside the ‘
Projects
' underground basement.

Why am I back in the facility? And where is Anzu?
She pondered, before she wandered along the corridor and toward the organisation's vehicle bay.

Inside, the clicking of a ratchet rang through the air and she could smell the vapours of diesel rising up from the floor. She could hear the sound of footsteps coming up behind her, accompanied by a rather blunt, and yet somehow familiar voice. A young woman then appeared to phase through her and approach the vehicle. This woman was of a slender build, with long strands of charcoal black hair and bright blue eyes.

“Duncan, I have a new recruit with me,” the familiar voice called out. “One that Robert has requested must be trained at once.”

A young man stood up from beneath one of the organisation's utilities. Covered with oil and dressed in stained overalls, he removed a pair of googles and dropped his ratchet.

“Monica, I still have all these vehicles to finish detailing. I'm not really sure when I'll find the time…,” he paused, his eyes fixed upon this new recruit as if he were caught under a spell. “Hello, Miss…”

“Hawthorne. But you can call me Elizabeth,” the young woman smiled, as she proceeded to shake his hand. “I'm Monica's little sister. I'm looking forward to working with you, Officer…”

“Munroe,” the young man replied, wrestling to remove a pair of grimy gloves.

Sisters…? How is this possible?
Katherine wondered, baffled by what had developed.
Is this a dream? Or a memory? And who's the one dreaming? Whose memory am I seeing? This can't possibly be my own…

As a younger version of Monica also stepped forward, she stared back and forth between the two women, absorbed with what was playing out before her eyes. Memories quickly flooded her mind, moments when Duncan had commented on how much she and Monica were alike. Then there were the times classmates had teased and taunted her over perceived similarities; riddling her with their questions over whether she was Monica's daughter - or even a younger sister. She remembered how swiftly she'd rejected their comments, thinking that the very notion was utterly out of left field.

But there was little time to further digest what she'd learned, as her surroundings once again changed, seamlessly evolving from one brief moment in history to the next. She now found herself standing at Monica's side while a wedding procession was performed inside the ‘
Project's'
training facility. Before her, and at centre stage, both her mother and father were taking their vows.