Luminosity (9 page)

“I think she’s just trying to warn us, is all.” Mae is always optimistic. I don’t know how she manages it. No matter what happens, she’ll find the good in it, despite how disastrous it might be. It’s why I enjoy her company and think of her as a sister. No day goes by where she’ll let any of us mope and pout for too long.

“Yeah, maybe she is trying to warn us.” Brandon agrees with Mae, as expected. Maybe he’s finally catching on to the fact that she likes him.

“Think what you will, but I don’t agree.” Gabe ends the conversation and follows behind me as I push through the crowd to get to the exit doors. The Watch is still standing on the catwalks, their guns at the ready. Their stares are blank, concentrated on details that are too small to see.

I recall the black fog, the piles of corpses, and my heart begins to race. This is why I don’t like to go to the Meeting Room anymore. I know something horrible will happen here. I just don’t know when. It is as Echo says. He can see our intentions, and I can See the future…but sometimes the future isn’t clear enough. And I wish it were.

Just as we get outside, two black-robed officials step in my way. Gabe tries to push forward and in front of me, but I put out my hand to stop him before anything can turn confrontational.

“The Keeper wishes to see you, Seer Beatrice.” The woman official wears her hood over her head, shrouding her blonde hair, some of which manages to escape and almost fall in her eyes.

The male official doesn’t wear his hood, and he is bald, reflecting the fluorescent lights that hum overhead. He is the one who reaches out and grabs me by my arm. Immediately, Gabe reacts, shoving him away.

“What are you doing?” He pushes the man a step back.

“You will not touch me again, Seer Gabriel, unless you wish to find yourself in a holding cell.” The bald-headed man is strangely calm. He reminds me of a different type of person altogether, not like the other Seers in the Institution.

Gabe reminds me of a scared cat with its arched back and hair on end. “Who are you anyway?”

“Yeah. Why should I follow you? You could be one of the Dreamcatchers that the Keeper warned us about.” I am not moving and plant myself where I stand. It’s a subtle act of defiance. They could be Dreamcatchers, after all, and this one of their traps.

Behind me, I hear the heavy footfalls of combat boots. I turn and see two members of the Watch close in around Mae and Brandon. Their guns are trained on Gabe and me.

“Because you do not have a choice, Seer Beatrice.” The woman’s eyes bore into mine and make me feel uncomfortable. “Now please, come peacefully before you make my partner upset.”

The shiny-head man cracks his knuckles one at a time. The pops of air releasing from between his bones are sickening to listen to, and I want to go, if only to make him stop.

“I’d like to bring Gabe with me, then.” My words are spoken between clenched teeth as knuckles continue to be cracked.

The two officials look at each other and the woman, who seems to be making all the decisions, nods her head. “Very well. Bring him along.”

Gabe is rigid with annoyance when he moves beside me as I’m tugged down the hallway. It’s not necessary for them to pull me along at all—I will follow willingly—but it’s not worth arguing about either. I’m more concerned about what is going to happen to us. Or to me.

Chapter Twelve

The Keeper’s office is cold and uninviting. It’s a large, open space, one side of which is a big, tinted-glass window with a view to the skyscrapers just outside the Institution. We are the heart of the City, the largest and tallest building, though I’ve never been on more than a handful of floors.

Everything in the Keeper’s office is either black or red. The desk’s surface is wide and shiny and sitting just behind it, her reflection mirrored off the tabletop, is the
Keeper. She also follows the color code of the office, her black robe trimmed with a thin line of red satin. This place will drive me crazy because there is nothing original to it. It’s so bleak.

The bald man unhands me as soon as we are inside the doors. Gabe pushes him aside so he can stand beside me, his arms crossed over his chest, though he’s hardly as imposing as the Keeper’s icy stare. Why does she look so angry with me anyway? What did I do?

“You may leave.” The Keeper nods to the officials, who thump their hands on their chest in salute before turning and marching away. The door slides shut behind them, silencing their footfalls. The raven sits on his perch in the corner of the room. I feel like it is constantly watching me, just like the Keeper.

“You asked to see me, Keeper?” I don’t mention Gabe. The officials had begrudgingly let him follow, though they seemed more concerned about making sure I arrived to the Keeper.

“I did. And since Seer Gabriel is also here, you may both have a seat.”

Simultaneously, the both of us pull black, plastic chairs situated in front of the desk. When we sit, the backs of the chairs extend past our heads, maybe even a good half a foot higher. We must look so small in these seats, but I always manage to feel small in the Keeper’s presence, tall chairs or not.

“A Vision has been reported this morning, and it beckons caution.” The Keeper always manages to speak in riddles. With her pinched lips and hollowed cheeks, she also always looks severe, too severe to beat around the bush. It annoys me that she can’t just say what is on her mind. Instead, she’ll tease the curiosity out of us.

For some reason, I feel like her enemy right now, and I don’t want to give her the pleasure of my curiosity. Gabe also doesn’t inquire any further. He probably feels the same way that I do.

“It was Seer Rachelle’s Vision, and her Visions have always been clear. Not as clear as yours, mind you, but clearer than most.” The Keeper pauses and the raven noisily flaps its wings. “She saw you, Seer Beatrice, leading a revolution. You marched a single line of all the Seers out the front door and into the City.”

I subtly roll my eyes. “Of course Seer Rachelle would say something like that, Keeper. She hates me.”

“Hate does not dictate our Visions, though.” The Keeper steeples her fingers in front of her, her soft, bubbly fingertips pressed against one another.

“No, but she could very well be lying.”

“No one lies to the Keeper, Seer Beatrice. To suggest as much is a heavy charge.”

Gabe sucks in a breath and bites on his lower lip.
Don’t talk, Gabe, you will only make it worse.

“Yes, it is.” I leave it at that. I don’t want to face off with the Keeper. Maker only knows what she could do to me. To Gabe. To any of us. Everyone is suspicious of one another. No one is safe from anyone. Especially not from the Keeper.

She seems pleased that I do not argue with her belief that no one would lie to her. Does that mean that she knows that I have been lying to her? That I’ve not been reporting my dreams? Does she know about Echo? Can she see it in my eyes? Can she See it in her own Visions?

“You are too valuable to us to be put aside, Seer Beatrice. You are a leader, it is true, but not of any revolution. You are a leader of your fellow class of Seers. You will be a leader of your own unit when we must go out into the City and fight. You’ll be a leader and much, much more.”

It occurs to me, as the Keeper continues to drone on about my role in the Institution, that Rachelle is probably making up everything she can in order to get me shoved out of the spotlight. No one has ever lied to the Keeper, though. Rachelle would have to be bold. Seriously bold.

“…and this is why I need to assign bodyguards to you. For your own safety. It will only be at first, and then we will be monitoring you through the surveillance systems set up throughout the Institution. ”

I blink. “What?” Maybe I should have been listening.

Gabe stiffens in his seat and leans forward, hands sliding over the edges of the armrests. “She needs bodyguards because someone made up some Vision about her leading a revolution? I am sorry, Keeper, but even I can see through this. Bea…Seer Beatrice has only ever been an asset to everything that we’ve done.”

“Enough, Seer Gabriel. It is my ruling. The bodyguards will be assigned by the end of the day. They will report to duty before lights out.”

I don’t even know what to say. My mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water, but nothing comes out. I am to be monitored? Watched like some criminal?

“It will be temporary, until we can figure some things out.” The Keeper’s violet eyes shift to where I sit. She presses her mouth together until her lips form a line. “Know, Seer Beatrice, that I do not like doing this any more than you like it having to happen. But, we are in fragile times, and I cannot ignore the Visions of others. Not even when they are most likely not as clear as yours. Not now.”

“I understand.” The words are forced. I don’t understand, not at all. Rachelle has gotten away with another something, and again we have to suffer for it.

“Very well. You are dismissed.” The Keeper stands first, her hands folded in front of her, as if in meditation.

Gabe and I stand after she does, and together we turn and leave the office. The doors retract into the walls, opening out into the hallway, where the officials no longer stand. As soon as the doors shut behind us, we wordlessly turn and march away. Our boots fall onto the black laminate floor tiles as we retreat without actually running. I have a million things that I want to say, but it isn’t safe to say anything now. Gabe takes my hand and holds it as he walks me back to my bunk, where I’ll inevitably fall asleep with too much on my mind.

…

We’ve been walking across this field for far too long. My feet ache, my head hurts, and I am pretty sure we are never going to get to where Echo wants to take me. His homeland is forever away, or at least it feels that way judging by the blisters that are starting to form on the soles of my feet.

“Tell me, when we get to Aura, what are we going to do?” I still haven’t figured out why we are out here. One minute, we are running away from the City, and in the next moment, we are trudging across miles of flat terrain, trying to get to Echo’s homeland before anyone can get to us. Every few steps, I look over my shoulder, expecting someone to materialize out of the golden grass, which grows more golden the farther away from the City we get. The blades sway back and forth, and in the distance, it looks as if they are licking the blue of the sky, like tiny paintbrushes repainting the world. Fortunately, I never spot even a hint of anyone out here except for us, and Echo continues to travel along before I get a chance to stand still.

“You will find out when we get there.” This isn’t said unkindly, and Echo smiles over his shoulder, letting me know that he’s not trying to be rude by the statement. “It’s best if we keep what you know to a minimum for now, Beatrice. There’s only so much I can let you know in your dream, because this is not a Vision. This is a ‘maybe’ and not a ‘what will be.’ In this dream, I just want to take you to my home.”

It’s an innocent request at the surface. I smile and nod my head. “Okay then. So, you want to take me to Aura…but I can’t know what we are going to do when we get there?” I shrug a shoulder and it brushes my jaw line. “Fair enough.” I tilt my head and look at the sky as grey clouds roll in and threaten to block out the sun. It’s been so long since I’ve felt the full radiance of the sun on my skin, and when the overcast steals away the warmth of the rays, I look down at my arms and realize I’m turning a slight shade of red. “What is this?”

“It’s sunburn. We’ve been out in the sun too long. Your skin can turn red from the light.” Echo follows my gaze to the storm clouds. “We should find somewhere safe where we can hide, though. When it rains out here, it is brutal.”

“Are we almost to Aura?”

Echo turns, surveying the land that looks the same no matter which way he faces. “Almost, yes. But it’s not close enough to reach before the rain comes.” When he looks to me, he points over my shoulder. “There.”

I glance and note one, tall evergreen tree with heavy boughs dragged down by gravity, tips pointing toward the ground. This tree was not there before, not when I originally faced that way. And now, suddenly, it is there, beckoning for us to go to it before the sky opens up and lets the rain pour down.

Echo grabs my hand and we run for shelter, making it to the tree just in time. Echo pulls back a branch and we both slip underneath, my boots crushing the tiny, dried pine needles that make a bed inside the tree. Just as soon as we are safe, the rain comes, and the sound of the droplets hitting the branches is almost deafening.

Echo slips out of his robes and spreads it across the needles so I have somewhere clean to sit. Under the robes, he wears a sleeveless tunic with a folded collar and golden buttons. His arms are well muscled, but not too much. His white pants are creased and perfectly pressed, with crimson seams that run down the sides of his legs. A golden chain is tied around his waist like a belt, looped on the side so that two sections hang down lower than the others.

I am staring. I know I am staring at him, but I can’t look away. He is so handsome in his Dreamcatcher robes, but is even more so without them. I don’t want to look away, but when he smiles at my blatant show of admiration, I blush and finally avert my eyes.

Acting as if nothing happened, Echo sits beside me, pulling his knees up to his chest. “The rain is heavy out here. The force of its falling is almost the same as being hit by tiny, little rocks. It’s good we found this tree.”

“You made this tree up. It wasn’t here before.” I want him to know that I’m not oblivious to what he can do. If he wanted, he could probably have made Aura much closer so that we didn’t have to walk all this way. Why he is making us endure the journey, I don’t know. There could be absolutely no reason at all, and I’d probably be okay with that at the end of the day. As long as I could continue to be by his side.

What am I thinking? I want to be by Gabe’s side. Is Echo controlling my decisions too? Maybe, to a fault, he is…but I also remember protesting to return to the City, and him distinctly saying that we could not.

“Why can’t I go back home?”

“Because we need you in Aura.”

“But you haven’t told me why.”

Echo twists one of the buttons on his lapel, his lips pressing together into a thin line. I watch his mouth and my mind wanders as I think about what it would be like to kiss him. I shake my head. I can’t think about him like that for now. He’s kidnapped me for all I know.

“I told you that I can’t tell you some things, Beatrice. This…this is just a dream. And you will wake up from it, and you’ll not know truth from fiction.” Echo drops his fingers from the button and turns his head to look at me. “I hope, though, that you don’t forget how you feel with me.”

I’m dumbstruck by his comment. “How I feel with you?”

He nods and reaches out, brushing his fingers down my cheek. The rain is still annoyingly loud, and I can barely make out his words.

I know how I feel with him. I feel like I never want to leave my beautiful dreams. I don’t want to wake up and lose him all over again. I feel like I’m betraying Gabe, but am I really betraying him when all of this is in my head? Does it matter that somewhere out there, Echo the Dreamcatcher is waiting for me? Soon, we will be at war, and we’ll probably never see each other face to face anyway. So, can’t I be allowed my dreams?

When Echo leans in to kiss me, I gravitate to him until our lips brush against each other. There’s no immediate kiss; at first it’s just lips touching lips. But then Echo tilts his chin up, and I follow the motion in opposite, completely melding our lips together. When he breathes in, I exhale, and when he exhales, I take in his breath, eyes closing.

The rain stops abruptly. Echo grabs my wrist, his mouth never leaving mine. He holds me as if I’m about to slip away from him, and I know why. My dream is ending, and so is our moment. It will fade away into nothing, and Echo will be lost to me again. Why can’t I keep them both? Why can’t they both be mine?

Echo breaks the kiss. “Because you can only have one of us, Beatrice. And you’ll lose one of us as well.”

Before I can ask him how he knew what I was thinking, Echo is gone, and I wake, still feeling his fingers pressed into and around my wrist.