beats per minute (25 page)

But it was the ceiling that really took Raegan’s breath
away.

There wasn’t one.

At least, that’s what it looked like at first glance; as she
stared at it, she realised that it was a huge transparent dome of fine glass,
offering an almost panoramic view of the night sky. And what a view! The stars
were bolder, brighter than she had ever seen them; closer, somehow...

‘Impressive, isn’t it?’ came a quiet voice from above her.

Bree’s glossy dark hair fell around her face as she leaned
over the side of one of the plinths. ‘Join me up here when you’re ready.’

Raegan felt like she would never be ready; she could spend
hours just wandering around this huge, strangely beautiful room. And then with
a jolt it hit her that the room might be under surveillance - and she wasn’t
supposed to be in here. Sticking with Bree was definitely the best plan.

When she had climbed the stairs set into the side of the
plinth, she was taken aback to find Bree talking quietly to a thin girl sitting
amongst a mass of cushions. The cushions - so luminously silver that they were
almost white - were piled around her; the sight reminded Raegan of when she was
a kid and used to build forts out of pillows. It had made her feel safe.

 Bree nodded for her to come closer, never letting go
of the other girl’s hand. Her eyes, when she looked up at Raegan, were
unusually softened.

‘Is this...?’ Raegan began and found she did not know how to
finish. She didn’t know who this girl was. At the same time she couldn’t help
notice her friend’s uncharacteristic gentleness; how Bree’s eyes followed as
the other girl ducked her head shyly, the tender way in which she spoke to her.
Was this why Bree acted the way she did? Was this who Bree loved?

‘This is Sukey,’ Bree replied. With the lightest touch, she
tucked a lock of hair behind the other girl’s ear. Her hand lingered against
the downy cheek.
‘My sister.’

Raegan sank down beside her in surprise.
‘Sister.’

‘Yes. Raegan is a very good friend of mine, Sukey. Won’t you
say hello?’

Sukey did not respond. Her chin still touching her chest,
she began to murmur to herself. Her slight body twitched.

‘Is she ok?’

‘She’s not having a good night.’

They sat quietly for a few moments, watching as Sukey
settled down on Bree’s lap, retreating further into herself. Finally Raegan
could not be polite for any longer.

‘Bree,’ she asked quietly. ‘Why did you bring me here?’

‘I don’t know.’ Bree met her eyes for the first time. ‘All
the pretending... it got a bit much to keep up. With you, I mean.
Caught me off guard.
You really are a good friend, Raegan.’
She had never known Bree hesitate. ‘I’m not great at this.
Having
relationships.
Of any kind.
It’s been me and
Sukey, alone, for so long.’

 ‘Has she always been…
here
, then?’

‘For as long as I’ve been at Prime, yes. She wasn’t always
like this.’ Bree lowered her voice. ‘She’s a Regent, too.’

‘A Regent?’
Raegan was
flabbergasted, though she could see how it made sense – why else would Sukey be
at the Unit? But she looked so frail… ‘Did being a Regent do this to her?’

‘In a manner of speaking.
I know
how it looks, but it wasn’t quite as bad as all that. Sukey wasn’t driven mad
by some terrible experience she had as a Regent: these are her powers. She has
visions.
Sees things before they happen.’

Raegan’s mouth dropped open. Why that should seem so
left-field, after the night she’d had, she didn’t know. But she had never heard
of such a thing.

‘She’d always had an odd predictive sense – an uncanny
ability to know where I’d been before I’d told her, that kind of thing. When
our powers started to develop it took over completely. I’d never seen anything
like it. I was terrified.
Our parents, too.’

‘What did they do?’

‘At first, nothing.
They simply
watched with ill-concealed horror.
Left it to me.
I’m
not much older than her and so we were going through the Awakening at the same
time. Sukey grew more and more reliant on me... then they took her away.
Decided she was mad, nothing to be done.
Locked her up.’
Bree’s face darkened at the memory.

‘That’s awful.’ Raegan felt slightly sick as she looked down
at Sukey’s peaceful face, noting how tightly she gripped onto Bree’s hand as
she slept.

‘They ordered me to keep quiet when I started my training,
terrified that news of their less than perfect daughter might ruin the great
Clifton name. Fortunately, as you know, I’m not excellent at following orders.
I told Max. He brought her here. He rescued her,’ Bree stroked her sister’s
pale forehead. ‘For that, he has my eternal gratitude.’

The sea of cerulean velvet and chequered marble merged
kaleidoscopically in front of Raegan’s eyes as she digested this. She still
found it hard to think of Max as one of the good guys. As she mused her gaze
fell on one of the other plinths. She straightened up, still staring. The plinth
was quite high and at an awkward angle, but the foot poking out was pretty
unmistakeable. The toes began to wiggle slightly. She turned to Bree.

‘Sukey’s not the only one with these powers, is she? That’s
how Max knew to bring her here.’

‘Clever girl.
Max was never one to
act purely altruistically. Sukey’s not
mainstream
, but
there are a few others like her.
Even more useful to the
Sentinel, in their way.’

‘So she has to stay?’

‘For as long as she has her visions, yes. Why do you think
I’ve stuck around? I’m not exactly
a jolly
hockey
sticks, stay-in-school type.’ Her lips curled in a mirthless smile.

Raegan sank back on the pillows. She nudged her friend with
her foot. ‘You need to give yourself more credit. You’re a good teacher.’

‘Thank you. I live to serve.’ Bree rolled her eyes.

Here, with her sister sleeping safely in her arms, Bree
looked happier than she had ever seen her. Raegan felt upbeat, too; lighter
than she had all evening. But one thing still nagged at her.

 ‘Sorry to bring it up but... Sukey’s not
mainstream
, and so she has to stay here, you said. Will that
be the same for me, do you think?
Because of the Trace?’

Bree looked thoughtful. ‘I’d never thought of it that way
before. You’re a logical soul, aren’t you? It makes a certain kind of sense - I
suppose being a Tracer is a bit like being a Sooth. Both are gateways to time.
If all goes as expected, you will learn to call forth images of things how they
were
; Sukey sees things as they
will be.
’ Off Raegan’s look of
confusion, she added, ‘That’s what they call Regents with visions.
Sooths.’

‘Oh.’ Aware that her question had not really been answered,
Raegan ran her fingers over the soft, comforting blue of the carpet.

‘But I really think that’s where the similarities end. The
Trace will be another string to your bow. Where most of us have three controls
over time, you’ll have four – there’s no need for you to be kept in here.
Whereas Sukey...’ she looked down at her sister, sadly. ‘She has no control
over her powers. Her stay here is as much for her own protection as for the
Sentinel’s pleasure. She’s bombarded by random visions, all of which are murky
and hard to decipher, and many of which do not come to pass. That’s all she has
of being a Regent; no Body, unpredictable Heart and Brain.’ The elegant white
fingers clenched into a fist. ‘Like other Sooths, she lies here all day and
looks at the sky. That’s the reason for the podiums, I suppose.
To bring them nearer to the stars.
It comforts them – and
the more comfort they need, the higher they go.’ She gestured to the towering
middle podium, which stretched nearly to the ceiling. ‘I don’t know why.
Sukey’s visions are bad enough but she’s never needed to go much higher than
this.
Yet.

‘The oldest Sooth hardly ever comes down from the middle podium.’

The sudden silence made Raegan wonder if Bree had said more
than she meant to; maybe she was angry at Raegan for asking. But then a sliver
of water dropped onto Sukey’s hair, and a rasping tidal wave of explanation
fell from her friend’s lips.

‘The visions, when they come, are blinding. She’s never
talked about the pain but it must be awful. Her body convulses like she’s
having a fit. Afterwards she’s hysterical.
And what for?
Half the time they can’t even understand what she’s seen.

‘I have to come here almost every night or she won’t sleep.
If she doesn’t sleep, she won’t have the strength to recover from the visions.
And so I come.’ Her voice wobbled. ‘Sometimes she doesn’t even recognise me.’

Tentatively, Raegan shuffled closer and placed an arm round
her friend’s shaking shoulders. Bree was not exactly a hugger but for once the
arm was not shrugged off. The three girls sat there for a time; Bree cradling
Sukey and Raegan cradling Bree.

‘I’m sorry for boring you,’ Bree eventually broke the silence,
her voice thick with unshed tears. She stayed leaning against Raegan.

‘You’re never boring.’

‘Well don’t let tonight put you off exploring the Trace, for
Christ’s sake. Even if you have it, it doesn’t mean you can’t mainstream.
Sooths always find it hard to mix in but Sukey is especially fragile. She’s
unique. I mean, the oldest Sooth doesn’t have visions that often any more, but
when she does, she is in perfect control. It’s quite amazing to watch.’

‘How many Sooths are there?’

‘At the moment, just three.
They
all live in here. Sometimes there are more – just depends. It’s so
unpredictable.’

‘Why the big secret?’
Raegan
wondered aloud. ‘I understand that people might get the wrong idea – like your
parents. But surely if it was
more well
known then
people could look out for the signs. It wouldn’t be such a shock, that way.’

‘But don’t you see how dangerous it is? Look at all the
enchantments I have to pass through every night just to get here. And here
isn’t even
here,
by the way; if you looked at Unit Prime from the
outside you’d seen no sign of this tower. It’s a powerful weapon for the
Sentinel and, if it fell into the wrong hands, could be lethal. They don’t want
the Fay to ever find out that we have a prophetic strand to our powers.’

‘You talk about the Sooths like they’re not people.
Just part of the Sentinel’s arsenal.’

‘Aren’t we all?’ Bree’s voice was tinged with bitterness.
‘You’ll discover that soon enough. Doesn’t mean I agree with it, but those of
us in the know are ordered under no uncertain terms to keep our mouths shut;
and keeping the presence of Sooths as secret as possible works out – mostly –
because the gift is rare. Not as rare as the Trace, though.’

‘Trace.’

The word made them both jump. It was Sukey’s first.

Bree sat up without letting go of her sister’s hand. ‘You’re
awake.’

Sukey also uncoiled, as if in reply, shaking out her hair.
She turned her dark eyes on Raegan.

‘You say it.’

Raegan looked at Bree, confused. She prompted her sister.

‘Say what, Suke? Are you trying to tell Raegan something?’

Apparently oblivious, Sukey’s eyes, dark, bottomless pools,
were trained on Raegan’s face.
‘Trace.
Say it.’

After a minute, Raegan repeated the word uncertainly.
‘Trace.’

‘Yes! That’s you. You said it, not me!’

‘Sukey.’
Bree’s voice cut through
Sukey’s giggles sternly. ‘It’s not nice to play games with people. If you have
something to tell Raegan, tell her. No riddles.’

At this, Sukey looked almost petulant; Raegan thought how
bizarre it was to see such a childish expression on a face possessing two
ancient, endless eyes.

‘Sukey.’

After a nudge from her sister, Sukey leaned forward,
speaking to Raegan intently.
‘That word that you said.
You did not know it, but you have it. You should not be afraid to use it.’

‘Thank you.’ Sukey looked as though she was reaching out a
hand to Raegan, and so Raegan made to take it in response.

Sukey giggled again, snatching her hand away. ‘No. Look.’
She opened her hand slowly, as if showing something on the palm. Smiling mischeviously,
she looked at Raegan again. The enormous black orbs drew Raegan in until she
was drowning in the liquid surface.

Suddenly Raegan was struck by a memory of a girl in a pale
blue nightgown.
A girl with shining dark eyes.

‘You!’ she whispered. ‘I’ve seen you before.’

Opening and closing her hand again, Sukey just smiled.

‘How did you do that?’

Bree, who had been watching the exchange anxiously, furrowed
her brow. ‘What are you two talking about?’

‘Sukey...’ Raegan shook her head, physically trying to
dislodge the image from her mind. ‘She came to me in a dream.
When I was recovering in hospital.’

Bree looked at Sukey sharply. ‘Is this true?’

‘She was lost. I found her. I was not the only one.’

‘Sukey!’
Bree glanced between the
two girls quickly. ‘I said before, Raegan, that she could be unpredictable...
I’m sorry, she’s not supposed to – well, she’s not even supposed to be able to
go into other people’s minds, I’m not sure how she did it...’

‘She was lost.’ Sukey nodded.

Distantly, there was a chime. Bree’s head whipped upwards.
The sky was lightening. ‘I’m sorry, but we must go.’

At that, all thoughts of rescuing lost souls vanished and
something shattered behind Sukey’s eyes. A low wail started in her throat. Bree
took both of her shoulders in a strong grip.
‘Sukey.
Look at the sky. You know what it means. But when it’s dark again, I will come
to you.’