Luminosity (15 page)

The Keeper looks at the bowl of apples and then back at the two of us, sitting in the grass, sketchbooks in hand. “You are aware that we have Training Games tomorrow morning?”

“Yes, My Keeper,” I reply, and realize in an afterthought that perhaps Gabe and I should have been spending our time studying the other teams instead of drawing pictures of fruit. It’s too late for regret, though. The Keeper is already here.

“Team A has been doing very well. I’d hate to see it suffer because you two were negligent in your duties.” The Keeper’s violet eyes shift to the bowl of apples again.

Because the Keeper is not looking at him, Gabe puts a hand over his mouth to cover a grin. I try not to smile as well.

I flip the cover of my notebook over. “We will make sure to be much more…conscientious in the future, My Keeper.”

Gabe snorts and the Keeper narrows her eyes at him. He’s made a mistake, and I rub my forehead, knowing that what comes next will not be good.

“Seer Gabriel,” the Keeper begins, addressing him gravely. Annoyed. “I have placed Team A in both your and Seer Beatrice’s hands because you have proven yourselves to be most capable. Your Visions are strong. Not as strong as Seer Beatrice’s, but they are maturing nicely.”

She bows down and takes Gabe’s chin in her hand, forcing him to look up at her. “But if you continue to act the way you are…if you continue to squander your time away on Seer Beatrice instead of working with her to focus on how to crush our enemy, then I shall have no choice but to keep you two separated.”

“I apologize, My Keeper.” Gabe says this with conviction, as if he actually means it, but the threatening glint in his eyes tells me something else altogether, and the Keeper probably knows it too.

Only when she is gone does Gabe stand and mutter, “We should get ready for those games now, Seer Beatrice.”

I frown. “I hope you aren’t mad at me.”

Gabe shakes his head in response, leaving me with nothing more than that. He even leaves his art supplies behind, which I scoop up in my arms, along with the bowl of apples, and hurry back inside the Institution to prepare for the next day’s Training Games.

Chapter Eighteen

Echo and I are standing outside of the barricades. I look behind me and watch a sweeping spotlight trail across the electric fence and down the side of a building. We are playing a dangerous game. No, it’s not a game at all. Echo tugs on me and is yelling, and I can see his mouth moving but I can’t figure out what he is saying.

I can’t hear anything.

Someone behind us shoots a gun, and the crack of the bullet leaving the barrel jars me out of the deafness.

“Beatrice! Hurry! We have to run now!”

I look b
ehind me again and see a line of Watchmen with their rifles pointed in our direction. Behind them, Seers are trying to claw their way through to get me. Despite all the noises and voices, I hear Gabe calling. “Beatrice! Don’t leave me!” One of his arms stretches out past a Watchmen’s head, as if trying to grasp for me.

Echo pulls on my arm and I lurch forward a couple of steps, stumbling into him. He grabs my face in his hands and stares into my eyes. “We have to run.”

“But Gabe…” I whisper, tears forming in my eyes.

“You have to leave him, Bea. We have to run.”

“I can’t!” I try to rip away from Echo. I want to run toward the fence and crawl under to be with the others. Maybe they will understand. I was under the influence of a Dreamcatcher. Surely, they’d let me return…

Another shot fires and the bullet is so close that I can hear it whizz past my face.

I listen for Gabe, but I realize that he’s not yelling anymore. None of the Seers are.

“He is gone.” Echo’s mouth is close to my ear, and he tugs on me again.

“What do you mean he is gone?” Panic fills my lungs, and I can’t breathe any more. I wonder if this is what it feels like to drown.

Echo runs, leaving me no choice but to follow. The farther away we get, the quieter all the noise becomes. Somehow, after only a few steps, we are back in the meadow with the solitary tree. The wind rustles through the fields, and a raven flies overhead, screeching ominously.

“They’re all gone.” Echo looks to me, his mouth downturned. “They’re all gone.”

…

This time, it’s not a dream. I wake up and my eyes are glowing, and before I can comprehend the Vision, the Keeper arrives at my bunk. “We’ve indicated that you’ve had a Vision, Seer Beatrice.”

I am hoping not. That could not have been a Vision. It would mean that I’d lose Gabe in all of this, somehow. I ran away from him. I left him behind, and I’d never leave him behind. The prophecy leaves me speechless.

“What have you Seen?” The Keeper presses for answers. Of course, I can’t tell her the truth. If I tell her that I’ve been communicating with a Dreamcatcher, I’ll be executed for sure. But no one has ever lied to the Keeper before.

Until now.

“I saw guns…and the Seers. And they were trying to fight, but then they all disappeared. They…they were
gone
.” I look up at the Keeper, hoping that she’s buying this. Praying that she is. All the while, I keep hearing Gabe calling my name, reaching out for me to come to him. I can see his fingers flexing, desperately grabbing for me like a baby reaching for a toy out of its grasp.

“What do you mean by
gone
?”

I shake my head and drag some hair out of my face. I’m sure I look like a mess, having just woken up, but the Keeper is surely used to my freshly awoken state. “I don’t know how to explain it. They were there, and then they weren’t. They were yelling…and then they weren’t.”

The Keeper’s lips press together. “Hmm. Interesting.” She gets to work, typing all of this into her digipad.

“Is Gabe okay?”

“Seer Gabriel, you mean?” the Keeper asks without looking up at me.

“Yes, My Keeper. Is he okay?”

“I don’t see why he wouldn’t be. I don’t keep tabs on every Seer in the Institution, Seer Beatrice. You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t know what precisely he is up to right now.” The Keeper flips her digipad closed and tucks it away under her robes. “Well, if that is all then, I’ll evaluate the Vision and see what we can use in our fight against the Dreamcatchers. Surely, there had to be a reason why everyone just…disappeared, as you say.”

Does she sound suspicious of me? Does she know I am lying? I simply bow my head, which is beginning to throb from the Vision.

“I will be relieving you of your guard. They are needed for pressing matters. Do not think, though, for one moment that you are not being watched. It is for your own protection. And I want you to mind the time that you are spending with Seer Gabriel.” The Keeper rises and leaves shortly after speaking with me, her gracious threat left behind.

The clock reads 7:00 a.m., which means I have exactly an hour to get dressed and meet the others down by the arena for the Training Games. Today is the day we will be stalking a real, live Dreamcatcher, and I feel guilty because of it. How could I in one moment have my arms around Echo and feel him kissing me, and in the next hunt and kill one of his kind?

But then I recall Echo’s warning. That we are enemies, despite everything else. We are after each other, and that’s something we can’t avoid. But I want to avoid it, especially if it means that in the end, I’ll have to lose Gabe because of it.

I tug my jumpsuit on and dash out the door, eager to find Gabe and know that he’s all right. The halls are filled with other Seers, all heading down to breakfast. I make it to the doors of the cafeteria when I’m suddenly pulled backward by a hand on my shoulder. When I spin around, Rachelle is standing there, looming over me by just an inch or so.

“Don’t think that I don’t know what you are doing, Beatrice,” she says. “I saw it in my Vision.”

“Saw
what
exactly? And I heard your Visions weren’t much to brag about in the first place, Rachelle. You only barely earned the right to wear the mark of the raven’s wings on your face.” Rachelle’s Visions, like most of the other Seers’, aren’t as clear as mine. Where others See blurs, or information is skipped in a haze, I can See faces clearly enough to identify them and I can easily mark out events and places. Well, for the most part. There’s some deciphering to be done, since not all Visions are direct. Some require you to think them through and piece them out. And that’s why we train in the art of Seeing so that we know how to do exactly that. Rachelle barely knows how to do it at all. And though one of her Visions might have caught the Keeper’s attention, the majority of them are recorded and filed away, never to be contemplated again.

She crosses her arms over her chest, insulted. “I Saw you, betraying the Institution.”

“Did you really?” I can only half believe this. It’s not easy to See faces.

Rachelle stumbles over her words, her momentum momentarily thrown off. “I Saw some woman betraying the Institution, and something told me that it was you.”

“Something?”

“Yes. A feeling. A strong feeling. Everyone is watching you, Beatrice. They are waiting to see what you’re going to do next, you know.” Rachelle tosses her chestnut brown hair over her shoulder and it bounces into place behind her. “Or what you will See next.”

“Wonderful,” I deadpan and continue into the cafeteria. “I had another Vision today, if you want to go and run and tell all of your little friends. You can all put your heads together and think about what I could have possibly Seen. It could have been Team B all caught in a building, surrounded by Dreamcatchers with no way out.” Smiling, I turn away from Rachelle altogether, leaving her behind to stew.

I continue back on my original course—to find Gabe. When I reach our usual spot, Mae and Brandon are sitting down, nibbling at eggs and honey biscuits, engaged in cheerful conversation, judging by the smiles on both of their faces. But there’s no Gabe. “Where’s Gabe?”

“Morning, Bea!” Mae scoots over and pats the chair next to her. “Have a seat. We got you and Gabe a tray.” She pushes a Styrofoam tray in front of me. “And I don’t know where Gabe is. I guess we thought he was with you.”

Brandon has already cleaned his plate, and he looks at mine with his beady violet eyes. “Breakfast was good.”

“I can see that.” I laugh and push my tray back over toward Brandon. “Here, have mine. I’m not hungry this morning.” Twisting my body around, I search the room for Gabe to see if maybe, for some reason, he is sitting somewhere else. And he is.

With Margie.

“He’s over there.” My tone isn’t at all nice.

“Oh, yes! He’s sitting with that girl from yesterday. What’s her name again?” Mae doesn’t seem to latch on to the fact that I’m not happy about this development, not one bit.

Neither does Brandon. “Margie! I think she’s pretty.”

“Shut up, Brandon,” I grumble and tap my fingernails on the table.
Taptaptaptaptap. Taptaptaptaptap.

Mae stands and starts to wave her arms over her head. “Hey, Gabe! Gabe! Over here!” He looks up in her direction and smirks, but then he spots me sitting there, glowering. “I got his attention.”

“Thanks, Mae. You are always so helpful.”

Sarcasm is also often lost on Mae and she chirps, “You’re welcome!”

Gabe pushes up to stand. They were both sitting on the same side of the bench, which is annoying. He waves at her and turns to walk in our direction, that sure-of-himself grin lighting up his face.

“If he thinks he’s just going to come back over here and sit down, he’s wro—”

Gabe sits down. “What’s up, Mae? Need something?”

My hands ball into fists, fingernails digging into the soft skin of my palm. How can he be so handsome and infuriating at the same time? And how can he not notice how angry I am with him? Or maybe he does notice, but he’s just ignoring it. That makes me even angrier and I huff, blowing some strands of hair out of my face.

“Oh, nothing! Beatrice was just wondering where you were.” Mae pulls the insides of a biscuit out and starts to squish it into a square.

“Was not,” I mutter. Mae giggles.

“Looks like you’re angry,” Gabe notes, sliding one of his hands over my balled up fist to try and get me to relax.

But I don’t relax. I pull my hand away from his and glare in Margie’s direction. “What were you doing over there?”

“Talking with Margie.”

“But why? You always eat with us. Now you are going to start eating with some twit who thinks a scar you don’t even have anymore is cute?”

Gabe touches the place where a very faint outline of the scar still remains by his eye. “You sound jealous.”

“I’m not
jealous
. I am annoyed.” I am lying, and he knows it.

Gabe pauses before speaking again. “I don’t know what you want from me, Beatrice. I try my best to be there for you. I kiss you and you push me away…”

“You kissed her?” Mae pops the bread into her mouth, her eyes wide as she stares between us. “Really?”

“Not now, Mae.” I look back to Brandon, who is too busy shoving his face full with eggs, as if something is going to swoop down out of the sky and claim them. “But yes…we kissed.”

“Was it good?” Mae leans forward to hear more. “Huh?”

I ignore the question, but the blush I feel creeping up my face is proof enough that it was probably good. No, it was definitely good.

Gabe shakes his head, sliding his tray in front of him. “I don’t get you anymore, Beatrice. You always seem like you are hiding something, and you always seem like you’re pushing me away at the same time, when all I want to do is help you.”

“I know you want to help me, Gabe. I told you that I knew this. But I also told you that…there are just…I can’t say some things. Because I have to protect you.” I can see Gabe reaching for me in my Vision. I can hear him calling for me, his screams frantic and desperate. His fingers are stretched out, and if he could stretch them farther without the bones popping out of his skin, he probably would. And then, all at once, he’s gone. “I don’t want to lose you.”

Everyone is quiet. Even Brandon’s sloppy chewing eventually dies down. The three of them are looking at me, and I look down at the table to avoid their glances. “There’s so much more going on than you’d ever understand. I just wish you’d trust me. All of you. Trust me and know that I’m letting you in on as much as I can without us all suffering for it.”

Brandon suspiciously looks around him, glancing to the armed Watchmen in the cafeteria, who seem to blend in now that we are so used to them being around. “Maybe we should drop it for now.”

“Yeah.” I wait for them to finish their breakfasts, my gaze shifting to the Watchmen, who all seem to be watching me and nobody else. Maybe I’m just seeing things. Making it up. If I’m not careful, I’ll become paranoid and then everything will be ten times harder than it already is. I’ll never be able to go anywhere without having to look over my shoulder. I’ll never be able to trust anyone again. In a way, I realize, I already feel like this. I really don’t know who to trust anymore.

A buzzer sounds, alerting the Teams that they don’t have much time before the doors to the training arena open, and we are thrust into the fox hunt—except our fox is a Dreamcatcher. I can see Mirage, with his hands cuffed in plastic. What if they caught Echo instead? Would I have been forced to hunt him? Am I already hunting him? “Do you think Dreamcatchers have families?” I ask aloud.

“Hmm?” Mae picks her tray up, ready to dispose of it. She’s left some biscuit crumbs in the uneaten blob of honey.

“Do you think they have families?”

“I don’t know. I’ve…never really thought about it before.” In thought, she chews on her bottom lip, teeth dragging over the chapped pink skin.

“Why?” Gabe stands also, prompting Brandon and I to follow suit. We all head out of the cafeteria, the others depositing their trays in the used trays box. Each one of them clicks together at the bottom of the bin as Seer after Seer slips them into the slot.

“I don’t know. It just occurred to me that maybe they do. I guess I assumed that because we don’t they wouldn’t either…but the Dreamcatchers are nothing like us, so why shouldn’t they have families?”