Council of Peacocks (16 page)

“Where the hell is she?”

He stood up and walked toward the bathrooms.
A chill went down his spine. In that instant he knew without a
doubt that something had gone inexplicably and horribly wrong. Each
step he took made his body feel heavier, as if time was slowing
down and gravity increasing. Invisible hands seemed to push him
back, telling him to turn around and run. But he could not leave
his sister.

“Catherine?”

He knocked on the door to the women’s
washroom.

No response.

“Cathy?”

He put his ear to the door and listened. At
first he heard nothing. Then, softly, he heard a whimper. And heavy
breathing. Images of rapists and mass murders flew quickly through
his head. He slammed his shoulder into the door. It caved so easily
that it took him a second to recover. When his eyes caught up with
his brain, he started to scream.

It happened so fast the scream never left his
throat.

He saw his sister, hair tousled, talking to a
black hole that swirled in the mirror over the sink. She turned
toward him. From the look in her eyes, he knew she was no longer
herself. When he tried to scream, something shot out of the black
hole in the mirror and lodged itself in his body. It all happened
so fast, he never knew what happened.

From inside the body of Catherine Laymon, a
voice like static and the hum of electricity spoke.

“Well, that was convenient.”

In response, a voice came from inside Sammy’s
body. It was similar in cadence but with a quirky yet masculine
quality to it. “Dear poppet, nothing is convenient for us nowadays.
I tell you, it is destiny.”

“Humph. Well ‘destiny’ could have given me a
prettier host. How can I possibly have any fun with this
thing?”

“We’re not here for ‘fun,’ Carla,” the thing
inside Sammy said. “No fun until after this whole thing is over, if
you ask me. At least now we can move around in the world.”

“Fine,” Carla answered. “But, nothing’s worth
doing unless it’s fun, if you ask me. I suppose we should just move
quickly and track down that Edimmu before it reaches Propates. We
have to make sure it delivers the right message and not the one
Wisdom told him to deliver.”

“Absolutely. Do you think we have time to get
a bite to eat?” Sanchez looked down the hallway, his eyes searching
for the guy who had been working the counter. He saw nothing.

“Eat later. If I can’t have fun, you
definitely can’t eat. Come on. Call him.”

Sanchez manipulated Sammy’s body and
completed a complicated series of motions while chanting in an
ancient language. More shadows flew out of the black hole in the
mirror and coalesced into a pool of night between the two possessed
beings. The pool shimmered and twirled and the restaurant filled
with the sounds of thunder. Then the pool of darkness disappeared
in a flash and, in its place, stood a wingless Edimmu. It was the
same one Wisdom had thrown to the ground.

“Masters,” the Edimmu said. It knelt on one
knee, the action obviously putting it off balance without the extra
weight of its wings. It did not look them in the eyes. Instead, it
trembled in place.

“Tell me what happened,” Carla said. “Don’t
forget anything, either. Tell it all.”

The Edimmu bowed its head. A quiver ran
through its body.

“Yes, master. I will tell you.”

Chapter Eleven

August 3
^rd

David stepped through the portal and found
himself in a very different place. If Toronto had felt like a
different country to him, this was another planet. As people
streamed out behind him, he looked around at what he first assumed
to be an enormous, natural cavern. Then his eyes adjusted to the
dim light.

“Whoa,” he said. The 46 Anomalies gathered in
a circular foyer the size of a basketball stadium. Fist-sized
crystal spheres placed on pillars emitted a soft, steady light.
What he first assumed were stalagmites and stalactites were
actually thick granite columns. They rose from a tiled floor to a
smooth ceiling fifty feet above his head. Numerous passages
branched out on either side, many blocked by twelve-foot-diameter
stone wheels, their edges cracked with age. A spiral staircase
carved from stone rose to a second floor.

“Look at that,” Todd said. He pointed at one
of the walls covered in an immense mosaic of a peacock crafted from
blue, green and black tiles.

“That’s bloody creepy,” Bethany said as she
wrapped her arms around herself. “Gives me the chills.”

“What is this place?” David felt a dry breeze
blow along the back of his neck. “How far underground are we? The
air actually smells fresh.”

“This is Turkey,” Echo said as she brushed
dirt off her suit. “This is what I get for wearing white. Well,
actually Kurdistan, but Turkish officials don’t like to acknowledge
that. We’re currently about 500 feet below the surface.”

“Did you build this place?” Todd asked.

“Hardly,” Echo turned to the portal and
closed it with the flick of her wrist. “These caves were built
around 9500 B.C. There are hundreds of these underground cities in
this part of the world. Best thing about this one is that you can’t
get to it from the surface. The old entrances are still caved in.
Odds are this place won’t be discovered for at least another
hundred years. Only way in or out is the way we took.”

“How many others can make those things?”
Jessica asked. “Those circles of light.”

Echo raised her hands and shrugged. “A few.
You should be less interested in the portals and more in Wisdom’s
little vendetta.”

“What vendetta?” Jessica cocked her head to
one side and grabbed Amy’s hand. “Wisdom never said anything about
a vendetta.”

“Right. Because Wisdom is always so good
about explaining himself. We’ll be here for a few days until Wisdom
comes.” Echo walked away from them and headed up the spiral
staircase.

Jessica stormed after her. “How are we
supposed to stay here for a few hours, let alone a few days? It is
just a dirty cave. There’s nowhere to sit and there’s…. whoa.”

Jessica stopped talking when she reached the
top of the stairs. David pushed his way through the crowd to where
she stood. Before he reached the top, he saw what made her
speechless.

The second level was furnished like the loft
apartment of a Hollywood celebrity. Silk curtains hung from the
wall, giving the illusion of windows. Fifteen red plush sofas and
chairs stood atop several hundred square feet of thick gold-colored
carpet. Ornate marble statues and gold-trimmed light fixtures were
everywhere he looked. Crystal vases filled with scented, artificial
flowers helped hide the sensation of being submerged in earth. The
whole thing was far too gaudy for David’s liking but, in this
setting, it was nothing short of magical.

Echo smiled. “It’s amazing the things you can
afford when you don’t have to pay for them.”

“You stole these things?” Bethany asked.

Echo shrugged. “Listen up, everyone. Watch
where I’m pointing. Down that hallway you’ll find the library on
the right and the media center on the left. I have a few large
televisions so you should not have to fight about what you watch.
There’s obviously no cable or satellite but there is an extensive
library of movies and video games. If you follow the other hallway
over here you’ll find the apartments. There are fifty-three living
quarters on this level. On the lower level is the gym, the pool and
the greenhouses. Feel free to visit them. Your rooms have already
been assigned. Look for your name on the door and make yourself at
home. I did not have time to arrange for much clothing but make do
for now. The room at the very end of the hallway is mine. Steer
clear of that one, please. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to send
a message to Wisdom. He’ll want to know we made it here safely, and
that Garnet and Jared didn’t make the jump.”

With that, Echo smiled and walked away,
heading toward a second set of stairs leading to a level above
them.

“Wait. Aren’t you going to tell us what’s
going on?” David suddenly realized that everyone was looking at
him. He wished he had the ability to turn invisible. “I mean, uh,
what were those things? Why were they after us and why are you
helping us?”

Echo turned around and walked away. Over her
shoulder she said: “Maybe we’ll talk after supper. Let’s meet back
here in four hours. I’ll have the chef prepare a meal for us.”

Todd and Bethany exchanged a look. “Chef? She
has servants down here?”

Most of the Anomalies went to look for their
rooms immediately. For several minutes, David and his four
classmates kept to the living room area. Todd rummaged through a
stack of newspapers from various parts of the world that had been
left on a large oak desk. Jessica and Amy sat on one of the
couches, engaged in a quiet conversation. Bethany leaned back in
one of the chairs, eyes closed. The expression on her face was far
from peaceful.

“Am I the only one with a serious case of not
liking this?” David asked as he sat down on a loveseat near Jessica
and Amy.

No one responded.

“What exactly do you guys know about Wisdom?
To start with, how did you all meet him?”

“Why should we tell you?” Jessica asked. She
pulled her legs up on the couch, crossed them and leaned back
against the cushions.

“Try not to be such a worthless prat,
Jessica,” Bethany said. “It’s unbecoming. And you can stop looking
at me like that. Amelia Ryerson may have put you in charge of our
little escape, but that was only because you’ve got a lot of power
in that frail little body of yours. Don’t go letting yourself
believe you’re some sort of leader. I can still take you down a peg
or two.”

Jessica raised her lips in a smirk. “Any time
you think you’re ready, old woman.”

A ball of crunched up newspaper sailed
through the air and hit Jessica in the side of the head.

“Knock it off, you two,” Todd said. He walked
over to sit on the coffee table in front of David. “Wisdom found me
in Alaska. My parents work for an oil company up there. At least
they did until I accidentally blew up an oil container at the
plant. I was dropping by so I could walk home with Dad after
school. The school was pretty close to the plant and all. My dad
and me, we were pretty close. Kind of like best friends.”

“Why don’t you be a little more melodramatic,
Todd,” Jessica said.

Amy put a hand on Jessica’s knee. “Don’t be
mean. Say you’re sorry.”

“Sorry.” Jessica turned red in the face and
clenched her lips.

David looked over at the two girls and shook
his head. There were some strange power dynamics in that
relationship.

“Go on, Todd.” Bethany came over and sat
beside David on the loveseat.

Todd nodded and looked down at his fingers.
“Well one day – it was a Tuesday, I think – I was walking by this
truck they were filling with petrol and I noticed the driver. His
name was Emilio Lee. He was this neighborhood bully a few years
older than me. Got a job at the plant right after school. He used
to beat me after school. Nothing sinister, really, just the typical
‘give me your lunch money’ crap. My dad told me to take it if I
couldn’t stand up to him. You see, I was never much of a fighter.
Didn’t have the guts for it. But what I did have was a good
imagination. That day as I walked by the truck, I saw his face and
I thought – no I wished – dozens of little demons would crawl out
of the ground and set him on fire. I imagined him burning in
hell.”

David started to nod. It all seemed
disturbingly familiar.

Todd continued. “Well, the next thing I know,
the truck just explodes. Fifteen people, including yours truly,
were sent to the hospital for burns. Two, including Emilio, died. I
was far enough away that I didn’t get burned too badly. I was out
in a few days. By that time, Mom and Dad had been laid off. The
company had to repair the damage. It …” Todd let out a deep breath
and stood up. He stretched his arms behind his back and started
pacing in a circle. “It wasn’t just the truck. A few pipelines were
compromised, too. Millions in damage, from what the TV said.

“When I got out of the hospital, there was a
letter from Mr. Wisdom. He offered me a job in Toronto. He did not
go into much detail at that time, but I was looking for an
escape.”

“How did Wisdom find you?” David asked. “Did
you, like, send a resume or something?”

Todd stared at David. The way he blinked his
eyes showed contempt very clearly. “No, I didn’t send a resume. He
found me the same way he found you, the same way he found everyone.
He felt me using my EFHB.”

“EFHB?”

“Extraordinary Functions of the Human Body,”
Bethany said. “We’ve already covered this, so try to keep up, dear.
If we ever get back to taking classes, you’ll learn more about
them.”

“What do you mean ‘
if
’?” Jessica
uncrossed her legs and leaned forward.

“Well,” Bethany said, her eyes narrowing and
her lips twitching. She looked uncertain. “I just thought, I don’t
know, maybe things are going to change after this. Nothing like
this has ever happened. People died. Maybe Wisdom won’t want to
continue.”

“Wisdom will need us more than ever now,”
Jessica said. “Things progressed faster than expected, that’s
all.”

David felt his head buzzing. “Do you mean you
guys know what’s going on here?”

Bethany opened her mouth to speak but Jessica
held up her hand. “Don’t say anything. He’s not ready.”

“Damn it!” David said. “Teleporting around
the world to escape an exploding building and flying guys that want
to kill me makes me ready. Now tell me what the hell is going
on!”

Silence.

“We don’t know everything,” Amy said.