Original Souls (A World Apart #1) (65 page)

He didn't permit her to finish the sentence, putting his hand up to her face. "Exactly!"

"Where's my uncle!?" Corinth shouted at the two of them.

"Oh, he'll be in shortly, don't you worry, boy. But if you were to first open this window, I'd appreciate it more than you know." Corinth didn't bother to respond. Sebastian almost smacked him, but let the urge subside. "Go fetch the traitor, Camil!" He commanded her. She reluctantly trudged away in accordance with his will.

Corinth already knew Sen. Lilith's real name. She tried to block him and thought she succeeded. However, there were fragments about herself and this situation that she just couldn't hide from his prying mind. She walked through the threshold into the second room. A wide expanding room that started just a few feet in front of the altar Corinth was strapped to. Crossing the room toward the left, she passed the window that Sebastian insisted he open.

Even if he wanted to, Corinth had no idea how to open such a thing. It looked like it was carved out of the wall, but there was an actually frame around it, with so many other ungodly figurines mounted to the glass shard covered walls behind it. To Corinth, it looked more like a mirror. A portrait mirror, like the one at his mother's vanity table back at their house in Graysonville. What does -
open
even mean, regarding a mirror?

When she reached the wood and metal door on the other end, that opened up along the same wall the window was mounted to, she knocked on it twice. She paused strangely in between knocks. Corinth figured it was an unnecessary code of some sort. The door opened slowly. From it emerged a Squadron goon wearing their well-known black jumpsuits. Behind him was a man in tattered clothes, with bruises all about his face, neck, and arms. Corinth was relieved to see his Uncle Evan alive. He thought that he was in bad shape from what happened during the Northern Coaster ride, but Evan appeared to have been through much worse. Another Squadron member behind Evan slammed the door hard as he too walked up into the large gray-blue rectangular room. Being in the second room, closer to the spiral staircase, Corinth had to squint as he surveyed his uncl
e’
s decaying condition, far inside the larger room that housed the all-important window against the wall.

Corinth couldn't understand what was going on. The altar he laid on was positioned under an intricately designed black threshold. It separated the larger room with the ancient artifact against the wall, from the smaller area where he saw Cade disappear down the twisting staircase a while ago. It was wide and irregular, the threshold. Everything around it was lined in shattered pieces of glass. In fact, all the walls too were covered with these mysterious shards. "Uncle Evan!" he shouted out abruptly and without restraint.

"Hey, small stuff," he coughed out. He didn't look so good, still he cracked a disastrous smile for his nephew's sake that revealed a few missing teeth. "Listen, whatever they want ... just don't. Don't do it! I
t’
s not worth it anymore." Sebastian motioned the guards over to Evan. "Especially that window, Cory, don'
t—
" The second goon smashed the butt of his absorption gun into the back of Evan's head. He dropped to his knees and whimpered. "You coward! If my hands weren't bound, what then?" The black-eyed man didn't respond. He just stood there, looming over Evan like a good drugged up soldier. The El Muerte Vivo serum must have been ten times as strong in him for his eyes to be completely black, instead of shining in the initial madness most of its victi
m’
s experience.

Sebastian looked satisfied with the blow. He turned back to Corinth and started from the top. "Open the window, please?" he asked through his teeth.

"No!" Corinth pretended as if he knew what they were referring to for leverage's sake.

"We could just do the transfer now!" Camil spoke up again. Only this time, a lot louder. She too was beginning to lose her patience.

"No, we can't. You weren't there the last time. Every time the Priest opened his mouth, the defenses would go up. We brought his father i
n
… his uncle even. Nothing worked! The system within him must be very intuitive." Sebastian paced nervously. He honestly thought he could convince Corinth of opening the Creative Window with just words.

"I thought you said you had no intentions on hurting me?" Corinth spoke out in the same tone that unsettled Walker back at his Villa. He sounded so in control. It chilled Sebastian to hear a kid be so forceful.

"I lied. You miserable little fool! I'm going to guarantee you the distinct sensation of burning alive if you let that force field come up. I'll leave you and your uncle here. After I light this place on fire, that is!" He inched closer with every word. He was now right in Corinth's face.

"I didn't know you could light a place on fire while it's under water," Corint
h’
s words surprised Camil, and certainly Sebastian. They thought they concealed their efforts mighty well. "Well, at least if you succeed in destroying an already shattered temple through flames, we'll have the perfect tagline to rename it with." The cynical nature of Corinth's tone took Evan by surprise more than any other in the room. He knew Corinth to be sweet and timid. Not boisterous and hard headed. "We can rename it, the Scorched Temple!" Corinth shouted in a restrictive tone, then went about laughing out loud, like a maniac, making the pale Sebastian flush red with maddening anger.

"Don't push me, youngling. You don't know what suffering truly is, but
I’
d be more than happy to show you."

"But what about the power?" Corinth inquired so strikingly. "Would you let it die with me? I think not. You treasure it more than I do. That is why yo
u’
ve worked so hard for it, isn't it? You must want it so badl
y—
that it BURNS you up inside? So, I suppose me and my uncle are
n’
t the only ones wh
o’
ll be in flames tonight!" The new Corinth was relentless. Never missing an opportunity to insult.

Sebastian turned away and began pacing again. Trying to swallow his pride and plot his next few tactics.

"By the way!" Sebastian stopped with his hand on his chin. He wouldn't turn around to face Corinth, but his body language ensured him that he was all ears. "I haven't even begun to push you yet, old man, but I will." Corinth tried to imitate Sebastian's dreadful tone in his next sentence. "And do trust, you will be brought to your knees the same way yo
u—
"

Corinth suddenly stopped speaking when he noticed the left side of his pants pocket blinking. He lost the strange feeling that lured him into behaving so ominously. He knew what was in his pocket. There was only one thing in there. The dog whistle Walker had given him weeks ago. He forgot to work it into the conversation with him at the Villa yesterday. He still had it in his school uniform pants when he woke up at the hospital, and apparently on this altar as well. He never saw it blink before, but there it was. He didn't know what to think, but he was glad it grabbed his attention, because he didn't like channeling that hard to face rage inside of him. It was overbearing to say the least

They mostly ignored him once he stopped taunting them. However, Evan has been suspicious of everything going on around him after he broke free of the El Muerte Vivo serum back at the Pavilion. Left over traces of it in his system sometimes wigged him out. But he would
n’
t let it take over his mind again, though he ended up becoming a bit paranoid with the trimmers of withdraw settling in.

"Here we go, child. If you don't open the Creative Window I'm going to destroy your uncle." Sebastian walked over to Evan, who was still on his knees, and he pulled out his wand.

"Sebastian, be careful."

"Silence yourself, Camil! If I want your opinion, trust that I will inquire first!" Sebastian appeared blindingly angry. "This is simple and pure. If you go into that little coma thing," he pointed his wand at the little defenseless boy. "I'll pop a quick Fiat Lux over his head, and he'll be gon
e—
forever!"

Corinth didn't know what to think. He didn't want to lose Evan. He thought that maybe if he gave them what they wanted, they'd let them all go. Including Anvard and Lindle. Wherever they are? "Will you let us go if I do it?"

"No!!! Corinth, he's in the business of lying. He's a politician, this is what he does," Evan pleaded for Corinth to use better reason.

"I've had more than enough of you, traitor! Perturbo!" Sebastian flicked his wand Evan's way, and a dim beam of gray and black static light came flashing out. Evan convulsed on the floor from the maddening spell after it smashed into his skin.

"Why!" Corinth shouted with mounting tears in his brightly glowing turquoise eyes. "Why would you do that? I'm trying to make a deal with you!"

"Yes, you are. And this little spectacle," he pointed to Evan rolling around on the floor in a craze, "is just one of my many bargaining tools." Sebastian's cold eyes made Corinth feel small and alone. He just wanted it all to end.

"Okay, I give up. Please, just let all my friends go. I promise I'll cooperate with anything you say once they're gone
.
”

"Sounds like a sweet offer, but I have another suggestion
.
” Sebastian hysterically walked back toward Corinth.
"Ope
n—
Th
e—
Creativ
e—
Windo
w
… now!"

"I don't know how!"
Corinth screeched so loud that Sebastian cringed. The sound was overtly piercing. It continued to echo throughout the entire corridor being carried far away, down the stairs and everywhere else in the Shattered Temple.

"Hum, you do bluff very well then. I believed you this entire time, child." The Chancellor turned to the window mounted to the wall in the other room. "Just focus on the detail of the image there," he demanded of Corinth, pointing up to the mirror with his wand. It was rather far away from Corinth's altar. He had to squint to see, getting a better focus on it. "This is the Creative Window. It reflects anything and everything you can imagine. I
t’
s been closed for just over a millennium. Did you know that, Drake, the first soul of Draconia, used this very portal to craft our home World, Corinth?" Now that he felt firmly in control, his demeanor changed dramatically. He almost seemed human to Corinth. "Just focus on it hard. Imagine it opening just like a normal window does. I'm sure your abilities will do the rest. After that, we will release your friends and initiate the transfer. It isn't nearly as frightening as it sounds. I simply want the power you posses, not you in any capacity."

"What will you do with the window once i
t’
s open?"

"It's most likely best that you don't know the answer to that question," Sebastian retorted with pride.

"How do I know my friends will be safe once they leave?"

"Trust, none of us are safe anymore." Sebastian could sense that he was losing the boy's confidence. "Look, child, the window will simply act as a portal to another dimension. No big whoop
.
”

"But why, and to where?"

Sebastian couldn't handle the continuous questions anymore. Sena. Hendrix had remarked on Corinth's constant need to question things, but Sebastian didn't have the nearest shred of patience to be able to indulge the boy the way she did. So, he let down his guard and just went for it. "I'll level with you, boy. Aurora Boreal is a symbol to all the Worlds. It is a light to which many aspire. They want to be a part of the coming together of long differing cultures. Reuniting our ancestries. However, that cannot take place. The shields that protect the institution are much like the aura rays of your cocoon. They are virtually indestructible. But from within the source, they are easily shut off. We can't shut down the Aurora Boreal force field without breaking the spirit of this institution. The magik at work here is rather intricately woven into the heart of one of the Great Eight. Though true ... we can bring inside something that can overwhelm and destroy everything. Thus breaking the spirit."

Corinth shuddered as Sebastian sat down on the altar next to him. He could smell the man, they were so close now. He smelled like mothballs and peppermint. Two things that reminded Corinth of his grandfather, Conrad. Sebastian and he were old friends before he passed away. Maybe they used the same old man cologne, or something.