Emily (19 page)

‘
Emily,’ Vladimir’s voice was firm, ‘it is up to you. Whatever you want, I will make happen. I know now that Eric and I must go back. There are so many lives that are trapped in the compound under Varrick’s control.’

Emily was now in tears.
‘You can’t ask me to go and you can’t leave me,’ she raced out of the room and went outside, running down the track to the edge of the cliff. Once she was there Emily sat on the grass and cried. After a while she heard Applejacks and Rumour approach; the dog just sat down beside her and placed her head onto Emily’s lap. Applejacks pushed his nuzzle on her head, gently breathing on her face.

‘
Why the tears?
’ Applejacks thought to Emily.

‘
Vladimir and Eric want us to go to Europe and confront his father. They think I can help them free their people.’

‘
Well, you are helpful
,’ Applejacks thought back.

‘
In what way?
’ Emily replied.

‘
In talking to animals and moving things around.’

‘
What good is that?
’ Emily responded. She was unsure of her abilities now that it had come to life and death.

Applejacks thought for a while and said,
‘I remember when the old donkey came to the farm in such wretched state. He was so skinny and one of his hooves was split.’

‘
Yes and everybody wanted to put him down
,’ Emily replied, fresh tears pouring down her face knowing that he would have been terrified when he died.

‘
Remember when you met him, you asked him if he wanted to live?’

‘
Yes,’ Emily whispered aloud, ‘he showed me that he liked to stand in the sun.’

‘
You gave him five good years and he liked that you saw him for who he was and not just a dumb donkey. Maybe Vladimir and Eric’s people need someone to talk to them as well as to see them for what they truly are.’

‘
Who says that they’ll listen to me?
’ Emily thought back. She felt so small and cold to the core.

‘
They might not
,’ Applejacks replied.

‘
You wouldn’t be afraid to go?’ Emily asked out loud.

‘
If we are together I won’t be afraid,’ Applejacks replied softly.

‘
But I am,’ Emily replied aloud again, ‘I am afraid.’

Applejacks stayed with Emily until the sun began to dip below the sea and as they turned back to the villa, she could see Vladimir and Eric waiting for her on the balcony and she knew that regardless of her fear, she would go.

Waking with a start, it took Emily a moment to realise that she was on a steam train in the Czech Republic. It was now dark and her dreams of the past seemed so close that being on the train wasn
’t quite real. Her head was in Vladimir’s lap and Eric was stretched out on the seat opposite them. Reaching out with her mind to the men, she realised they were both awake.

‘
Do you think Vince’s men are in place?’ Emily thought to Vladimir.

‘
Yes,’ he replied, ‘they should be. The extra day we stayed in Paris would have given him time to get them in place.’

‘
Do you think seventy-five men will be enough?’ Eric thought.

‘
They are highly trained and know what the situation is,’ Vladimir replied, hoping that he was right. To himself he thought, I pray surrendering ourselves to Varrick will work.

‘
I wish I knew how David was,’ Emily mused out loud, more to herself than to the men. Just before they had left the villa by the sea, Vince had received word that David had lived through the surgery but had not yet awoken. Vladimir knew how much David meant to Emily; she had few friends and no family, he was all she had left. Most people didn’t understand what Emily did and she only made friends with people who were kind to animals.

‘
He is a strong man, he will survive this,’ Vladimir spoke out loud. He ran his fingers over Emily’s cheek, down her jaw and along her neck.

Emily asked,
‘Do you think it will be much longer before we get off?’

‘
I don’t think so, maybe thirty minutes,’ Vladimir replied. He had done a quick estimate on how fast they were going and how long they had been travelling.

Emily connected to Applejacks and Rumour in the next carriage, telling them that it wouldn
’t be much longer.

‘
I am glad,’ Applejacks thought. ‘The little one is missing you and I want to stretch my legs.’

Emily then connected to Rumour and sent her reassuring thoughts. The bitch was nervous and Emily regretted her decision to bring her along on the journey, but the little bitch was devoted to her and Emily felt the same way.

A sharp knock landed on the door and a voice said, in Czech, ‘Fifteen minutes until your stop, be ready!’

Eric stood up and stretched, gathering up the packs from the luggage rack. Emily
’s heart began to beat faster and she thought to herself,
this is insane
, and then the train began to slow down.

The steam train stopped in the middle of nowhere and a special ramp was brought to Applejacks
’ carriage so that he could get off the train. Rumour followed Applejacks down from the compartment, growling as the strange men approached her. She ached to see Emily again and stood nervously under Applejacks. A few minutes later the conductor unlocked the cabin door and they disembarked, Eric first followed by Emily and then Vladimir. Both men were wary and quickly looked around to see what their situation was.

The three were dressed in heavy coats with fur on the top. Emily had almost rejected the coat until Vladimir had explained how cold it would be. Both Applejacks and Rumour had on coats as well but poor Rumour had to walk in the snow. As soon as Rumour saw Emily, she ran to her and Emily took a moment to connect with the dog, expressing her joy in the reunion.

Looking around at the people who had met them, she didn’t see Roy, Sarah or Ivan, and she was glad of that. However, the men looked just as mean and several had machine guns; and they looked ready to use them. There were several other men without guns and Emily could sense their emotions. It took her a second to realise they were abnormals like Vladimir and Eric. The men understood this as well, they could sense the animal within the men around them.

Pausing to open a connection to Vladimir and Eric, Emily tentatively forged a light connection with the other abnormals telling them simply,
‘
I am Emily, these men are Vladimir and Eric, we come to you as friends
.’ The abnormals quickly looked at each other as Emily tried to project calm and sincerity. Then one of the men pointed a gun at her and barked, ‘Don’t use your mental powers here witch, I have orders to shoot you if you do.’

Emily smiled at the man and broke off her connection. She knew closing the connection quickly would unsettle them. Her eye caught one of the young abnormals
– he looked so familiar. He was young, he looked no older than eighteen, and he flashed her a small smile before looking away. Looking more closely at the boy, Emily noticed that he was tall and lean although he had not yet developed a man’s body, his hair was the same colour as Eric’s.

Emily gasped and when she looked at Eric she knew he had noticed too. Vladimir was the first to speak and he looked grim,
‘Who is your mother, boy?’

The boy replied,
‘My mother is dead her name was Rachel she died after giving birth to me, but perhaps you should be asking the question "who is my father?"‘ The boy’s voice carried dark emotion.

‘
Enough,’ another guard spoke roughly. Turning to the boy he said, ‘Go back to the compound, you’ve had the family reunion you wanted.’

‘
Wait,’ Emily cried. Turning to the youth she asked in a soft voice, ‘What is your name?’

‘
Eben,’ the youth replied then turned and ran ahead, his movements very fast.

Looking at Eric
’s face, Emily realised that whatever had happened to Eric’s first lover Rachel, her child had ended up here. Emily reached out and put her hand into Eric’s and Vladimir moved closer and rested his hand on Eric’s shoulder. ‘
He looked strong, like you
,’ he thought to Eric, as the three were still connected mentally.

But Eric had tears in his eyes.
‘
My son hates me, I felt it
.’

‘
No
,’ Emily thought to Eric. ‘
He doesn’t know you
,’ and then she spoke. ‘Eric, you have a son, I’m so glad we came.’

Keeping close together, the small group walked through the dark forest with the few of the guards carrying torches. Rounding a bend they left the track and moved onto a road, before them was a huge manor. In the moonlight it looked cold and scary.

‘
I do not like this place
,’ Applejacks thought to the group.

‘
No one does,’ Eric murmured softly. But Emily was in awe, she had never seen such a building.

‘
My father would have loved to have seen this,’ she said, ‘it’s so incredible.’ Looking at the old manor, Emily forgot for a moment the trouble they were in. The dark building was huge and stretched at least 400 metres across and four stories high and was made with a dark stone. Gargoyles were spread intermittently across the different levels, all baring their teeth in expressions of hate.

Before speaking Vladimir thought to himself,
how does she stay so much in the moment?
‘Sven told us that there were laboratories where all the testing is done underneath the manor. That is where our people are.’

Hearing him the guard said,
‘Only the ones who don’t obey. Varrick only keeps them to breed. I imagine you’ll see that place,’ he laughed coldly then added, ‘You two are somewhat of a legend here. I remember when Varrick thought you were dead, he killed the group that he’d sent to look for you.’

‘
Interesting management style,’ Vladimir replied.

‘
We have to keep your kind in check.’ The man gestured for the group to move on.

Emily could feel the abnormals around her bristle at the comment, the guards were all full humans,
I wonder why he only uses full humans as guards
, she thought and she sent the information to Vladimir and Eric who exchanged a look.

The group could now see a stone bridge that ran across a small stream in front of the manor. It was lit with fire torches and, at the entrance on either side,
were men with machine guns. Standing beside them were Rottweilers like Rumour, who growled as the group approached. Emily opened a connection to the dogs sending reassuring thoughts. She asked both the dogs to lie down as they passed and both guards yanked at the chains around their necks trying to get them to stand up. The guards that had brought them from the train stopped at the entrance of the stone bridge.

‘
Keep going,’ one of the other guards ordered.

Stepping onto the stone bridge, Applejacks
’ hooves made a sharp rapping sound and Rumour was pressed so tightly against Emily’s legs that she almost tripped, but Vladimir caught her and held her hand as they crossed. Walking into the courtyard they could see where they needed to go, as on either side of the group people were lined up. Emily sensed that these people were abnormals and when she opened up a connection to them she felt no aggression; most of them were just curious. It was overwhelming to feel so many people at once and Emily had to close down the connection and place it behind a wall in her mind. As she looked at the people, Emily thought to herself how beautiful they were even though their clothes were in rags and they all looked underfed. A small child smiled at her before its mother pushed him back into the crowd. There were six steps to the hall; Emily stopped at the bottom and looked at Applejacks.

‘
It is fine
,’ he thought to her and walked up to the steps before the others.

The large doors swung open. Inside was a large room with ceilings that were over twenty metres high. Emily had never seen such a room, it was so luxurious. There were rugs and tapestries, silk chairs and couches, and there were about fifty people in the room who were all dressed in ball gowns and suits
– such a contrast to the people in rags outside. At the end of the room were six steps up to a landing and in the middle of the landing was a throne carved out of dark wood with dark designs; it looked sinister.

At the base of the stairs was a young blonde woman dressed in a low cut black gown, but around her neck was a collar with a chain that was connected to a large metal ring in the wall to one side. She sat on the lower step and as the group approached the woman looked up, her beautiful face looked shocked. Suddenly, a door behind the throne opened and a man came out followed by Ivan, Sarah and Roy. Emily guessed it was Varrick as he looked so much like Vladimir. The chained woman rose and started to walk towards Emily
’s group but Varrick caught the end of her chain and pulled it sharply. The woman fell back but she didn’t look hurt.

‘
Vondra, stay where you are,’ Varrick barked at the woman. The woman sat down again on the bottom step and Emily could sense hatred coming from her but it was not aimed at them. She hated Varrick. Sitting on the throne, Varrick looked at the group for a moment before saying, ‘So son, you have returned to me. May I introduce you to your sister Vondra.’ Varrick looked pleased as he gazed on the small group.

Looking at Vondra in surprise Vladimir stepped forward and said forcefully,
‘We are here for our people! They deserve to go free.’ The chamber went quiet and Vondra smiled at him. Then Varrick stood up and walked down the couple of steps towards him, smiling.

‘
I see, my son,’ he said smugly, ‘and how is that going?’ Vladimir was confused, he hadn’t expected Varrick to be so calm. Varrick gestured to the guards who disappeared from the chambers. After a moment they returned with Vince, Ross and several other men, bound and chained; they were bloody and hurt.

‘
I’ve failed you,’ Vince told Vladimir. ‘The rest of our men are dead.’

Vladimir looked at Vince and replied,
‘No my friend, I have failed you.’ He felt so stupid, he had clearly underestimated Varrick and knew now that they were all dead. Suddenly Emily fell to her knees, clutching her head.

Helping her to her feet, Vladimir asked,
‘What is wrong?’

Eric had reached out to her as well.
‘Em, are you alright?’

‘
Get her out of my head,’ Emily moaned. The pain was unlike anything she had ever experience before.

Rumour suddenly snarled and started to approach Sarah, who looked like she was in a trance. Realising that it was Sarah that was hurting Emily, both men tore off their clothing and changed into wolves. Within seconds several of the other abnormals had changed and formed a circle around the group.

No one in the room moved for a moment and then Applejacks suddenly reared up and lashed his hoof out at one of the wolves. It was unexpected and, realising their advantage, Vladimir and Eric leapt at the other abnormals. Laughing, Ivan changed as well and he jumped at Rumour who was almost on Sarah. Vladimir had seen what he was going to do and jumped over the group, knocking Ivan away from Rumour, but Roy was also behind him and sent a kick into Rumour’s side causing her to flip over and go flying down the stairs, yelping.

‘
Remember who your master is,’ he screamed at the dog. Rumour struggled to get up; Roy had broken several ribs. Suddenly coming to life, Vondra swiftly moved and pushed Sarah over. This caused Sarah to break her mental hold on Emily and with the release of the pain Emily was able to reach up to Applejacks; then she teleported Sarah away.