The Obsidian Crown, page 10
We entered the building, and from the bathroom, Taylor said, “Now!”
Blaise tackled Kieran into the bathroom, and Taylor put her hand over his mouth and shushed him to silence. Kieran was wriggling and fighting to get out of Blaise’s strong arms. I followed Hailey in.
“Don’t worry, Kieran. I promise you we are doing this for your protection. Just trust us. Just a few more minutes,” Taylor said as she struggled with Kieran to keep him quiet.
“How could you? I trusted you! Traitor!” Kieran was squirming and trying to scream under Taylor’s gag.
I looked at Taylor and Hailey. “You guys need to get in there first and converge. Blaise and Kieran can’t yet because they might accidentally meet themselves in the hallway.”
Taylor and Hailey snuck into the library, but they couldn’t risk a convergence with their past selves in front of everyone. They hid behind the bookcases, and placed a book to prop the door open.
I looked at my phone again. “Four forty. Just a few more minutes. After a while, I looked again. “Four fifty-five. Get ready.”
We saw Professor Andrews rush out of the library, phone on one ear and arm wrapped around the stash of papers in a dead run.
After a few minutes, we heard past Blaise’s voice from within the library yelling at the former Kieran, “You coward!”
Then we heard the door slammed.
In a few seconds, we heard past Blaise walking down the hallway. Present Blaise said, “Let me see.”
“No, we can’t take the chance. You stay there, I will look,” I said as I stuck my head out. “ The former Blaise just went past us. Oooh ohh!”
“What happened?” present Blaise asked.
“They’re here. The hooded men, they just got here! Get ready, Blaise. You know what to do, right?”
“Yes.” On that answer, I said, “I’m going now. You guys follow.” Blaise nodded. I opened the door and sprinted into the darkness, guided only by the light under the library door. The door was ajar. I needed to be quick but quiet so I don’t alarm our past selves in the room. I slowed myself down when I got close to the door and crept inside.
I slipped in just in time. I looked around to see everyone’s past self. The Doctor was leaning on the table with the black box. Then the first attack started, and it was chaos. Our old selves were in a panic state: Hailey pulling Kieran’s body and Taylor running towards the door to open it.
I shouted, “Now! Now! Now!”
The present-Hailey and Taylor stepped out from behind the bookcases, and the three of us recited the convergence incantation.
Nothing happened on the first recitation. But as we finished the third, things began to meld. Like smoke, the images of our old selves still in a state of agitation and panic when we rushed into the room faded away and our present selves took over the timeline. Disorientation from the convergence hit me like a brick. I leaned on a chair as I checked on everyone. They were all looking at Kieran’s body on the floor. I know everyone was wondering what would happen when the alive-Kieran runs into the room. From outside, in the hallway, we heard his voice. I replayed the events in my head. The next thing in the original timeline would be a white light and then a bang, then the door opens, and Kieran stumbles in mortally wounded. Then Blaise gets to the door and gets hit from behind.
We needed to help Blaise and Kieran. I looked at Hailey and Taylor, and they were still in a haze from the convergence. The Doctor was too far away. Despite still feeling dazed, it occurred to me I was the only one who could act and act fast. I opened the door and ran out; there, I saw Kieran’s face in the brightness of the white light. But it made it too hard to keep my eyes open. I ran in Kieran’s direction using my arm as shield against the brilliance of the fireball. I grabbed hold of his clothes and tackled him towards the side of the wall. BANG! I felt the heat of the projectile as it whizzed by. It missed him!
“Kieran, get down and crawl your way back to the library. Did you hear me? Do you understand? And keep your eyes closed! Don’t look inside the library! Do not stand up. You must crawl!”
“Y-y-yes, yes-s, crawl back, don’t look,” Kieran said while nodding vigorously.
I tried to open my eyes to see if I could find Blaise, but I was still blinded by the fireball. I decided to wait in the darkness with my back against the wall. A few moments later, I heard footsteps. I opened my eyes slightly and saw Blaise came hurtling through from within the darkness on the front side of the hall. There were flashes of light, then another blinding light. I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I was blind, but I knew the library was behind me. I could turn back now. Blaise is a horrible person. I don’t need to save
him. Besides, it’s not like he was going to die. He was just going to get burns. This is payback time for accusing me earlier.
But I thought better of it. That is not who I am. I calmed myself and relied on my senses. I felt his presence more than anything else. I soon felt him in front of me. I shoved Blaise as hard as I could to the other side, knocking the wind out of him as he yelled, “They’re here!” The fireball whizzed by, and then BANG! It slammed itself on the door. A little fire was burning on the wood. I checked Blaise’s shoulder. This time only part of his jacket caught on fire. I took off my jacket, threw it over Blaise, and put it out.
I said in a low tone, “You’re ok. You’re ok. But you need to crawl to the library and keep your eyes closed.”
“Thank you,” he said, nodding and touching the part of his shoulder that was originally burnt but not this time. He crawled towards the library.
I followed Blaise very closely, and as soon as the door opened, I recited the incantation. The old Blaise faded away as the new Blaise converged with him. But to everyone’s disappointment, Kieran’s current body was sucked into his own dead body.
I couldn’t believe it. All this risk to save him, and he was dead anyway. I recited the incantation again, but Kieran was still immobile on the floor. The Doctor was standing with the others, staring at the body. “Why is he still dead? I asked Doctor McGrath.
“I don’t know. It should have worked. Maybe there’s not enough magical power to revive him.”
“No, that’s not acceptable. You need to help me!” I yelled.
Everyone converged over Kieran’s body and put their hands over him. We started to recite the incantation over and over, louder and louder, but I knew our minds were on the assassins behind the door, ready to kill us. The attacks didn’t stop. As before, it was incessant. The louder the attacks became, the louder our chants grew. But after a few tries, Hailey pulled me away from Kieran and, without words, conceded we had lost him.
But I was not about to give up. I can’t. I was about to argue but to my surprise, Taylor pushed Hailey’s hand away and put my hands above Kieran’s body. We both closed our eyes, and I started to recite. I don’t know what came over me. But the words came more guttural, my voice hoarse and unfamiliar, and the words came out in a peculiarly primitive sound. I can hear Taylor’s voice like a strong but soothing echo in my head. I was putting every feeling of guilt, fear and shame, and hope and love into every word of that chant. Suddenly, I felt the energy coalesce around me, then through us, and into Kieran. As the chanting got louder into a frenzied climax the force of the electricity shot thru Kieran like a bolt of lightning. He arched his back as it hit his prone body. I opened my eyes in astonishment. Taylor was looking at Keiran. I caught the look on the Doctor’s face: A look of satisfaction.
Bang! Bang! The last hinge blew off the door.
“I can’t be found here. The box can’t be captured by the Knights!” she cried out. She grabbed the box from the table and disappeared back into the fireplace.
Kieran started to cough, trying to catch his breath. I exhaled a sigh of relief and fell on the space closest to Kieran. Hailey dropped down to her knees and started to rub Kieran’s back to help him stop coughing. She said, “Kieran, we have to go. Bad people are after us. Can you get up?” Kieran was still holding his head in his hands. He looked at everyone, and seeing he was on the floor, he said, “I must have tripped and hit my head. I was dreaming I was in some kind of dungeon with prisons and people behind bars…an older couple. They were so nice to me.”
My heart caught in my throat. Did he say, “older people or older couple?” but there was no time to dwell on that now.
BANG! I knew what was about to happen next. The door will be blown off completely. I could not let that happen. I could not let the Knights come in here and kill everyone.
I turned around and faced the hallway. I started to recite the incantation, just as I did for Kieran, but this time I concentrated on the current timeline. No one person in particular. I wasn’t sure if it would work, but I needed to converge to the current timeline. I put more energy and will into it than I thought I had in my entire body. Then, there was a sudden movement in the air. A high-pitched buzzing noise rang, followed by a muted clap of thunder. I was disoriented by the sudden change as if sound, space, and time were all at once engulfed into a single coherent point in reality. The pressure fluctuation caused a painful pop in my ears. I covered them with my hands to stop the ringing.
The next fireball should blow the door down! I held my breath while I waited, but it never happened. The door stayed intact.
I could still hear the muffled ringing, then I realized the fire alarm of the building was blaring. The convergence must have triggered the alarm. I went to the door to see what was going on. Between the time I decided and the few steps I took to the door, evidence of the previous timeline had all but dematerialized.
I stood by the door and watched as the hooded figures faded from view and a different timeline converged to become the current reality. Their fading figures gave way to the people from the current timeline. There in the middle of the hallway, were Professor Andrews, Detective Dewitt, and my uncle.
They were arguing about how I skipped out and stole away despite the Detective’s warning. Professor Andrews voice lingered in the air during the transition, saying “Abigail is in the library with the others. I assure you!” when the walls of our current reality solidified quite literally, leaving them behind the library doors.
I knew I would have to deal with whatever Detective Dewitt is accusing me of now, but for the moment, I basked in the glory of our achievement. I wondered if the Knights would come back for us, and if so, when? I really didn’t care, because, for this moment, we saved everyone and that’s all that counted.
Professor Andrews, Detective Dewitt, and my uncle barged into the library and found us standing inside looking startled.
“I thought you said she’s missing!” my uncle snapped at the detective. “I’ve had enough of your witch hunts, Detective Dewitt! C’mon, Abigail. Let’s go home.”
“Oh yeah! Well, if she’s been here all along, then who used her credit card in Jensen?” Dewitt asked.
“Well, I don’t know. All I know, Detective, is that I have had these kids in this room since four o’clock today. And I would appreciate it if you all leave now!” roared Professor Andrews.
The detective looked at everyone in the room. “Where was she? Don’t even think about lying to me because that is against the law!” he shouted.
“Officer, she’s been here all this time, we just got back from returning books when the alarm went off,” Hailey said.
The rest nodded without saying a word.
Detective Dewitt was fuming. He walked over and leaned over me so far, I had to literally lean away. I could smell his now-familiar breath while he spat through gritted teeth, “I don’t know how you got everyone to lie for you. And what you did to get them to say you’ve been here, but you and I both know that you were not.” Then he looked at Uncle Jake and said, “I have been lenient, and I have been patient,” he enunciated every word distinctly to emphasize the message, “but you and I know she is a flight risk. You have one week to prove her innocence or we’re charging her for the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Montserratt.” He fixed his hat and stormed out of the library, slamming the now perfectly working door behind him.
CHAPTER 12
The Coven Of The Dagger Vs. The Knights Of The Crown
I couldn’t sleep that night. I have never given up on my parents, but I know what I saw in the cabin of that plane. I know how those hooded figures were strangling my parents. I cannot deny that memory, yet Kieran’s words seem to echo over and over in my head, giving me a ray of hope that I might be wrong. If Kieran can be dead and now he is alive, there must be hope. I looked at the clock. Almost midnight. As it struck 12:00 a.m., a tiny flicker of light shone above my bed. Every muscle in my body tensed. They can’t have followed me home. I readied myself for the fight. I rolled over, ready to pounce. I sat upright and looked around my bedroom for the attackers. But there was no one there. I looked up, searching for the source of the red light. A flickering digital light projected “Happy 18th Birthday, Abigail!” on the ceiling from my digital alarm clock. I had forgotten entirely I programmed it to do that. I got up, punched the off button on the clock to take off the message, grabbed it, and headed for the kitchen.
I opened the fridge and inside was a small cake that said, ‘Happy Birthday Niecey!’ I got it out, took the candle out of its packet, and stuck it in the frosting of the cake. I walked to the cupboard and found the cigarette lighter I’d been hiding from my parents. I lit up the single candle and sang myself a slow and not so very-happy birthday song.
The fragile light from the small birthday candle brought a flood of emotions I never thought would affect me in this way. The happy faces of my mom and dad singing and dancing during my many birthday parties bore a hole of guilt in my soul. There was always a big party, where my parents’ friends, business associates, and schoolmates were invited.
But it was the after-party that was truly special to me. After all the guests had gone, we would all sit down at the dinner table. Mom would place our special cake down, place one candle in the middle, light it, and would say, “Make your wish. Believe me, they do come true. I know mine did.” She would put her head on my dad’s shoulder. They would look at each other as two people who deeply care for each other would. Then she would smile a broad smile at me to urge me to my wish. I would close my eyes and blow that candle. And every single time, I would open my eyes to the smiling faces of my parents, but not tonight, and quite possibly, not ever again.
I missed my family, even my now ex-boyfriend Grayson, even my fake friends. I cried as I blew the candle, thinking how I had lost everyone. In the haze of the feeble smoke, I thought about Hailey, Taylor, Blaise, and Kieran. And how, in a few days from now, if I couldn’t prove my innocence, I will lose my freedom, along with my new friends and my uncle too, the only family I have left. I wanted to cry but no more tears came.
I grabbed the alarm clock, pressed the Set Alarm button, and entered T-5, Daily Countdown.
I felt the dirt under my feet, the coarse side of the tunnel as if it were freshly dug, and smell the dank odor of wet earth. I didn’t know where this was or even why I was there. I saw flickering lights at the end of the tunnel and the soft sound of people talking.
I decided to follow the sound, being careful not to make any noise.
I got to the tunnel’s mouth that ended in a circular clearing from which other tunnels jutted out. The cave seemed to have a big crack up above, where I could see a few stars blinking in the night sky.
I started to walk in and noticed a corresponding fissure on the ground. The chasm extended far below the floor of the cave. Walking gingerly around it, I took a mental note to be careful not to fall into the crevasse.
In the middle of the circle, next to a small campfire, were three hooded figures clustered together with their heads bowed.
I walked a little bit closer to them, but they didn’t seem to sense my presence. I continued walking around their circle to see if I could recognize any of them. Unfortunately, their heads were bent down so low that their cowls hid their faces. Their robes were black, with no distinguishing marks except they’re extremely dirty, ragged, and torn. They were cinched about the waist by regular ropes, and dangling from one of the ends was a nasty-looking dagger. They didn’t speak at all. They were looking intently at a large basin. Mist rose from the basin and hovered a few inches from its lid. I craned my neck to see what was inside it. There was something, but I couldn’t make out what it was. Apparently, I was not the only one having trouble with the reception.
The three started to chant with their arms waving upwards as if coaxing the mist to rise. They started to back away from the basin allowing more room for the fog to expand. I darted back towards the wall for fear of being found out. The mist rose and thickened like a cloud. The hooded men stopped as soon as it was at eye level. Then, images flickered back into existence within it. Three other hooded men appeared, superimposed over the thick fog, as if from an old film projector. The figures within the cloud seem to be oblivious to the fact that they are being watched.
I decided I’d seen enough for now. I wanted to find the cave Kieran said he saw. I started to go back to the cavern opening, hugging the side of the tunnel to make sure they didn’t see me.
I was just about to turn and head out when I heard voices.
“The Crown is in danger. We need to identify the Knights of the Crown as soon as possible. We need the crown protected or it can destroy everything,” a female voice filled the air.
I looked back to check who was speaking and realized the voice came from the visions projected within the mist.
She said, Knights. I need to know more.
“We agree with you but every time we get close to her, we are thwarted by the Sorceress,” answered a man with a rich, deep voice.
