Flame (Fireborn) (30 page)

Like the hallway we're
in and the bath room, this space is completely white. The room is
large, and it isn't an extension of the building. The ceiling is
pyramid shaped, and seems to be made from a combination of Styrofoam
and plastic, clearly alien made. The top seems to glimmer, sparkling
gently. Even the colorless floors have a slight glean to them,
reflecting light from its surface.

Crystals and ice.

The room is a paradise
of white, and deceptively serene. Looming ahead, and taking up half
of the enormous room, is a large crystal.
The
crystal.

It's unlike anything
I've ever seen before. From afar I can see the white stone, pulsing,
vibrating as loud as an ocean. I'm reminded of Rhys's eyes, because
the crystal appears to be colorless, but the opposite is actually
true. There are many colors swirling inside, shooting from the base
to the top and down again. The crystal is glinting, and shimmering
with a radiance that's strangely mesmerizing. As it pulses, the
little Braxi crystals jut out, and then back in.
The stone looks
like it's moving because the Braxi crystals vibrate,
I realize.
Is the crystal made up of millions of Braxi then? I wish I could get
closer to find out, but I know it's not a good idea.

A white bowl is on top
of an altar a few feet from the base. Two pallid pipes are attached
to the stand, and my eyes travel the length of it to the bottom of
the crystal. Small nails attach the pipes to the monstrous stone. The
pipes aren't human made. Even from afar, I see movement within them.
As the crystal pumps, the white pipes reciprocate the vibrations,
until the two are moving as one. The dance makes me think of ocean
waves rocking back and forth, and I question how they don't crash.

There are no other
guards beside the woman, but more aren't necessary. An air of defeat
surrounds the two men, and I wonder if they can sense death standing
five feet away. The female speaks, but her words can't defeat the
roar of the crystal, and the sounds are lost before they ever reach
me.

The first one to go is
the smaller man. His stooped shoulders, and heavy steps show how sick
he is. The guard has no patience for it, and kicks him. He falls to
the floor like a broken doll, which makes her angrier. She hits him
in the stomach, and I don't have to hear the sounds to know the pain
he feels. She drags him back on his feet. He's swaying, rocking
because it's painful to stand.

The crystal is getting
louder, humming like a slumbering giant. She notices because she
glances back. It's shimmering and more colors are visible. Purple,
yellow, and oranges coil together, twisting into ropes inside.

His hand is around her
shoulders. She helps him walk to the crystal. When he nears it, he
begins to fight, trying to shrink back. It's as if he can sense what
the crystal wants, and he's using his last few breaths to resist. His
attempts look futile, and it isn't long before he's next to the giant
stone, violently shaking beside the alien guard.

With terrified
anticipation I watch as she slips the robe back from his body,
revealing a sliver of pale skin. The ruby cloth hangs on his thin
shoulders as a cape. She holds out his hand, pressing it into the
wall of the crystal. Instantly, the stone sparkles like it's turned
on. A rush of colors shoot up and down, and the man screams. It's a
terrifying sound. I flinch.

She takes a step back,
yet the man remains immobile, frozen with his feet to the ground, and
his hand intimately pressed to the crystal. A flash of metal catches
my eye, and she pulls back revealing a small katana sword. Before I
can anticipate what she's doing she raises the sword and plunges the
sharp tip through the man's hand and into the crystal.

Instantly blood oozes
out, as red as the cloth around my body. His screams are never
ending, and the crystal absorbs it all. Blood trickles down, but
before it can fall, it's sucked into the stone. The millions of Braxi
crystals are taking his life force, consuming the most precious parts
of him. A faint blush covers the base of the crystal, and as more
spurt forth, the pink color travels further up. Each vibration causes
the scarlet liquid to move higher, pumping like fish swimming
upstream.

Soon the crystal's
shrieking becomes louder than the man's. The guard moves behind the
man, doing something to him that I can't see. I press my face against
the door, peering closer.

She stays behind him
for a half minute longer, then steps back, ripping the crimson cloth
from his shoulders. His naked body is revealed, bony and abnormally
pale. The cloth falls to the floor, light as a feather, burning a
picture in my mind's eye.

Suddenly a sharp yell
pierces through the roar of the crystal, and my eyes swerve to the
second captive. He falls back, a crazed expression on his face. I
follow his line of sight and let out a shriek, hitting my face
against the door.

"Kenna!"

Nymphora's voice seems
far away. All I can see, hear, or feel is the crystal. It's a blaze
of even more colors now, pulsing violently against itself. Bile rises
in my throat as I finally comprehend what is happening.

He's being sucked into
the crystal.

His arms go first. When
they touch the crystal, his limbs freeze, motionless against the
vacuum absorbing him. After that his chest is next. His skin is
pulled, violently suctioned into the interior of the stone like dye
dispersing in water. For one terrifying second I see his skin peeled
from his body. His face turns away in agony, attempting to escape.
But as the Saguinox say, escape is an illusion. The crystal allows
him to take one frantic breath, teasing him as it lets go. The second
he pulls away the crystal returns full force, sucking him, stripping
skin off his face. I see bones and muscles before the guard kicks him
from behind, pushing him into the crystal forever.

Loud gurgling sounds
emanate from the stone, and the heat travels until even I can feel
the hot air as the crystal burns. The smell of smoldering skin wafts
through the crack in the door. I hold my breath even as I hear
Nymphora making choking sounds.

But the crystal isn't
done.

The guard watches his
body melt into the stone as a hundred blurry faces rush forward to
devour the meat.

"Kenna! Chloris is
whistling." Nymphora's pulling me, but I can't move.

My body is frozen.

I watch the pipes pulse
in frenzy, and the gurgling sounds get louder. Unexpectedly,
something bursts from the bowl. My eyes widen in shock.

"We have to go,
Kenna!"

Blood spews forth like
a fountain. Within seconds crimson liquid fills the bowl, brilliant
against the stark white.

"
Now!
"

All I can think about
as Nymphora pulls me away is my first thought about this place had
been right.

The color red means
death.

We're in a hallway, and
it's elaborately carved with swirling designs inside and on the pale
walls. The design's so exquisite I can't help but wonder if corridors
in Heaven are like this. When I peer closely I notice stained glass
pieces decorating one side of a wall. They're meticulously cut out,
each piece a perfect puzzle part to another. The colors are stunning,
flashing deep jewel tones that make my senses ravenous for more. I'm
so busy looking at each individual part I don't see the whole picture
until I move, taking a step backward. What I see makes my skin crawl.
I hear a sharp intake of breath and I know Nymphora has seen what I'm
looking at.

Eyes. A dozen haunting,
glowing eyes peek out from every which way, all looking up at one
thing: a crystal. The eyes are staring at it, worshipping the
precious stone like a god. Maybe it is. The crystal reminds me of the
Washington monument with its elongated sides, and triangular top. It
glitters brighter than the eyes, and I'm transfixed by its startling
clarity. I lift a finger to touch the glass, and it's hard, cold-
unreal.

Nymphora shudders.
"Something so beautiful shouldn't be so evil."

I can't tell if she's
talking about the crystal or the Saguinox. Maybe both.

The terrible smell
continues to assault my senses. I want to gag. "Do you smell
that?"

She sniffs the air, her
blue nostrils flaring out. Something's burning. She looks at me, and
I'm sure we're thinking the same thing.

"I think it's
coming from over there." I point to a double door at the end.
It's wide and like the one we slid from there are barely any lines to
indicate an entrance. Even though I don't want to, my body ambles
over, hesitant. Briefly, I wonder if there are cameras, but I doubt
it. From what I'm learning about our captors, their arrogance
prevents them from thinking anyone can do what we're about to try.

This time there are
handles, one on each door. I pull at the golden bars, grunting from
the effort. "Locked," I say with aggravation. "Damn
it."

I move to the side and
let Nymphora try.

She tugs at it, pushing
back on one side of the door with one hand, while pulling the side
next to it with the other. She struggles, but the double doors remain
still. She hisses. "If only my powers worked."

I scan around,
searching for anything of use, but the corridor is empty. I look at
the stained glass painting. "Hmm."

I walk over, and
attempt to take a piece off.

"What are you
doing, Kenna?"

I'm too focused on what
I want to do to answer. The little pieces are glued tight together so
it's hard to tell where one begins and the other ends.

"Kenna?" she
prods again.

One hand is flat
against the glass, and the other is delicately trying to pry it
apart. "I'm trying to get a piece out so we can use the edge to
pick the lock."

She makes a sound from
behind me. I turn back, letting out a breath.

"It's worth a
shot," I say, a bit defensive when I see her incredulous
expression.

She shakes her head.
"
Not
your best idea."

"Desperate times
call for desperate measures. Do
you
have a better idea?"

"Actually."
Nymphora glances at the lock underneath the handles again, pensive.
She turns back, smiling deviously. "I think I have something
that might work." She lifts a finger up, and I watch in utter
amazement as one blue fingernail starts to elongate slowly, the tip
thin and pointy like a needle.

I take in a sharp
breath. "I thought you said your powers are locked."

"They are."
She looks at the shiny blue nail. "
This
isn't my power.
It's a part of my body."

"You have six inch
claws inside your body?" I ask in amazement. "That would've
been nice to know before."

She snorts. "What
can I do with these? Scratch the Saguinox to death?"

"Maybe."

She rolls her eyes.

I kneel beside her as
she gently maneuvers the pointy end of her nail inside the keyhole.
I've never picked a lock before, but I don't reveal that. "Just
poke around until you hear a click or a gear shift," I advise.

Her eyes narrow in
concentration. She jerks back, yelling "Ow!" She pulls her
nail out. She looks annoyed, as she picks the broken piece off with
her other hand. "It broke."

"It'll grow back,
right?" I ask, worried.

"Yeah. By tonight,
probably."

"We can't wait
that long!" I shriek.

She sends me a cool
glance. "Relax. I got nine more." She flashes me her hands.
Her pinky is growing, unsheathing like a fragile sword. The end is
even smaller and pointier than her index nail had been.

"Oh." I
wonder if I look as sheepish as I feel. "This place is making me
dumb," I mutter.

She's laughing when she
says, "The jury's still out on that one."

I give her a look, but
I don't reply. Within moments, this nail breaks too, but I don't
freak out because her other pinky expands, elongating until it's
touching the door.

"I think I'm
pushing too hard," she thinks out loud. I hold my breath in
anticipation.
Come on,
I think.
Work!
Then there's a
heavy click, followed by a heavier, relieved sigh from me.

She gives me a
triumphant smile. "One for us, zero for the glowing aliens."

"Um, I think you
mean
five
for the glowing aliens, and one for us," I
correct, thinking about the people lost to the crystal.

She shrugs. "If
you want to look at the glass half empty…"

"Shh." I hear
sounds. Something is sizzling from the inside. I open the door a
crack, just enough to see through. A soft breeze hits me and I'm
reminded I'm naked beneath my red towel.

The female guard who
took us to the bathing room this morning is standing with her hands
behind her back, inspecting two figures in red robes. My heart jumps
to my throat as I recognize the two men from before. Both are
standing with their heads bowed, still as statues. I see a door, half
opened from behind them, and I know they've been "cleaned"
in preparation for this moment. The robes look fresh and the scarlet
color is brilliant against the white walls.

Like the hallway we're
in and the bath room, this space is completely white. The room is
large, and it isn't an extension of the building. The ceiling is
pyramid shaped, and seems to be made from a combination of Styrofoam
and plastic, clearly alien made. The top seems to glimmer, sparkling
gently. Even the colorless floors have a slight glean to them,
reflecting light from its surface.

Crystals and ice.

The room is a paradise
of white, and deceptively serene. Looming ahead, and taking up half
of the enormous room, is a large crystal.
The
crystal.

It's unlike anything
I've ever seen before. From afar I can see the white stone, pulsing,
vibrating as loud as an ocean. I'm reminded of Rhys's eyes, because
the crystal appears to be colorless, but the opposite is actually
true. There are many colors swirling inside, shooting from the base
to the top and down again. The crystal is glinting, and shimmering
with a radiance that's strangely mesmerizing. As it pulses, the
little Braxi crystals jut out, and then back in.
The stone looks
like it's moving because the Braxi crystals vibrate,
I realize.
Is the crystal made up of millions of Braxi then? I wish I could get
closer to find out, but I know it's not a good idea.