Indigo: Abraham, Preceding the Storm 7th step...Harbinger

7^th step…Harbinger

            A man stood alone on the bridge leading up to the cathedral.  It overlooked the deep canyons cut from sienna stone.  Twilight stretched out, a long dark veil eclipsing the sky.   In the distance an enormous tree swallowed the horizon.

            The cathedral itself was an imposing backdrop.  It was tall, with angular roofing and large, pointed spires.  On the face of it was a large, oval stained-glass window.  It held the image of an angel who slept, a sword clutched tight to its breast.  Below a set of enormous double-doors, each twice as the height of a man, sat ajar.

            The man on the bridge was tall.  He had high cheeks, thin lips, and long, black hair that swept down his back.  His eyes were small, dark, and piercing, and his expression mournful as he gazed into the distance.  He wore a pristine white robe.  His imposing form gave him a natural air of authority.

            Riis came stalking across the bridge, a wolf prepared to strike.  Her steps were slow, precise, each thigh flexing dramatically.  A terrible, carnivorous smile stretched across her face.  She stopped at his side and put her hands on her hips.  “So, you need to waste more of my time, then?”

            The man spared her a weary glance.  “Indeed, I do.  I require you to fetch something for me.”  His voice is deep, chest-rattling, and world-worn.  While he looks young, his voice is old and fatigued.  “What we seek is in the black.  Retrieve it for me.”

            “Fine,” she snapped and turned on heel.

            “Riis.”  She paused, and he said, “I offer you a warning: there are people there who may interfere.  Be careful.”

            Without looking back Riis waved him off.  “I’ll just let them hope that we don’t come face to face.  Otherwise things will end poorly for them.”

            He offered her luck and let her leave.  As she walked away, she ran her fingers along the guardrail of the bridge.  The dark stone hollowed beneath her touched and collapsed into dust.

            She snickered.  “Oh, I won’t need luck.”

Indigo: Abraham, the Princess and the Key Chapter Three: "The Storm"

Chapter Three: The Storm

On this Hallowed Land we’re born,

On this Hollowed Land we live,

On this Hallowed Land we die,

In this Hallowed Land we rest.

            On her way back to the room Alex stopped by the restroom.  After washing her hands, she stopped outside of her door and took a deep breath.  Then, very carefully, she pushed the door open and peeked inside and found that, despite her efforts, Abraham was waiting for her.  She stared at her, wide-eyed and alert, and it reminded Alex of an owl.

            “Sorry,” Alex said as she slipped inside.  She wasn’t sure whether she was apologizing for waking Abraham or for her behavior the day before. 

            Abraham smiled and edged toward her with one tiny arm extended.  She held something out for her, a braid of red, blue, and purple fabrics.  Alex bent down to examine it.

            “I made one for you,” Abraham said.

            Silently, Alex offered her arm.   With her delicate little fingers of pearl, Abraham tied the bracelet around Alex’s right wrist. When finished she let Alex examine.  Despite, or perhaps because of, the simplicity it was beautiful.

            “Thanks,” Alex said, and she smiled.  She looked Abraham in the eyes, shaking.  “Thank you very, very much.”

            Abraham gave her a big, affectionate smile and then did something Alex didn’t expect.  She wrapped her skinny little arms around Alex’s waist and held her tight.  At first Alex went stiff, not really knowing how to react.  She didn’t hug people often and never this close.  It felt strange, but very warm and comforting despite the girl’s diminutive size.  It reminded Alex of a blanket fresh from the drier on a cool winter’s night or a return home after many years away.

            It reminded Alex of time spent with Alicia

            She broke, and the façade crumbled in the little girl’s arms.  Alex collapsed on the floor and sobbed, and while she did Abraham stood holding her.

: The Princess and the Key :

            Isaac stood at the front of the library, beside a bench dedicated to one of the donors.  Before him the campus stretched out.  A lush, green lawn stretched out to meet the black asphalt of the parking lot.  Large trees, statuesque in their perfection, were spread evenly across the campus.

            He traced his hands along the pillars holding up the buildings enormous canopy as he walked the length of the entrance.  The walkway was made of a strange, sandy red stone that was glossed over.  His footsteps echoed.

            At the edge of the patio he stopped and looked at the surrounding buildings.  To his right they were constructing a new add-on, expanding the campus with a new science wing.  The large metal framework was wrapped in plastic gauze.

Though seemingly attentive, his mind was far off.   Someone was there, someone that didn’t belong.  They were in the city, his city, and despite his father’s warnings he was obligated to confront them.  At the very least he could find out who they were and why they were there.

            In truth, Isaac didn’t know much about the Emotion.  He did know enough, though, to believe firmly that some doors should be left unopened.

: The Princess and the Key :

            When Ellen awoke Alex was gone and someone was knocking on her door quite insistently.  She stumbled from the bed half-naked and glanced at the clock.  It was midmorning, but she still felt very tired.  The knocking continued, and she staggered her way across the room.

            Abraham was awake and had been coloring, but when the knocking started, she stopped.  She eyed the door and mouthed the word, “Don’t,” but Ellen didn’t see and cracked the door.

            Carolyne waited outside, and peeking out, Ellen could see something different about her.  It wasn’t something that could be articulated but, despite her small size, Carolyne seemed somehow greater.  Ellen recoiled briefly and then glanced at Alex’s bunk.  “Sorry, Carolyne, Alex isn’t here.”

            Carolyne smiled, but it wasn’t a smile.  Maybe it was a warning.  Normally, Ellen didn’t mind Carolyne’s infrequent visits.  She found the other woman funny and interesting, and though they didn’t spend much time together, Ellen considered her welcome.  That morning, however, Ellen wanted to slam the door shut.  Carolyne stared through her.

            “What about the other girl,” Carolyne asked, and Ellen reacted on instinct. She slammed the door but found it stopped by Carolyne’s food.  Ellen retreated, while Carolyne stepped into the room, her warning written across her face.  “I’ll take that as a yes.”

            That night, while she slept, the boy tore the meat from her bones and searched her blood for the key to the castle.

            The campus was empty on Saturdays, and Alex preferred it that way.  It left her alone and free to go wherever she liked.  It also meant the library study rooms would be empty.  She could seek refuge there until she finished her assignment.

            She had notebooks and papers stuffed under her arm.  The wind was picking up and dark clouds moving in.  She pulled her hood up for protection.  Halfway across the gym’s parking lot she heard an explosion.

            She turned back to the dorms and saw a cloud of dust and debris lurching across the soccer field.  At first, she stared in awed confusion, and then she dropped her things and started toward it.  She couldn’t explain it, but she knew something was wrong.  Somewhere inside of all the chaos a feral beast lurked.  It was tall and vicious, with too many heads and each dripping acid, and she was its prey.

: The Princess and the Key :

            Shana spent her Saturday morning attempting to read.  Every time she started the first paragraph, however, her stomach turned.  It felt like motion sickness, but she was stationary.

            The entire day continued like that, and she stretched out across her bed and tried her best to ride out the storm.  Outside the air was thick and heavy.  Normally, Shana kept her window open when it rained.  Today, she didn’t.  With the weather as it was, she was afraid of being crushed.    

: The Princess and the Key :

            Carolyne walked slowly from the plume of smoke with a sword in her left-hand.  It was a rapier with a paper-thin blade.  A set of ornate black wings extended from the grip and pointed toward the sky.  A thin finger guard looped from blade to the hilt base.  The world warped around it, distending as it came into being.

            Ellen could hardly believe it.  Her heart hammered as she staggered away, pushing Abraham in front of her as they went.  It all happened so fast that everything was a blur.  All she knew was that Carolyne was insane and dangerous, asking about Abraham one minute, and then pulling a sword from thin air and scattering the room across the field the next. Survival was a fluke, and the gash on Ellen’s leg was a sign of good luck.

            Abraham struggled to keep pace.  Ellen’s prodding only made it worse.  They made it to the parking lot before the little girl fell forward onto her hands and knees.  At their heels was Carolyne, stalking with a predatory gaze.  She didn’t mind them running.  For her, the chase was part of the fun. She thought of it like burning ants with a magnifying glass.

            Ellen helped Abraham up and urged her forward. 

: The Princess and the Key :

            Alex was halfway back when she met Ellen and Abraham.  Carolyne was not far behind them.  Her rapier gleamed like a deadly beacon.

            Ellen stopped beside Alex, bent at the waist, and panted.  “Alex—We—I…There’s something wrong with Carolyne.” She righted herself and pointed back at the approaching threat. “She’s after Abraham.  She wants her.  She called her the key, and she said…”

            Abraham rushed forward and hid behind Alex.  Holding her by the leg, she looked up with dark, fearful eyes. “Protect me.”

            Alex looked at Ellen, who struggled to breathe, and then past her, at Carolyne.  For such a small girl, she seemed larger than life.  Her presence took up the entire street, but she maintained a measured pace.  She looked at the world as if she owned it.

            They made eye contact, and Alex felt heavy with fear.  Her pulse quickened, her heart threatened to burst from her chest.  She was breathless and Carolyne, who had just destroyed a building, wasn’t even winded.  Even at a distance, she seemed to have them cornered.

            Again, she looked down into Abraham’s eyes.  They were dark like the universe and seeking salvation.  Without thinking, Alex nodded.  They were all helpless, but Alex had the advantage.  She was used to being helpless. 

She pushed Abraham into Ellen’s hands.  “Ellen, take Abraham and hide her.  And no matter what happens, don’t come out.  Not until I tell you it is safe, okay?”

Ellen pushed herself up.  She was pale and sweating, and her eyes seemed unfocused.  She took a deep breath and then nodded, and she took Abraham by the hand.  Alex lead them along a back path, around one of the buildings and then came to a stop in front of the library.  She watched Ellen and Abraham disappear into the construction site.

A deep breath and then Alex came to rest on a stone bench in the middle of the grass.  She kept her hands in her pockets to keep from fidgeting and tried to think what she could say.  With things as they were between them, Alex couldn’t think of nothing.

Carolyne arrived shortly, keeping to her slow swagger and waving her blade idly.  Blades of grass parted with each pass.  Twenty-feet away she came to a stop, and she stared Alex in the eyes.  She was smiling, still, though it was twisted, sinister.  “Alexandra.”

Alex tried to swallow but her throat felt dry as a dish rag.  She stood.  “Carolyne.”

“Move, please.  I need to get the Key.”

Alex’s knees shook, but she ignored them.  She stood as tall as she could while slouching.  “The Key?”

“Yes.  The girl with the dark hair and the pale skin.  The one that Ellen is trying to hide.  She is the Key, and I need her.”

“And what is she the key to?”

Carolyne sighed and cocked her hip dramatically.  “She is the key to the heart of God, dear.”

Alex paused to contemplate this but could find no meaning in it.  She wasn’t sure Carolyne truly understood, either.

“Listen, either you move or you are moved.  Your choice.”  Carolyne leveled her weapon and directed the tip at Alex.  For the first time since they met, Alex was afraid of her.  Her eyes were glassy blue and without pity.  She looked ready to kill, and Alex was sure it was more than a look.

“I…”  It was hard to speak, hard to even think, and even harder to stand.  Every nerve in her body was alive, tugging her in different directions.  All of them made for her to move, to let Abraham go.  Then, she heard it.

Be brave.  I can help you.

She took a deep breath.  “I’m not moving.”

The glassiness of Carolyne’s gaze left, replaced by a livid fire, and then softening into familiar warmth.  “Listen, I don’t want to move you Alex, because if I do, it means I’ll have to kill you.  So, please, this is the last time: move.”

Alex shook and thought to move again, but she could hear the Voice echoing in her mind.  She held her ground and balled her fist, and she meant to speak but couldn’t manage it.  Simply standing took everything she had in her.

Carolyne sighed.  “Please, Alex, please!  We’re better than this!  Just let me have the Key.  Let me go to the Emotion!”  A long pause followed as Carolyne let every word settle.  “If you like, you can come with me.  WE can go together, to the Emotion.  You and I.”

There was kindness there, longing and lingering want.  For months, Alex had wanted Carolyne to look at her that way.  Now, she was having it offered at the end of a blade.  She had something Carolyne wanted, something to keep her there.  It felt good to no longer just be a ‘her.’  Finally, she was part of a ‘we.’

Then, Alex remember Alicia, who would never forgive her, and she thought about Shana, who never really liked Carolyne in the first place.  She thought about Ellen, too, pale and bleeding, the results of her efforts to protect a lost little girl.  She thought about Abraham, who held her as she cried.

“No.”  She meant to say it, but the word died in her throat.  She hung her head and stepped aside, and Carolyne lowered her weapon and sauntered forward.  “Good girl,” she said, and her footsteps echoed like thunder again the pavement.

Alex couldn’t even watch her pace.  She stared at the ground, at her feet, and let her shame eat her.  That’s when she saw them out of the corner of her eye: tightly woven bands of red, blue, and purple yarn bound about her wrist.  She stared at them for what felt like an eternity, and she felt the change with in.  She wasn’t confident, but she was resolved, and she met Carolyne’s gaze head-on.

“I’m not moving!”  She shouted the words and, in that moment, felt different.  They were equal in that instant, but it didn’t last.

Carolyne sighed and shook her head, and then she was gone.  She moved so quickly that Alex couldn’t follow it.  Alex blinked and Carolyne was there, distance closed and blade ready.  She lunged, and instinct took over.  Alex threw her arms up in defense, sacrificing them to the blow.

There was a flash and a pop, and the world spun.

Alex had never flown before, but she did then.  Like a cannonball, she was jettison across the campus and went spiraling through the air.  The fence caught her and folded back.  She tumbled across the clay unearthed by the construction and slid to a stop.

It hurt.  She hurt, but with time and effort, she managed to bring herself to kneeling and then, with a grunt, standing.  Her legs were weak, but she was steady and, to her surprise and Carolyne’s anger, her arm was whole.  In fact, her entire body was more-or-less fine.  She had survived not just the melee but the fall as well.

Carolyne shrieked and Riis appeared at her side, arms crossed and grinning like a baboon.  She leaned over and whispered into Carolyne’s left ear.  “Listen, girl.  Now is not the time for sentimentality.  You want to complete the task I’ve given you, yes?  You want to be in God’s heart?  Then you’ll have to go through her.  TEAR through her if need be, and then you’ll need to take the Key.  Do you understand?”

Carolyne nodded.  It was clear that she didn’t want to hurt Alex, but she refused to be stopped.  She closed her eyes, and she reached out.  Inside of the building, hiding among the mess, she could feel them: Ellen and the Key.  She moved with bullet-like speed and precision, tearing through the plastic and stepping into the unfinished halls.

This time, Alex saw her and moved to intercept.  She wasn’t sure why, but Carolyne didn’t seem so big or scary anymore.  They were equals, standing on level ground.   The bracelet felt warm around her wrist, and she found strength in that warmth.

Caroyne met Alex with surprised frustration.  She readied her blade, leveling it again, and this time she aimed for Alex’s heart.  It was unfortunate, she thought, but also necessary.  Alex had to die.

: The Princess and the Key :

            Shana was in bed, restrained by the infinite weight of the atmosphere.  She had long since giving up on her book, given up on anything, and so lied there sick and twisted up.  Something was happening that day, something bad.

            Her head felt like it was being crushed in a vice and her body sedated.  The effects weren’t physical, she thought.  It was more like her soul was sick, and the body followed its lead.  Everything was knotted and tight.

            The sound of cracking glass caught her attention.  She sat up, slowly and with effort, and found the picture on her desk broken.  A web-like fractured had appeared just over Alex’s smiling face.  Shana took the picture in hand and stared at it for a few seconds, then she rose from the bed.

            Something was wrong.  Alex was in danger.  Her dreams were more than dreams, and she knew for sure.  She grabbed her car keys and ran out of her room without even changing.  There was no time.  Alex needed help, and Shana had to be there before it was too late.

: The Princess and the Key :

            The wall collapsed inward in a puff of gray dust.  A pear-shaped figure came tumbling out of the debris and crashed into an unpolished, winding staircase.  She scrambled to her feet and sprinted down the hallway.  In the very same instance, the stairs ruptured into bent shards.

            A blade cut through the fog of dust that choked the air, creating an opening for Carolyne to stomp through.  Her jaw was tight with rage.  “I gave you a chance, Alex!”  She closed the distance between them quickly and swiped with her blade.

            Alex fell forward, face-first, and crawled away on her hands and knees.  For a moment they seemed on equal footing, but Alex had overestimated herself.  She realized very quickly how severe her disadvantage was.  Her short-lived resistance only proved to reinforce that sentiment.

            In the hazy distance at the other end of the hall she found Ellen and Abraham.  Ellen had blacked out from blood loss, her arms wrapped around her tiny ward, who sobbed softly.

            “I gave you multiple chances!”  There was another attack and another narrow escape.  Alex rolled across the floor and came to a stop.  There wasn’t much room to navigate and nowhere left to run.  Doing her best to fight the fear buckling her knees, she stood and faced Carolyne.

            Deep, deep within her a Voice told her to fight.  Alex, in turn, promised that she would do her best.

: The Princess and the Key :

            Riis watched the beautiful opera from outside of the building.  Once, the two girls had loved each other and then were made bitter rivals, and all for a key.  A key the importance of which even none of them fully understood.  Still, she had to commend Carolyne.  For a pawn, she was quite powerful.

            He approached her from behind, and she could feel him.  She could also feel reality warp as he conjured his Voice into being, and she ducked smoothly under his first attack.  His chakram circled in the air and returned to him.  He caught it with his left hand and had another brandished in his right.

            His Voice manifested in the form of two bladed rings called chakrams.  The one in his left was black in color, had a cross-grip in the center of the ring and four points on the outside.  The right had a simple bar-grip and was rounded on the edges.  It was pure white.

            Riis smiled hungrily as she appraised him.  They were roughly the same height.  His hair had a reddish tint to it, and his skin was darker than hers.  He moved with a youthful vigor that made her hate him.  When they locked eyes, he smiled.  “Found you,” he said.

            She nodded in return.  “So you are the one I was warned about.  It took you much longer than I anticipated.”

            He shrugged.  “I was taking the time to enjoy the show.  So, no Voice?”

            She chuckled and dragged her fingers along the trunk of a nearby try.  Arcs of light danced along the bark and peeled it from the wood.  She bared her teeth.  “I don’t really need one, as you can see.”

            Isaac eyed the display apprehensively and then shook his head.  “Uh, not really.  No.”

            Her face hardened.  She flexed her fingers, which popped loudly.  “Enough chit-chat, little hare.  I’m here to RIP you apart.”

            “That doesn’t sound like much fun.”  He grinned and winked.  “Can’t we talk? Maybe grab a bite to eat?”

            “No,” she howled, and she rushed.  He threw his left chakram again and backed away, keeping distance between himself and her hands.

: The Princess and the Key :

            Shana rushed through traffic, ignoring most of the laws she had only just learned.  Alex was in trouble.  Alex needed her help.  Alex was dying.  She wasn’t sure how she knew or what she could do, but she could just see Alex lying in a pool of blood and screaming for her.  It was like they were connected by strings, and she could feel the vibrations.

: The Princess and the Key :

            Alex squealed in pain and toppled over.  Her side was red with a river of blood as she bled across the unfinished tile floor.  With effort she got herself to a knee and sat before Carolyne, her head bowed.  She had lost, and she felt sure that she would die.

            Carolyne seemed to agree and wore her open contempt in a sneer. “You should have listened,” she said, directing the bloodied rapier point at Alex’s forehead.  “You should have listened,” she repeated, her anger swelling.  “Scared yet?”

            Alex balled her fists.  She didn’t even think about it.  Of course she was scared.  Her side was on fire, and she was losing blood quickly.  Her head was light, her movements sluggish.  She wouldn’t be able to dodge the next attack, no matter how hard she tried.

            Abraham cried nearby, screaming fitfully into the silence.  She tugged Ellen’s arm.  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

            Carolyne cackled viciously.  “You’re both sorry,” she said, and she lunged. 

            Dire or dead either way, Alex flinched and threw her arms up again.  There was another flash of light, and Carolyne’s blade stopped, suspended only inches away Alex’s flesh.  The world wrung and the windows shattered in the storm.  Alex fell back but kept her right arm up.

            Carolyne pushed harder.  Reality bulged and swelled.  They could feel it straining, struggling to hold her back.  Whatever it was, it was giving.  Carolyne put her full weight into her blade and growled like a wild animal.

            “You bitch,” she shouted over the maelstrom.  “You whined and whined about how you wanted me, how you NEEDED me!  You wouldn’t stop.  Then I give you this chance, this perfect fucking chance, and you throw it away!”  She shook her head and put her weight, little as it was, into the rapier.  The blade sunk deeper, sliding into whatever kept her at bay.

            Please, hear me, please, say my name!

            Everything stopped.  Alex didn’t understand how, but she knew.  She used her left arm as a brace and pushed, and she said it.  The words appeared, fully formed in her mind, and she said them loudly and with conviction.  She called out to her Voice.

            “Three Gods!”

            A bracelet of pure platinum appeared from the air, coiling around her right arm from forearm to elbow.  From it a blade grew, swelling forward and bridging the distance between the two women.  The tip parted Carolyne’s shirt and narrowly missed her throat.

: The Princess and the Key :

            Less than hundred feet away another battle raged.  Isaac moved nimbly, hands bleeding around his weapons.  Each time he blocked her attacks an arc of light danced along his palms and parted his flesh.  He didn’t know how many times he could deflect her, and she was too quick for him to evade.

            They broke through the doors into the cafeteria.  Isaac tumbled and rolled to a stop while Riis followed him, bounding through the open doorway and narrowly missing his face.  A flash, and the skin on his cheek tore open.  He winced and retreated into a nearby wall, her advancing endlessly on him.

            She fractured the stone above him as he ducked under and sprinted away.  He was halfway down a long, polished hallway before she caught him.  She dragged her hand along the glass panels lining the walls, shattering them as she passed.  A high swipe, and Isaac used her momentum to throw her overhead.  She landed on both feet and turned on him.

            He threw his left chakram, but she knocked it away with her hand.  Passing her, he caught it and continued toward the exit.  She caught him and kicked him in the back, knocking him through the door and onto the cement walkway outside.  He scrambled to his feet and rolled out of the way as she laid hands on where he was.  The cement turned to dust.

            They came to a stop outside near a small pond.  Isaac retreated into the center of the water, walking on its surface like a prophet.  It had taken him months of training to learn the basic of this and years more to master it.  It hurt a little to watch Riis follow him out.

            She flexed her hand and gazed around the shifting water.  “Here?  This will make you a fine grave.”

            Isaac took a deep breath to steady his hands.  Blood ran down his knuckles and his cheek.  He was afraid she was right, and then he felt the shift in the air.  In the distance, he could feel Alex’s awakening, and it restored some hope to him.

: The Princess and the Key :

            When Alex opened her eyes she was lying outside of the library.  The stone walkway was slick beneath her back.  It was raining, a light sprinkle.  Dust and debris lay strewn about her.  Carolyne was about twenty-feet away.

            Alex felt sluggish.  Her right arm was still bound in the strange, intricate bracer.  A long, double-edged blade stuck out past her fist.  Two figureheads were etched into its surface.  Closer to the blade was a dragon’s head, holding a red gem in its open maw.  A maiden held a blue gem on the opposite side, closer to her elbow.

            She stood and wiped the sweat and blood from her brow.  Her injuries were light, insufficient to leave her helpless, but severe enough to cause her pain.

            Carolyne woke and stood across from her.  Aside from the tear in her blouse she was still in fine condition.  She swung her rapier around, testing its weight and adjusting her grip.  Then she smiled viciously at Alex.  “Finally, you finally heard it!  The damn thing’s been begging for months, and now you finally hear it.”  She fell into a fit of high, wild laughter, and the sky joined her with a deep-bellied rumble of its own

            Alex held up the brace and examined it.  “What is it?”

            “Proof of your existence,” Carolyne said.  She cradled her rapier like a child.  “It’s your soul’s voice, Alex, and through it you can express your will.  It is here to help you.  At its essence, it is you, and that is why you’re better.  See, wisdom is energy, and we have more than they could ever hope for.  We’re so much more, so much higher, that even their gods can’t touch us.  We are harbingers, dear, and we can bring them something, save them from their pointless little existences.  We just need the Key.” She held out her hand once more, an offer, and she said, “One. Last. Chance.”

            Not for the first time Alex felt alone.  It was a near constant state for her.  Outcast, freak, she felt familiar with those titles, but this strange weapon made her feel even more isolated than before.  She could summon a construct of her soul, and she didn’t even understand what that meant.  After hearing it explained, she wasn’t sure Carolyne truly understood either.

            Whatever the case, she had to make a choice.  She stood and leaned her head back.  Closing her eyes, she let the rain wash it all away.  Whether animal or angel, madman or prophet, monster or savior, she knew wherever she went she was closing doors.  To challenge Carolyne would mean challenging her love, her first lover.  To join her meant sacrificing Abraham, helpless and hopeless, but otherwise foreign.

            Carolyne took a confident step forward.  “We are better than this, Alex, better than them.  Come with me to the Emotion, to the heart of God!”

            These words brought Alex back.  The rain felt more substantial than before.  It soaked through her clothes and eased her aching body.  The blood on her face was washed away and pooled at her feet.

: The Princess and the Key :

            The light Isaac felt faded as quickly as it appeared.  Riis charged him, leaving a spray of water in her wake.  Turning his attention back to her, Isaac gave a last-second toss, and she slipped under the muddy water.  His chakram bounced along the surface and then returned to him.  He caught it and turned a circle, searching for ripples in the water.

            He started taking slow steps toward the edge, both chakrams ready.  His thoughts were scattered, drawn away.  He couldn’t focus on both Alex’s missing presence and on his enemy at the same time and, torn between them, found nothing.

            The water broke, and Riis seized him by the ankles.  She pulled him under, dragging him down first by his feet and then his shoulders.  The dirty water stung his eyes and filled his throat.  He flailed weakly as she seized him by the face.  The energy moved through him, cutting him to the bone.  Fresh wounds wept blood into the water.

            He thrashed, but she was gone.  She moved too quickly, darting around him, touching him lightly and rending his flesh.  He spun in the water, swaying, kicking, making for the surface but being pulled back down.  She took him by the head and knocked skulls with him.  He lurched back, mouth open, releasing what little air he had left.

            Her hands fixed around his throat and flexed.  He could feel her energy now, moving through her and into him.  With his right hand, he took one of her arms and then drove his left arm up into her elbow.  The arm gave, folding upward with a dulled, water-dampened crack.

            She tried to kick away from him, but he held her in place.  Gripping his chakram tight, he punched her repeatedly in the stomach with his left hand.  To start, her flesh resisted, but after repeated punctures it softened to wet paper.  He stopped only when she did.

            He pulled himself from the water, gasping and wheezing as he made it to the surface, and dragged her along after him.  On the shore, he coughed until the water came back up.  Then, he went back to her body, ran his blade along her throat for good measure, and pushed her back into the water with his foot.

            It was raining as he stood, and the rainfall washed the mud from his body.  He felt weak and breathless, but he didn’t take the time to recover.  In the distance, he could feel Alex again, but only faintly.  So, he drew a single deep breath and forced his reluctant body forward.

: The Princess and the Key :

            Alex turned her gaze on Carolyne.  They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, brown eyes on green, but it felt different from the past.  Nothing lingered between them.  There was no romance or regrets, only a deep sense of disappointment.

            Carolyne lowered her arm and fixed her stare on the ground.  Her hair fell wet into her eyes.  “Of course you can’t,” she whispered.

            Alex lifted the bracer—Three Gods—again.  Then she cut the falling rain with it.  “I’m sorry,” she said, holding the blade in front of her without really knowing what to do.

            Carolyne lifted her own Voice.  “Whatever, it’s fine, just tell me, because I have to know: why are you fighting so hard for that girl?”

            Alex gave it some thought and then shrugged.  “Honestly, I don’t know,” she said, realizing how ridiculous it sounded.  “But I’ve made my decision, and I’m following through, Carolyne. I’m living my life for once.”

            Carolyne bared her teeth in what should have been a smile.  “Fine, you idiot, but this is the end.  You may be able to hear your damn soul, but you’ve only just learned its name.”  She ran her fingers along her rapier’s blade.  “You still can’t understand a damn thing it’s saying to you!”

            Staring across the wreckage and the rain, Alex swore she saw reality bending around Carolyne again.  She thought that all the fear was behind her, but she was very, very wrong.

: The Princess and the Key :

            Shana’s car slid on the wet asphalt.  She came to a stop and then stumbled out the driver’s side door, sprinting on bare feet toward the campus.  After only a few steps her legs gave out.  She fell forward, catching herself on her hands and knees and vomiting into a puddle in front of her.  The air had become so thick, so heavy, that she could no longer breath.  It was a struggle to even keep her eyes open.

            Danger permeated the air.  Rain and thunder swallowed her sobs as the crawled forward.  Alex wasn’t far off.  Ahead, in the distance, she could see light pooling around the library, and she could feel Alex at its center.  Whatever it was, it was dangerous, and she had to hurry.

            She forced herself to standing and started forward again.  This time, she made it to the grass before she collapsed.

: The Princess and the Key :

            Carolyne held her blade out before her.  Her eyes were closed, her body tense, and the air around her grew heavy.  In a moment of do-or-die, Alex blitzed her with Three Gods ready.  She crossed half the distance before the world crashed down on her, the air thick as stone.

            Submit to me, world of life, and cut this string of fate!

            The words were not spoken but felt.  Carolyne’s eyes glowed a bright, sickening green.  She lunged forward and there was a flash of light before her blade landed like a hammer blow.  Alex felt it with everything in her body and did her best to push through, but the current was too great.  She was washed away, world spinning chaotically around her.  She landed hard and rolled to a stop face up in the rain.

            It hurt to breathe.  Carolyne followed close and was on her in an instant.  It took everything Alex had to avoid the next attacked.  She rolled out of the way and stumbled to her feet, dodging a second strike and a third, but a fourth caught her in the side.

            Her footing wasn’t stable.  She spun and swung wide, aiming for the head, but couldn’t follow through.  The pain in her side brought her to kneeling.  Breathing became a struggle as pain shot up her spine.  All of her limbs suddenly felt like lead.

            Her legs gave first, and she fell to her knee, head down, pain wracking her bones.  She looked almost submissive as Carolyne stood over her, sneering.  “Is that it?  Is that all you have?’  Her tone softened and affection bled through.  “Please, tell me it is.  Tell me you were wrong, that you have changed your mind.  If you do, I’ll give you another chance.  Alex, please.”

            Alex wasted no time and gave no energy to contemplation.  She pushed off the ground with the last of her strength and threw her weight behind her blade, which found home in Carolyne’s stomach.  Two inches dug in, and Carolyne came to an abrupt, wheezing stop.  They stumbled together, Alex falling forward, Carolyne staggering back.

            They stayed like this, the rain washing over both of them.  This single instant stretched into eternity.  Alex stared up into Carolyne’s wide, green eyes and swore she saw tears, swore she saw genuine hurt.  Then, Carolyne’s rapier evaporated into the air and, shortly after, Three Gods followed suit.

            Both of them collapsed on the muddy concrete, blood pooling in the rain around them.     

: The Princess and the Key :

           

            Up to that point Abraham had waited.  She was scared and alone, but she couldn’t hide forever.  Ellen had become so cold, and she could feel the raging battle come to an end.  Their lights were dimming, one by one, and only she could fix it.

: The Princess and the Key :

            After a few minutes of heavy breathing Shana could stand.  The storm had come and passed.  She sprinted toward the library, ignoring the ache of her bare feet on the wet stonework.  Whatever had transpired, she wasn’t confident that Alex had made it through.

: The Princess and the Key :

            Isaac felt like a fool.  Ignoring his father’s advice, he threw himself into a big damn mess and dragged others into it along the way.  Then, he took a life with his own hands and, possibly, caused the death of another.  He couldn’t feel Alex’s presence anymore, could no longer see the glow of her light.

            He sprinted through the campus, the wet grass and mud sucking at his feet as he went.  When he last felt her, Alex was just outside of the library, on the far side from him.  As he ran, he found himself thinking of his father again.  How much could his father have known?  More than he would ever tell Isaac.

            It didn’t matter.  Isaac was here, and he would make a difference.  By-standers, he reasoned, never wrote the next page of history.

: The Princess and the Key :

            The last thing Alex felt was a lingering pain in her side.  She was wet and cold, and then she was nothing at all.  In the distance she saw Shana running toward her, an angel in soaked pajamas.  Then, in the blackness, she heard her scream.

            Light was everywhere.  It was inside of her and around her, and it was in every color imaginable.  If Alex could have gone out of body and looked at herself, she would have thought of herself as being green.  She definitely felt green, and that made her happy.  She wanted for nothing, no taste, no scent, no sound.  She was content to simply be.

            “So, this is the end?”

            “No, of course not,” Alex said, feeling somehow assured.  “It’s just an ending for us.  I made my decision, Carolyne, and I stand by it.  Isn’t that the point of life?  To make decisions?  To follow through?  To exist and live?”

            “Then you should keep on trying and keep on living, Alex!”

            “…Shana…”

            “I’m so sorry, Alex, please understand.  This is all I could do.”

            “It’s okay.  I made this decision myself, and I promise you, I have no regrets, other than the fact that I hurt someone very dear to me.”

            “Sorry to say, princess, but it’s not over just yet.  You aren’t dead.  You’re just adjusting, is all.  Despite all of our efforts, I think we failed.  It looks like we get to go to the heart of God after all.  To the Emotion.”

Indigo: Abraham, The Princess and the Key Chapter One: "A Stray Feather"

Indigo

: ABRAHAM :

The Princess and the Key

Chapter One: A Stray Feather

We are all just stray fathers,

Floating on the wind,

Which one of us will fall first?

            Alex was in darkness.  She had been for the past few weeks.  Every night, as she slept, clouds rolled in.  They suffocated her, pressured her, and crushed her underneath.  No matter how hard she pushed she couldn’t lift the sky.

            While lying flat against the ground she would hear it—the Voice.  It shook the foundations of the world with each mighty word.  Sometimes it sounded like a sledge hammer cracking stone.  Other times it sounded like the gentle movements of the sea.  Always, it was larger than life.

            It told her the same thing night after night.  “A storm is coming, and you are at its center.  Trust not false friends and false lovers.  Trust not illusions of peace.  There is an enemy in your midst, and only you can stop them.”

            It was prophetic, she knew, but hollow.  Every morning she woke with her skin clammy and her heart banging hard against her ribs, and she couldn’t remember a thing except for the shadows and the weight of it all.

            Her roommate woke her this day.  Alex could hardly hear her over the roll of thunder that was the voice.  She didn’t wake until Ellen shook her.  Then, she shot up right into the ceiling and then fell back down, cringing and clutching her head.

            “Alex!  Are you okay?”

            Alex grunted.

            “I’m so sorry, I was just trying…”

            “What do you want?”

             “Well, I was just thinking you might want to go to class.”

            “When does class start?”

            “Oh…”  Ellen looked back at the alarm clock.  “About five minutes ago.”

            Alex rolled from the bed and landed lithely on the ground before becoming a whirlwind of motion.  Ellen watched in shock as Alex stripped her clothes, threw on what both girls hoped were clean clothes, grabbed an old banana from the top of the mini-fridge and then rushed out the door with a brief and hurried, “Thanks.”

            Ellen shook her head but smiled.  This was their routine now.  Alex always slept in.  Ellen always woke her, or she at least tried to.  Her success rate wasn’t flattering.  They were paired off as roommates earlier that year and over that time built up something of a friendship, with Ellen being clearly more invested.  Still, Ellen liked Alex.

            She grabbed the clothes Alex left on the floor and threw them into the dirty clothes.  Then, she grabbed a towel and her shower caddy.  Today was her day off from classes, and while she did have some errands to run, she wanted to take the day at a leisurely pace and enjoy it.

            After her shower Ellen put on a plain t-shirt, a pink jacket, grey sweat pants, and her favorite yellow tennis shoes and then left the dorms.  She took headphones and a music player with her and sifted through her music until she found something that suited her mood.

            It was sunny out, early spring, and the sky was clear and blue.  The chill of winter faded slowly and struggled into mid-morning.  Once a week, Ellen walked to the local grocery store.  She could drive, but she enjoyed the exercise and found this to be her form of meditation.  It was a private joy, and the ritual of it was comforting.

            The air warmed as she walked, and by arrival she had stripped her jacket and wrapped it firmly about her waist.  The school she and Alex went to was a small community college of little notoriety.  The town, while small, hardly seemed to notice its presence.  They kept the campus tucked discreetly in the corner where the students living there couldn’t get into too much trouble.

            The dormitories were isolated even from that.  It was a small building in the shape of a T and housed both men and women, though they were kept to separate halls.  There were few spaces.  Members of their official teams—the Ostriches and Lady Ostriches—got the first spots.  Everyone else had to get lucky.

            After doing some light shopping, Ellen made her return with a single bag in hand.  Outside of the shopping mart there was a steep hill leading up to an open field.  Her return journey would take her through a small apartment complex and then across a soccer field that the school rented out to a local micro-soccer league.  The sun was out now, shining bright and warm, and Ellen smiled and embraced it.

            She didn’t know what the day would bring, but she was excited to find out.

: The Princess and the Key :

            Meanwhile, on campus, Alex just reached the library.  The H. James Library, built in 1987, was a small, square building that housed a rather unimpressive assortment of texts and a few old computers.  Large windows granted a view of the library’s interior.  The rest of the building was made of up student advisors and classrooms. 

            She sprinted across the brick walk way and into the glossy interior.  The halls were empty, a bad sign indicating how tardy she was.  In the foyer she had to stop to catch her breath and rest her legs.  They felt like jelly from the short jog over.

            The class started at eleven in the morning.  Alex woke at eleven o’ five—a mistake she was repeated with increasing frequency.  She had considered dropping the class but feared how her parents would react.  Getting an education didn’t mean much to her, but it meant the world to them, and she didn’t want to keep disappointing them.

            After regaining her breath, she started running again, hoping to arrive early enough to find her teacher’s good graces.

: The Princess and the Key :

            Miles away, in the heart of the town, Van sat alone in a darkened room.  He stared at the large, oak desk in front of him.  Though he couldn’t see them, worn books and scattered pages were spread out before him.  He started his mornings this way, and he ended his nights this way. 

            This was his daily routine, his meditation.  His life was so full of experience that everything felt like it was on constant repeat.  He clearly recalled the loss of his childhood home, the death of his family and his sister, the disappearance of his wife, and each morning he remembered them all over again.  It always led him to the same conclusion, and the same questions.

            “How ethical would it be for me to use Isaac?”

            Van’s son, Isaac, was undoubtedly strong of mind and body.  He took after Van in many ways.  They shared the same hair, the same youthful face, the same lean figure, the same quick mind.  The only difference was in the darkness of Isaac’s skin and the color of his eyes—both legacies of his missing mother.

            Isaac was something of a prodigy, as Van was proud to admit.  He started training almost from birth and excelled.  In only a few short years he could hear the Voice.  Not long after that he could understand it, comprehend it, and eventually came to harness it.  In time, Van expected Isaac’s brilliance to surpass even his own.

            What Van needed was a pawn, though, not a prodigy.  Regardless, he needed a legacy as even more, and Isaac was the best option.  The only thing keeping Van were his lingering regrets, and even those could not sustain him for long.  Soon, he would follow his family into the void.

            He put his glasses on and turned on the lamp. Shortly after, the door to his private office opened and light spilled in.  Van winced and looked at his son, who stood in the doorway like a picture of days long past.

            “Dad.”

            “What,” Van grunted while sifting through his papers and putting them into neat piles on the desk.

            “I feel something,” Isaac said.  He paused to search for the right words.  “Something’s wrong, something that doesn’t belong here.”

            Van nodded.  He moved stiffly, far too stiffly for someone of his age.  He scooped up a large, old book and licked his finger before flipping it open to a specific page.  “Isaac, have you heard the myth of the Princess and the Key?”

            “What,” Isaac asked.  He stepped into the room proper and said, “No.”

            Isaac smiled humorlessly.  “Then I have quite the story for you.  You see, once upon a time there was a palace that floated through the sky.  It was a place known to connect the hearts of the people with the heart of God…”

: The Princess and the Key :

            The incline of the hill was always sharper than she remembered and partway up she started to feel a burn.  Her breathing increased, sweat built up across her flesh and, as usual, she came to regret an early morning shower before her walk, but she figured another shower couldn’t hurt.

            She kept walking, forcing one step after another and using her music to distract her from her shortening breath.  At the top of the hill she came to a stop before a long, winding road that led to the back of the grocery store for deliveries.  There were no cars, so she hurried across and started her trek through the empty field ahead.

            On the way she met a thicket of spindly, black winter-worn trees.  A gentle breeze rattled the branches and made the rising grass around it sway.  Ellen entered the thicket without a thought and was nearly through when she came to a stop.  In her peripheral she spotted something—something large, black, and hiding in the bushes.

            Her first instinct was to stop and run, but when it didn’t react to her, she decided to hurry on by and hope it wasn’t dangerous.  She was out of thicket and halfway to the duplexes when her curiosity got the better of it.  Whatever it was, it didn’t react to her at all.  So, she returned to examine it, the mystery having hooked her like the poor little fish she was.

            Looking straight at it she found its details became more defined, and once she stood over it she saw that it wasn’t a creature at all.  It was a small child, a girl to be precise.  Ellen couldn’t tell how old she was, just that she was very, very small.  Her hair, dark like a crow’s feather, was long enough to be wrapped around her like a cocoon, and her skin, while caked with dirt, was pale as a moon light.

            Ellen kneeled down and poked the girl, who didn’t respond.  Then, Ellen rolled her carefully onto her back and made sure she was breathing.  She was, thankfully, but that left Ellen with a decision to make.

            She looked around anxiously, as if she were to be scolded, and then scooped the girl up in her arms.  She was even smaller than she looked, Ellen found, and lighter, too.  Ellen stood and turned, and she took the girl with her back to the dorm.

: The Princess and the Key :

            Things had changed since Riis was last here.  There were streets now, and cars, blaring their horns at one another and at her.  She passed by without a care, ignoring them as they screeched to a halt before her.  She didn’t fear them

            She moved like a wolf, her tall, wiry frame being lithe.  Her hair was short and her face long and looking more boyish than feminine.  She carried herself like a soldier though or at least someone who has seen death.  She seemed assured, and her eyes were crazed.

            People stared as she passed by, but she looked past them and through them.  She just kept walking and wore a thin, vicious smile.  It was like a gash cut across her face.  From all the way across town she could feel them, and they were all that mattered.  Everyone else was white noise, insects surrounding and offending her.

            The air was acrid and greasy and the buildings taller and sturdier than she remembered.  The people were weak and soft.  They weren’t deserving of life.  Even those of merit were untrained and untested.  They bore potential and little else to speak of.

            She wanted more and searched the crevices and caverns of the city.  She called out to people’s souls and listened to them.  In the dark recesses she found two more.  One was a wealth of knowledge and power—the one she had been warned about.  The other was weaker and younger, but he was skilled in his own right.

            They made her hungry for violence and death, but they still weren’t right.

            She searched longer and deeper, and after what felt like an eternity found it.  It was small and shaken, and it was very lonely and confused, but it shined brightly in the darkness.  It was somewhere far off, but it was there, and it was not alone.

            Riis turned toward the school, her hands in her pockets, and her heart set on blood.

: The Princess and the Key :

            And living in the castle was a Princess.  It was her duty to watch over the people and communicate their wants, their needs, to God.  In a way, she spoke to the earth and translated their words for the heavens to hear.

: The Princess and the Key :

            Alex sat in the back.  She always sat in the back.  The students in the front drew too much attention.  Her goal was to avoid attention as much as possible.

            When she first started college, the semester before, she was a decent student.  She arrived at classes in a timely manner, and she put forth minimal effort.  That was enough.  Even though she didn’t excel, she survived.  Few asked for more out of her, and she liked it that way.

            Her second semester started very much the same but took a sharp turn early on.  She was never much of a mathematician, nor a scientist or historian, and she had no illusions of that.  School was for her parents.  Her focus was and would remain elsewhere.

            Of all of her classes, Alex assumed philosophy would be the easiest.  Then she started missing days, and that quickly caught up with her.  The teacher, a handsome middle-aged man with a thick head of hair and kind eyes, grew tired of her games early on.  Her late arrival that day was not met with understanding but with growing ire.

            Alex sat in the library and waited for the webpage to load.  She was slumped in her chair, her dark hair draped over her face like blinders, and her arms over her chest.  Everything about her kept the world at bay.

            She had one chance to pass the class: an essay.  Her teacher told her that he felt like she didn’t have direction, that she didn’t know who she was or what she wanted.  He was right, but what he didn’t know was that it didn’t matter to Alex.  So, when he assigned her an essay about the meaning of life, she wouldn’t contemplate these things.  She would just do the research and turn something in because she had to pass.  She had to keep her parent’s from worrying.

            The computer didn’t load.  No matter how long she waited it simply didn’t move.  Growing tired of it, she finally decided to grab a couple of books and do it the old fashion way.  She left the library with her arms full and walked straight into another student.  He stood solid, as if she were a light breeze.  She landed hard on her rump and let the books tumble to the ground around her.

            “Oh, I’m sorry, wasn’t paying attention,” he said.  His voice was smooth and attractive, and his face was just the same.  He had a boyish charm and bright green eyes, and when he smiled it felt like a sunrise.

            Alex normally wasn’t one to fawn over cute boys but staring up at him she couldn’t help but blush. “No, it’s my fault,” she said while getting to her knees.  She gathered her things with his help.  Their hands met and a small shock ran through her fingers, running up her smile and forming a small smile on her face.  She hid it behind her hair and avoided eye contact.

            No one made her feel this way.  No one pulled her into the present and made her feel real, but this boy wasn’t like anyone.  He had a strange air about him, something that aroused and intrigued her.  She couldn’t explain it, but he felt different from the world around him.  He felt special.

            They stood in silence until Alex said, “I couldn’t see over my books.”  It all came out in one word.

            He laughed in a way that was both polite but sincere.  “I understand.  I was kind of lost in my own world, too.  So, no hard feelings,” he said.  Then he moved past her, almost as if in slow motion.  She was awed by the fluidity of his movements. In fact, she was completely mesmerized.

            He turned and gave her a small wave.  “It was nice meeting you, and keep an eye out, yeah?”  Then he turned and left.

            Alex watched him go, clutching her books to her breast.  Then, she shook her head and pushed those strange feelings down.  There was something odd about that boy, and she didn’t like how much she liked it.

            The return to the dorms was made in a cloud of irritated confusion.  Her life was already in ruins, with dreams plaguing her every night and an essay making matters worse.  She didn’t have time to consider a charming stranger with bright eyes and a brighter smile.

            A smile that reminded her of her dreams, she realized.  Somehow, thinking about him conjured up forgotten things.  Her dreams came back to her in greater detail.  There was more to them than darkness, than pressure.  There was a Voice thick as lumber that rattled her bones.

            That is where her thoughts were when she entered the dorms, and they distracted her as she passed through the lobby.  Her room was the first door to the right in the girl’s hall, and it was what drew her from her reverie.  Specifically, it was a note pinned to the door.  It was from an old friend who wanted to talk.

            Alex sighed and pocketed the note.  It was just one more trouble for her already chaotic life.  She balanced her books in one hand and wriggled the door open, and she just could only just close it before the books came tumbling down.  She bit back a curse.

            Ellen was there to greet her, dressed in a t-shirt and sweats, with her curly blond hair tied back into a ponytail.  There was also a tiny girl behind her with long, long black hair and skin so pale it could have been pigmented by light.  Ellen was trying to shove the little girl under the bed.

            Alex tried to speak but words failed her.  All she managed was, “What—I—Who—Ellen?”

            Ellen stopped and turned.  She had adopted the not-so-innocent look of a child with her hand in the cookie jar.  “She’s my…Cousin? Yeah, she’s my cousin!”  Ellen looked at the little girl, who had lost interest in hiding and took to digging through their dressers.  “And her name is…”

            “Abraham,” the girl said.  Her voice was as small as she was, but her smile was huge.  She found a pair of socks and held them stretched between her tiny hands.  “Means father of many.”  She ran her large, brown eyes over her find and then turned her smile on them.

            Alex look between them and settled her gaze on Ellen, and she crossed her arms.  “Your cousin?  Abraham.”

            Ellen nodded, emphatically, and gave the girl a hug.  The girl, to her credit, abandoned the socks and returned the embrace heartily.  “Yes, my cousin Abraham.  We’re tight.  Real tight.  Tight as two peas in a pod, I tell you.  Two peas in a pod that been tied up in string really, really tightly.  You know, we’re more like siblings.  Or twins.  We’re inseparable.”

            Alex shook her head.  “And you were trying to hide her under our bunk bed because?”

            Ellen smiled uneasily.  “Because I…Well, it’s a funny story.”

            A knock at the door and Alex glanced back.  When she returned her attention to them Abraham had somehow vaulted onto the bottom bunk, which stood almost as tall as her.  She had the socks in her hands again and was turning them inside out.

            Alex grumbled, and she looked through the peep hole.  A tiny blonde with a pixie-cut stood waiting in the hall, one hand on her hip and chewing the nails on her other hand.  It was Carolyne, the friend who needed to talk.

            Sighing, Alex took the time to gather her books and stack them on her desk.  Then, she fixed Ellen with a glare.  “We’ll finish this later,” she said, and she slipped out into the hall.