Scars of the Earth (6 page)

After a few moments of stillness, Madgie didn’t sense any change in the area, they continued on. She knew that Madgie had told her to think as little as possible about her situation, but she couldn’t stop her mind from reeling.

Why in the world did they have no one guarding my cell? Madgie just walked through the door and plucked me out. Of course to the Ancients, and I suppose most Healers, their word is law. I guess they never foresaw someone defying their wishes. The Ancients seem to be ridiculously oblivious to the ways of man. Do they not know that we all have the option of saying no? She wondered.

The cloak hid her well only the tips of her fingers could be glimpsed at the bottom of the long sleeves. She wished that she could pull it up and look at herself in the light of the hallway. Inside of her the war still raged. She was getting so used to the pain that it was hard for her to tell if there had been an improvement or not. A question she continually asked herself.

Maybe the answer is on my skin. She thought. It took all of the self control she possessed, which was little, not to draw back the dangling sleeve and study her veins. Madgie rounded the corner and didn’t hesitate even for a moment so Amanda was taken back when there where Healers scattered throughout the hallway in front of them. She almost stopped in her tracks but Madgie’s confidence was contagious and she managed to continue their doomed-to-fail trek. Luckily the people in the hallway were too caught up in conversation to be bothered by the passers by.

“I can’t believe the shape she was in, did you see those black marks all over her poor body. I tried to feel her signature but she was in too much pain. I couldn’t get a lock on her spirit. I can’t even imagine how she was feeling in the arena; I mean you have to be in a lot of pain in order to project it from you. I could feel her pain, burning me.” Said an older looking gentleman that she had never met before. The plump lady standing next to him puffed up.

“We all feel sorry for her, but honestly she is the only one to blame for her current state. If she were properly educated, she would still be pure and strong.” She said. The man looked taken back.

“Surely you can’t blame a ten year old for being scared at the Dredging. You must remember how overwhelming it was. Strangers plucking you from the life you lead, although most don’t run. It is understandable when one does.” He said.

His kind face looked up at Amanda as she passed and a little smile played at the corners of his thin lips. The old lady didn’t notice and shrugged her shoulders.

“No it isn’t. She is just a bad seed. Even now, when she is old enough to know better, she questions the Ancients. If I were in her position I would be glad of their decision.” She stated in a matter of fact tone. The man looked unconvinced.

“Are you so sure of how you would feel in her position when you have never been in it?” He asked. The woman looked down her nose at the short old gentleman with harsh eyes.

“Yes.” She said defiantly.

Amanda heard no more of the conversation. Either because she and Madgie had gotten out of ear shot or it had abruptly ended. Both seemed likely options so she would never know which it was. She and Madgie had cleared the group of Healers without notice, which was surprising.

“Madgie how do they not feel me as I feel you?” She asked. Madgie kept the same pace and spoke quietly without turning.

“They are so caught up in the day’s events that they aren’t able to use their senses, even if they cared to try. You have to be interested in the world around you, beyond yourself, in order to sense anything in it. Aside from that, I am having a hard time feeling your spirit myself. I have to focus very intently to get your flicker and I know you very well.” She explained.

They slowly made their way up in a flash of unfamiliar corridors and stairways. They finally reached familiar territory and Amanda thought they might actually make it out of the Hovel unseen and unscathed. They mounted the last set of stairs and were met by a familiar face. She didn’t know if it was the puffiness of his cheeks or the redness of his eyes that caused it, but she called out to him before she could stop herself.

“Cole?” Amanda said. His tear wrecked face looked up at the sound of her voice, the pain in his eyes was apparent.

“Amanda?” A flood of emotion overwhelmed her as she realized just how much he had been holding back all of these years. His longing was so strong her mind was clouded, and she couldn’t separate his feelings from her own.

He loves me. She thought staring at him, her best friend. He looked terrible. She had never seen a person outside of a Scar look so dreadful. His naturally tanned skin had drained of all color. His bright eyes had lost all spark, the small fragment left of her heart broke at the sight of him in such pain.

She didn’t tell herself to move but her feet began walking towards him nevertheless. She reached out to touch him and his strong hand rose to meet hers. As their finger tips touched she felt his light pass into her. She smiled as her fragile heart fluttered in her chest like a bird in its cage. Madgie pulled the two of them apart angrily and chastised them.

“Every Healer in the Hovel no matter how thick felt that flood of emotion. I’m sorry Amanda, I have no back up plan we will be found out.” She said, her voice caked in sorrow for her.

She tried to sense a change hoping not to find one but had no such luck. She felt the stillness of the Hovel, as all of the people in its walls interpreted the meaning of what had just hit them. Her red eyes grew wide as the tranquility of the place transformed into utter chaos.

They know I’m trying to leave. She thought.

Cole’s face mirrored hers, minus the dark veins and red eyes. He grabbed her hand tightly and began scaling the stairs two at a time dragging her behind him. Madgie was on their heals shouting at them.

“You morons wait until now to figure out that you are in love with one another? Everyone else around here has known for years and been waiting to get you in trouble for it. God you couldn’t have asked for a more inopportune moment. Where are you taking us you idiot?” She grumbled. Cole didn’t turn to speak so Amanda couldn’t really see them but when he spoke she knew that his dimples had returned. “Sorry Madgie, I never found an opportune moment. Amanda always seems to be in trouble.” He said. She thought about drawing her hand back in protest, but she liked where it was too much to be stubborn.

“I’m not always in trouble!” Amanda argued. Madgie rolled her eyes at the pair of them as she spoke.

“Not to interrupt the cute banter you two have going here, but we are all going to die if we don’t find a way out of the Hovel!” Madgie said.

“I know Madgie I know, and I won’t let that happen.” Cole spoke softly and seriously. He stopped ascending two floors beneath the Hovel’s entrance and took a sharp left leading them down the corridor to the male dormitories. Amanda hoped he had some sort of plan worked out, they were still two stories underground surrounded by Healers.

He took an awkward pattern of lefts and rights attempting to avoid the array of pursuers, but it was getting more difficult to sense individuals in the upheaval. I can barely make out Cole and Madgie in this craziness. She thought.

She had no idea where he was headed, but it felt to her like they were just making unceremonious circles. As they rounded the same corner for a second time, Cole stopped short immediately on guard. Amanda looked past him and saw the kindly face of the man that had been speaking of her in the hall as she passed. She felt Cole gather energy as he put a shield between them and the older gentleman. He smiled and began to speak in a soft voice.

“No need for that young man, I just came to tell Amanda good luck.” He said as he raised his hands in a non-confrontational way.

“Oh and Cole if you are looking for the door, it has popped up just down there.” He gestured down the hallway with a smile.

“I was lucky to find you and my good luck will go to waste if you doddle, so get on your way. I hope to see you in happier times my dear. You are one person I would love to talk to; I’ve never felt such strength. You have so much love to give, too much perhaps.” He said as he moved to the side of the hallway waiting for them to pass. Madgie smiled brightly.

“Thank you Finn, you are truly a friend.” Madgie said.

Cole hesitated a moment before walking past the old man but once they had cleared him he picked up the pace. He flat out ran until he came to a small round door that seemed completely out of place, halfway covering another door on the wall. Amanda heard rushing footsteps drifting down the hallway. Cole grabbed the knob and flung the door open. Madgie quickly slipped through the door, Cole climbing in after her pulling Amanda in behind him. She reached back to shut the door and just as her palm met the warm wood, she saw the angry face of a familiar Healer.

Frey. She thought.

He was someone that she knew by name, but didn’t ever grow close to. He had always looked down at her for fleeing the Hovel and trying to be normal, he loved having the power they possessed. Most Healers had a bad taste in their mouths about her, but he was the worst of them all. Looking at her as if she was garbage and maybe she deserved that. She could tell that she wasn’t the only one unsettled by him, when he walked into the room it seemed to still as collective prey before a predator.

His hand lashed out like a striking snake, bringing her out of her shock, but he wasn’t fast enough. She slammed the door shut and searched for a lock.

It doesn’t have one! She thought in panic. She braced herself tightly against the door, but to her surprise he didn’t put up any more effort to open it. Why isn’t he trying to open it? He could blast this thing right off its hinges, if he wanted to. She looked quizzically at Cole.

“The door teleported when you shut it, just in time too. Good looking and handy in a tight spot. I’m a lucky man.” He smiled down at her with laughter dancing in his eyes in his eyes.

“What in the hell are you talking about, teleported?” She asked.

“The door moves locations each time this room is entered. It takes a while to pop back up and they still need to figure out where in the Hovel it landed. So we should be safe while we search.” She looked at him dumbfounded.

“What the girl’s dorms don’t have one of these?” He asked her.

“No, the girl’s dormitories don’t have one of these. And what are we searching for?” She asked, and Madgie answered.

“Sometime ago an Ancient harnessed the energy of Scars and put it in this room for study. It is a small point of energy that takes you to places, like a Scar takes you to a memory. All you need to do is touch it and you are elsewhere. You never know where you will come out it’s different every time. Africa, Ireland, you don’t know until you’re there. That’s why the room is this way. They didn’t know it at the time, but that little pin prick of energy affected this lab. Now it moves with each entrance just as a Scar does.” Madgie said.

Just when I think I have it all figured out, they slap me with something new. Amanda thought.

“Okay so where does this energy ball thing like to hang out?” She asked. Cole glanced around the room.

“I don’t know it’s damn hard to find. It moves every time like the room. And Madgie wasn’t joking when she referred to it as a pin point of energy. Just make like a raccoon and look for something small and shiny, got it?” Amanda nodded her head and began to search.

Like a raccoon, he is so damn cute. Wait. Is that okay to think when we’re in grave danger? She asked herself. She wasn’t used to having her walls down and the last few days had pretty well blown them down completely. Lying naked on a lab table, crying and screaming in pain, being sentenced to death with no one objecting-yeah that will do it.

They fanned out in opposite directions scanning every inch of the room. There were thick books stacked high along the walls and large tables with numerous drawers down the front of them.

We will never find a pin prick in all of this. She thought.

As time passed, she grew more and more nervous and found herself glancing at the door every few seconds. And she knew that she wasn’t the only one. She felt Madgie’s anxiety and saw that Cole’s demeanor had lost all lightness.

He is even tenser than I am. She thought.

As Amanda was looking at Cole, she noticed a jacket lying crumpled on a chair. She went to it not sure why it had caught her eye. She picked the jacket up slowly and looked it over. It was an unremarkable thing, dark grey like so many others in the Hovel, and made of wool so scratchy that she felt sorry for its owner.

It’s a damn jacket, nothing else. She thought.

She was frustrated with herself for wasting time and went to throw it back down when something caught her eye. She brought the jacket in close and saw the bright light in its front pocket.

“Here, it’s here! I found it.” She screamed.

Cole and Madgie’s heads both shot up and Amanda smiled brightly at them. She was confused when they didn’t return her smile, but understood as the metal click of a doorknob reached her ears. She quickly turned to see the little round door burst open.

Chapter 6

There are so many. She thought.

Grey clad figures poured into the room like water from a sieve. They moved as one unit step for step like toy soldiers wound at the same time. It was almost impossible to distinguish one from the next. Their uniforms bore no gold tassels or honoring medals, the only thing sparkling was their calf high spit-shined boots. Monochromatic from neck to toe, they blended into the grey colored walls and each other. The sharp points of the heavily starched pleats in their uniforms were the only tell of where one began and the other ended.

She stood frozen with fear, directly between her friends and her pursuers. The room was still, neither side making a move. She looked at the sea of grey cloaked Healers. She spotted Frey and his larger than life sidekick Carter standing amongst them, looking very happy. Hate radiated from him. If anyone would make the first move it would be him.

They don’t know what I have in my hands; they couldn’t know that I have it within reach! She thought. She looked back at Cole, he nodded is head towards the jacket. She tried to slip her hand into the pocket with out appearing suspicious.