The Centerpoint Trilogy (6 page)

“Wait,” Alicia called out. “Did her touch make it happen?”

Anna looked to Ethan. He seemed to be considering it. He then nodded and she knew that he agreed that it was her touch had done it. It was the only thing that had changed in that moment and it was a real, strong possibility. “Yes, I think so…” Ethan said.

Alicia seemed to accept that possibility as the only hope they had. She reached over and touched James in the same way. James reached back and they were able to link fingers, just briefly. They linked those fingers close and Alicia closed her eyes. All of a sudden a red heat swirled around her body. The flames appeared and they raged. The red glow stayed close around Alicia and James but the flames raged and then died quickly. She and James were free from their chains.

“Damn, that was epic!” Alicia yelled. She laughed, giddy, getting her footing back. She raised her hand again.

That was when they burst back in.

“I would not attempt to use your powers again.”

The man who had taken them captive stepped through the darkened door. He looked the same as he had before, but she paid more notice to the fact that he was regal, in control and overwhelmingly powerful. He raised his hand in a flourishing gesture. He swept underhand, palm upwards and into the air. “Come, my ladies,” he said. The blonde woman, as well as another, this one with red hair a similar shade to Anna’s, entered the room. Between them, they had a group of prisoners. Yes, one prisoner had turned into four. The man now had four more people in his control.

There were three adults and one child. Ethan first saw his brother, shaking his head in disbelief. The man looked a lot like he did, with the same hair and eyes, but he was shorter, stockier. His face had always seemed drawn, stern, but it was a contradiction to who he really was. He was a gentle person who wanted peace and quiet more than he wanted anything. His older brother was not incredibly close to him these days because of the way they fought in wake of their father’s death a few years earlier, but still the man was important to him. He looked at Ethan with shocked recognition. His mouth was gagged with a strip of cloth, and he did not make a sound. Next to him was Anna’s mother, still wearing a traumatized expression, and an old woman with the same dark skin tone as James. Anna’s mother had a child in her arms, who she was trying desperately to soothe. The child was about two with brown skin and curly hair. Anna’s mother was rocking in her arms, making hushing sounds through her gag. The child was crying, albeit silently. The look in Alicia’s eyes told them just who the child was to her.

The girl’s face paled in absolute horror. Her jaw went tight and her eyes opened wide. He saw tears, but they never fell. They were trapped in place and Alicia was frozen in that moment. When she finally spoke, her voice came out as a wail. “That’s my baby!” she screamed, arms going slack. She was not bound, physically, any longer, but it was obvious that she was more bound than she ever had been before. There was no way that she would do anything to cause harm to their captor. “Please, let her go. I’ll do anything you want if you just let my little girl go.”

The child, who was no more than two, began to cry. Sobs wracked her tiny body and although she too was gagged, everyone in the room could hear what her desperate plea was for. “Mommy!” she cried through the gag. Anna’s mother, although bound, had the two year old in her arms and was trying her best to hush her. She murmured with the smallest humming sound, trying to ease her. It was obvious what a strong woman that she was. He had a feeling that strong women ran in Anna’s family line. She was helpless, but still doing all she could.

The little girl was crying louder now, choking on sobs through the gag. She coughed and choked and cried out for her mommy, but she did not move. She stayed still in the arms of Anna’s mother.  She seemed to trust Anna’s mother enough. She quieted just a little bit.

The man who had captured them just laughed. He walked in between the line of hostages and the line of young people whom he had tortured for their whole lives.  “Everyone thinks that taking hostages is so difficult,” he declared, “but I managed four in a very short time like it was nothing at all.”

James, who had been quiet for the most part, yelled out. “Let em go!” James screamed out. He struggled against invisible bonds, likely feeling bound in the same way that Alicia was, but still he inched forward, just a little. He was moving, but barely enough. The space he was in was restricted. “That’s my grandma. She’s eighty freakin’ years old! She doesn’t deserve this. Your beef is with me, but not her.”

The man laughed. His head thrown back, the laugh came out of him like the tinkling of bells. His eyes twinkled with a kind of delight that made Ethan sick to his stomach. It was the same look that a person wore after meeting one of his life’s goals. Ethan tried not to let his pain show and he could see that Anna, still bound at his side, was trying to do the same. He saw her strain in the way her face muscles tensed. She tried to keep on an impassive face, but it was obvious that she’d kill and die for her mother, the same as any of them would do for their hostages.   He could see it in her eyes, however, that she was utterly desperate to save her mother. She was trying her best to be strong.

“I could kill someone,” the man threatened. He touched the blonde woman on the shoulder and even under her mask, Ethan could see her smiling at him. Her smile was wide and spread out across her whole face. He could barely tell what she looked like, but from what he could see of her eyes, they were smiling too. “Or I could ask Lilly here to do it. Experimentation has shown me that Lilly here can, in fact, torture someone to his death.” He crossed in front of the hostages and then looked at them one by one as if he was death and he was weighing souls for judgment. “I got two adults, an old lady and a little kid. It seems like it’d be the least cruel if I killed grandma.” The woman in front of him shuddered, visibly. Ethan could see tears streaking down her cheeks. Her chest heaved in and out with each breath that she took.

“No!” James moved forward, looking so desperate. His eyes were wide and wet with terror. He was not restraining himself in the way that Ethan and Anna both were trying so desperately to do. His expressions were crystal clear. “Don’t touch my gran, please. I’ll do anything you want me to do.”

All of the hostages were terrified. The three adults huddled close together. Their bodies were touching.  They cried, shivered and muttered under the gags but not one of them truly moved. Anna’s mother stroked and touched the child in her arms, trying her best to calm her. Alicia, James, Ethan and Anna did not move much. They were so afraid of what this erratic man would do to the people that they loved the very most.

The man walked around his hostages, touching each one in turn. His touches were light, barely there touches.  When he touched Anna’s mother, she shuddered and shielded the baby with her arms. James’ brother took a step back, meeting the man with defiance in his eyes. The elderly woman just coughed and shook hard.  He then turned to those he called his children. “You,” he said, stopping in front of James and putting a hand on his shoulder. James looked up, but he did not move. “I will kill your grandmother, painfully, unless you let loose your fire on another one of my hostages. Do it now, or you will regret it.” From the corner, Ethan heard the grandmother let out a pathetic cry. It was a tiny whimper, so quiet that he’d not have heard it had he not been listening for it.

James stared. He shook his head and tears streaked down his cheeks. He had obviously seen the man kill and knew what he was capable of. “Please…” he begged desperately.

“Lilly!”

The woman raised a hand majestically and began to laugh. She cackled and tossed her head back, letting something rip from within her.  She laughed and laughed, and James’ grandmother began to twist and writhe painfully. Her body moved almost as if she were dancing, twisting from side to side in ways that her stiff body would not usually allow.  She screamed, a blood curdling scream that forced Ethan to move against his bonds. “Please stop!” he begged the man, as loudly as he could possibly manage.

James roared out and the invisible bond that was his fear let loose. He ran as fast as he possibly could at the man, flames shooting from him. The explosion blast through him, shaking and rumbling and sending everything reeling backwards. The explosion rocked the place, blasting so hard that Ethan hit the wall. The concentrated blast seemed to shake Anna loose from at least some of her bonds, but he wasn’t so lucky. Anna acted and moved forward with the arm that had evidently been freed. She raised a hand and called upon her powers as well. Things flew all about. The wood beams broke loose again and everything that was not affixed to the floor, including bowls and lit candles went flying. Anna came free from the chains, falling, but not stopping her assault. She stumbled but she kept it going.

Her powers hit the blonde with a beam of wood. The woman faltered and the grandmother stopped crying out in pain. Ethan pulled against his chains but they were still there. He watched, yanking and twisting on the chains that were holding him as James let out another blast. It surged throughout the room and straight at the man. He even felt it singe his hair, it was so close. He saw the grandmother collapse and his brother aid her. His brother went to his knees and pulled the elderly woman into a tight hold.

Their captor let out a blast of his own. It was white and made out of pure energy. He let out a scream as he did so. It was a low, guttural scream that chilled Ethan’s heart. He aimed it at James. The blast was hotter and whiter than anything Ethan had ever seen. It burned him and he was nowhere near it.  Ethan watched in horror as James’ body crumpled to the ground. The man let out a cry that was loud and long, but quickly died off. Ethan knew without a doubt that he was dead. There was a scream, and Ethan wasn’t even sure where it came from. Anna released the bonds around him and he fell forward. He didn’t even care for the first moment that he was free.

Everyone was running this way and that and Ethan realized that there was something on fire. Smoke hit him and burned his eyes. Oh, the smoke was everywhere! He hadn’t realized before.  The building was full of smoke and debris. He let out a desperate gasp and clung to Anna. Alicia used the chaos to get ahold of her baby. He knocked back into Anna and watched as Alicia cradled the toddler in her arms. The child wailed and twisted against the hold, until she realized that it was her mother. Her eyes lit up and she clung to Alicia. She held her so tightly that he could see, just barely in the hazy room, the indents where she was practically choking her mother.

Anna ran to her own mother. Her mom’s wrists were still bound but the woman moved quickly. “Run!” she told her mother, pushing Alicia towards her. Alicia looked up with confused eyes. “Get the baby out of here!” Ethan’s own brother was holding onto James’ grandmother, who was still evidently alive, but had passed out from the terror. He supported her entirely. His arm was wrapped around hers and he lifted her body. James realized that she probably did not weigh very much and was very frail. Ethan pushed his brother to go with the rest. He needed his brother to stay safe. As distant as they could get throughout their lives, he loved the man.

“Keep her close, get her somewhere safe bro,” he said, giving the man a half hug. He had not hugged his brother since they were children. He really did miss the man and vowed to get their relationship back into swing if they survived this. “Go!”

The hostages ran. They ran as fast as they could. Ethan pivoted on one foot and took a look at Anna. The woman had her arms out and was looking around her, when another blast of that white light came. She ducked it and turned around, hitting their captor right in the face.  The crunch as her fist made contact with his face was sickening. He saw the blood, saw his nose cave in. He crumpled up behind her, but only for a moment, because the red haired woman had Anna around the neck.

              Ethan went for her. He grabbed her and attempted to disengage Anna from her grasp. He yanked her hair and she screamed. She reached around and hit him hard. He felt something crunch. That was when something came up from behind him and he felt a prick in his neck. He shut and opened his eyes to adjust. Then, he could not open them any longer. The blurriness in front of them was all there was and when he closed his eyes, he sunk down onto his knees.

              When Anna woke up, she was bound in place. She tried her best to open her eyes, but her lids were heavy and she was unable to lift her head. She tried, stretching and forcing herself to look, but she could not. There were images in front of her but they were blurry, as though painted by a broad brushstroke. She could not see anything clearly.  She reached around and found that she was bound in place. She felt something near her that was hard and firm. She widened her eyes and then blurry images slowly swirled in front of her vision. She could see.

When she opened her eyes she could see that she was still in the same room as before. She was bound and Ethan was bound beside her. She had not fully focused on him, but was certain that the form next to hers was his. Her heart instinctively knew that Ethan was near. It was an instinct and she knew that her other half was beside her.  That relieved her, just a little bit. She glanced around the room, head lolling from side to side and then she was able to focus on him. He was too her left, but craned his head so that he could look at her.

Ethan groaned and shook his head beside her.  “Anna, are you awake?” he asked, his voice raw. His eyes were wet and glossy, a sheet of moisture over them. They were hazy and rolled around in her love’s head. She breathed deep.

              “I am,” she said, stretching out her muscles. They were all tense and her head was still extremely foggy. It was like it was hard to make her eyes focus, make them keep to one picture. Her brain was also not making thoughts the way it should be.

He forced himself over so that he could look at her as much as he could. Now that she was more awake she saw that they were bound tightly. Ethan’s head lolled to the side, but he was trying to look at her.  “Did you dream while you were out?” he asked her. His words were strained, as if he was really struggling to ask them. He was confused and tired as she was, but he was trying so hard.

She was about to say that no, she had not dreamt, when she remembered that she had. While she was unconscious she was taken back to the same place that many of her dreams had taken her. She was back in an apartment building very much like the one that she was currently in. It was in much worse repair and looked like it had seen it’s best days long before. Many children huddled in this facility. This was the scene of their childhood kidnapping.

              She had been so scared. Her heart pounded in his chest. She was only seven and this was the scariest thing in the whole wide world. Tears flooded her eyes and she could not see. The whole room around her blurred and there was nothing else there. She blinked and opened her eyes, trying her hardest to see. She could see that there were other children all around her. Some cried and sobbed but they were all as quiet as could be.

              There was a boy there who had the softest, most gentle brown eyes ever. They were expressive and blinked sporadically. The boy stared at her and they communicated. Something had been done to them earlier, they had been cut. He looked at her and she could hear his voice in her head. He was telling her something very important.

             
We can use our powers together, Anna.

             
Anna blinked and she nodded. “I remember,” she told him as she returned to the present.

The moment that she spoke, the door opened and sharp white light flooded the room. It burned her eyes deep, making them water, but as moist as they were they were hot and she yelped. The pain of the light forced Anna to blink her eyes, in attempt to protect herself. She reached to cover her eyes, but found that the bindings prevented doing so. The light was soon gone and she could see that the man had entered the room. He stood tall, flanked on either side by the two women from earlier. They still wore the black masks that were covering their faces. Each woman held a woven basket of thick fibers. The fibers crisscrossed in deep patterns. The basket was thick.  There were items inside but she could not see anything. They walked in ritualistically and sat down one by one, crosslegged in front of their two prisoners. Anna wanted to speak but she was quite caught off guard.

The man took out a vial. It was filled with a red liquid. He opened it up and slowly spread it around the area in which he was sitting. It was a sticky, reflective substances that reflected what little light was in the room. The substance seemed to sparkle and for a moment, it mesmerized Anna completely. The man caught her eye and smiled, lightly. He knew it had the effect it did on her. She was helpless. There was no way that she was going to be able to escape this. What could she do to protect herself?

The man took two tall candles and lit them with a match that he withdrew from his pocket. He never let go of their gaze while he did this. The candlelight flickered in the darkened room and illuminated his pale, bloated face. The man’s eyes flared and he smiled. The devious nature of his soul was made more than obvious in the reflected light. It made his features deeper, finer.

              He began to draw little symbols in the gooey substance that was spread on the floor. Anna wanted to speak, but somehow she was too mesmerized to even open her mouth. She knew she should be thinking about using her powers, but the ability had not yet come to her. She swallowed hard and just stared. Next to her, Ethan was struggling, but much like her, could not seem to form any kind of words.

              The man finished drawing symbols  around them and then looked to the women beside him. “In your honor, Celestial Gods,” he said out loud. The women next to him smile and repeated his words.

              “In your honor, Celestial Gods.”

              The man smiled at the words and looked up into the ceiling, but it was as though his eyes were fixated on the sky. The women looked absolutely enraptured. They wore identical smiles and euphoric expressions that reached their eyes and were so intense that they were seen easily through the mask.  “I am Kahn North. For twenty years exactly, I have waited for this moment. I made your children, Celestial Gods. I made children that had the abilities that you wanted me to.” Moisture filled his eyes and he paused for a moment, before continuing.  “I made them to the best of my abilities and here they are.”

The man looked from woman to woman. The women sat behind him, loyally. He stood, but they did not. The man stood and raised his hands over his head. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a steel knife. The flames from the candle reflected in the silver of the knife. Both women bowed their heads and bent forward. The man raised the knife high in the sky. The candlelight caught in the reflective silver.

“I understand the importance of sacrifice,” the man said boldly, as if daring anyone to defy his words. He held the knife high in the air. Anna tried to scream, because the women were still sitting in front of them with their heads bowed forward, as if in prayer. It grew obvious that something was wrong  “I was in prison for a very long time and sacrificed many years in the service of the Celestial Centerpoint. Now I will sacrifice something else of great importance to me. As ordered in the Doctrine of the Celestial Centerpoint, I have two wives.” He gently touched the women, his hand on each of their heads in turn. The knife was still clutched in his other hand. “I choose one of my wives to sacrifice!”

              That was when the women realized that they were doomed. Both scrambled to their feet, eyes wide, but they were not fast enough. The man plunged his knife down into the back of the red-haired woman. Her scream was blood curdling and filled the whole room. Anna wondered if the building was condemned or abandoned for some reason because God, how could nobody hear the sound. It was loud enough to shatter glass. It shrieked.

The woman crumpled into a heap. Her body sank in onto itself, curled up and Anna knew that she was dead. The blood on her back spread through the fabric of the plain, light blue shirt that she was wearing. It blossomed out into pieces that resembled the petals of a flower. These dark petals soon faded into a mass of red. Anna had never seen so much blood in her life. For good measure the man stabbed her again, once, twice, and three times. He stabbed her six more times in quick succession, muttering to the sky. “Gods take my sacrifice…” he muttered. “Gods grant me what I need for the pain to myself and mine that I have caused. Take her soul into your possession and wait for the great awakening.”

The blonde woman rose to her feet, screaming. “Kahn!” she yelled, horror in her eyes. They were filling up with tears and that was when Anna finally screamed out. She barely got attention from either of them. They were both so caught up in what they were doing.

              “Continue!” Kahn ordered her.

              She obeyed out of pure fear. The chant from the pair of them filled up the air.

              “We are representatives of a higher order, delivering to you what you’ve always desired. These children will bring the new world order.”

              The man cut Anna. He used the same knife that he had used to slaughter the helpless woman to slice both of their arms in the same place that he had when they were children. Their blood hit the wooden floor beneath them, right on top of one of the symbols that had been scrawled onto the ground. Anna could feel an intense energy flow through her, similar to the feeling that she got when she was using her powers. It swarmed through her and all around her.  It was outside and inside and flowed steadily. It flowed hot. It was warm at first, like stepping into a tub of comfortable water.

It grew hotter and hotter, boiling. It burned so badly that she had to close her eyes. Then the pain came. “No!” Ethan yelled and Anna began writhing in pain. Tears slipped down her cheeks as her body was engulfed by a fire. She opened her eyes wide to see that it was all around her, hot as ever. Her entire body was being consumed by a flame, yet she wasn’t burning on the outside - she was burning on the inside!

              “Please stop!” Ethan screamed.

              Then it was dark.