Preternatural (Worlds & Secrets) (28 page)

Mum pulled out a camera and set it hovering in the air. She, Anne and Tantrus quickly rushed over to us, huddling at the foot of the stairs. The girls were ma
jestically sat on the last step, the boys stood a step higher and the adults on the step above us. None of us smiled, but rather stared piercingly at the camera, with the males having our hands behind our backs and the girls looking striking. With a click, the picture had been taken and we broke out of the group into conversations and laughter.

Whilst everybody carried on speaking and the adults quickly rushed
into the living room, Robbie and I walked over to the camera to have a look at the photograph.

“
That looks awesome,” he muttered. I chuckled softly. To me, what made it uncommon were the effects. I hadn’t noticed but it was dark out – the sky was just a bleak purple letting out rain. The natural colour of the background in the picture seemed faint and almost in black and white, but what seemed to fiercely stand out were the different colours of our eyes. The complexions of our skins were shown but didn’t stand out as much as the jewels gleaming in our eye sockets; a bright green from the Wittles, an electric blue from Liam and me, a dark and lustrous purple from Jade, an ice and almost transparent blue from mum, a vibrant fuchsia-pink from Tammy, a topaz-yellow from Jaden and a golden-hazel from Robbie.

“
Here we are,” Anne said, walking in from the living room with mum. They held in their hands what seemed to look like dark and reflective, metallic-black masks. A unique mask was allocated to everyone, each individual one highlighting a different feature about our alien faces.

“
A specific mask was made for each of us,” mum spoke. “Masks on Vernaesce aren’t
totally
like the ones on Earth.”

“
Why?” I asked. Ever since I came to Vernaesce, ‘why’ seemed to be one of my most favourite words.

“
Because masks here represent your hidden trait and secrets.” Mum handed me mine. I gently took it and placed it on my face. Suddenly, it forced itself onto me with a strange attracting force, almost knocking me down. Then, slowly, the pressure ceased and I stopped struggling. It just hung by itself, instantly merging with my facial skin. Mine covered the top half of my face –
nose upwards
– whilst my hair fell over it to my shoulders
.  Jaden’s mask was specifically around his eyes and curled its way down onto his nose, hardly occupying any space around his cheeks.

Liam
’s was the scariest in some ways: his covered all of his face, leaving his mouth and below unmasked. Robbie’s was plain and somehow resembled a pair of glasses, ringing his eyes and bridging across his nose. The girls’ masks were much more complex than ours – yet simultaneously elegant, bearing exquisite swirls and exotic patterns. We walked to the door and mum switched off the lights.

Our elegant mother
gently created the entrance in the magnificent space with her bangle. She opened the doors and looked up at the black-purple sky, complete with soft-falling rain. But then, the heavens seemed to have opened. It was as if the sky was hollow – all the stars showed. There were far too many to count. It suddenly didn’t feel like a layer of air covering the planet, but the entrance to the rest of the universe, impressing on us how small we really were in life.

Clouds of green and purple mist encircled the
many constellations in the nocturnal sky. Even though the rain mysteriously continued to fall, I realised that it seemed as if we were staring into the heart of the universe, and we, all
in black and grey with the only colour being our eyes showing from our masks, watched the phenomenon; hypnotised.

CHAPTER 10.

The Plot

“Why does it look like we’re staring into space?” I asked. “It’s just like we’re staring into the core of the galaxy.” We stayed on top of the stairs close to the colossal entrance, away from the pouring windless rain and wedged in between the trees that hid the house in their depths like a shadow.

“
On Samhain,” Tantrus began, “Vernaesce removes itself from the universe. Right now the only reason you can see yourselves staring into it is because we’re not technically
in
it. It’s like looking through glass to another realm. At the moment, there really isn’t
time
. But it’s still malleable by the Time-Morphers.” Jaden and I suddenly let out long monotonous sounds of “
oh
”s and “
ah
”s as the picture finally became clearer.

“
When time stops,” I repeated “that’s what it meant.”

“
Well done, Sherlock,” Jade muttered from behind. I did not know how I was coping with this. Since birth, I’ve had to deal with her sticking her large nose into all of my businesses. If I needed her opinion, I would have kindly asked her enormously-fat-nosed face to intervene. I’m probably being so spiteful because she was the popular Blue offspring.

“
I wonder if this will be another ‘ghostless’ Samhain,” Tammy spoke gently. Jaden and Robbie looked at me suspiciously, suspecting that things might be different this Samhain, considering what I had been witnessing.

“
Everybody, we’ve got to get going.” We huddled up, making sure we were all touching.

“
Who’s teleporting?” Liam asked.

“
I am,” Tantrus spoke. At that moment, we were swallowed into an energetic burst of green embers. This teleportation felt like it was going to unscrew my head off. But nevertheless, my feet soon touched ground and we were all separated. My eyes were closed, sorting out everything in my head from the dazing teleportation. As soon as I heard the gasps of everybody, I raised my head and almost fell back in shock. We were facing what seemed to be a castle. The air was biting and corrosive, seeming to stick to my smooth marble facial skin and peel it away like a strip as the wind blew past. Only then did I notice that flakes of snow were softly falling to the ground. We stood on a blanket of snow; the temptation to run into the open snow-covered grounds and let out a fury of snowballs pelting to all directions, whilst simultaneously conjuring waves of snow and ice on random strangers was unimaginably high – my foolish earthling self was close by. But I had to control myself. I was no longer human but rather a sophisticated alien teenager and had to start acting as such.
Yeah, alright, Aden
–
as if
.

The sky here was the same as the one at home.
Life was now a spectrum above our heads, splayed and spread into an infinite universe for us to behold. That was basically how I interpreted life to be; a chasm of unimaginable souls, eagerly waiting for their turns to fall to the Earth or whichever existence they’ll be summoned to, but for now, remaining as drifting, empty entities and thoughts that glided around in space and the wind and waters and air. Life was an infinite equation where more lives were added when another was cancelled out. And Samhain…Samhain was the one gap, bridge, or blind spot, where that aspect of life stands still for us to actually see how it all works.

We were somewhere in the
mountains because all I saw were chains of mountains, each covered in white snow underneath a brilliant sheet of indigo merged with the surreal universe above. But we weren’t alone. Masqueraded people (all linked in arms and dressed in all manners of fancy black and grey clothes) were flooding into the castle. It was surrounded by a steep, thick moat with a wide bridge set across. We advanced inwards, coming closer to the large doors. Before I knew it, I was face-to-face with the wide arched entrance. The hall was cavernously enormous. Three times the student population in my school could fit in here.

The
main, glistening chandelier was grand and uncommonly wide. It was embezzled with glittering diamonds that reflected shimmering light when looked at. It hung in the middle of the domed ceiling like an upside down umbrella. On the interior of the chandelier, it was easy to notice that it was lit with a burning yellow fire. Other minor hanging lamps seemed to spread out from the main chandelier in glistening spirals. They all brightened the place with their warm, golden light, even though medieval torches were lit and placed high up on the walls in the most beautiful sconces I had ever seen. They were miniature statuettes of women that were pressed against the walls in such a manner that made them seem as if they were leaping off. Their hands were effeminately outstretched, receiving the delicately placed torches supported by brackets. We walked in to see the hall completely filled
with the other high-class invited guests conversing away. The butlers were dressed in penguin-tailed tuxedos as they glided around with trays perched on their hands. As we walked in, I noticed a long and wide interior balcony.

It seemed to lead to t
he rest of the Castle. I looked beneath the balcony and saw a staircase built into the walls leading up to it. The entire cavernous interior was a creamy colour but in general, this entire
place seemed renaissance; the theory was only amplified by its marble and chalky structure. It also seemed quite archaic; the creamy yellow walls seemed stained and aged, but only giving the place more grandeur. I couldn’t help but swallow hard in intimidation.

“
Okay, so we’re at the Samhain ball. Now what, mingle?” I whispered over to Jojo as she walked beside me.

“
That
is
the general
point of a ball. There will be dancing afterwards.”

“
Dancing?
” I whispered back harshly. I was terrified – I wasn’t going to waltz at a ball with anyone.
Anyone
. As soon as Jojo mentioned dancing, I noticed the orchestra set on a platform, playing classical music dynamically. The adults seemed to have forgotten about us, seeing as they had already begun conversing with acquaintances, colleagues and swiping off flute glasses of fizzing white wine from the butlers’ trays.

Suddenly, a masked
couple who both looked like they had young adult figures approached us. The female had long, flowing white hair and her gentlemen companion’s was red. They were quite a stunning couple. Awkwardly enough, they looked just like –

“
Dorian,
Vala
– is that you?”

“
Course’ it is!” Vala enthusiastically responded.

“
You guys seem awfully
befriended,” Jade pointed out as she looked at their hands which were interlocked with one another. Vala gasped and lightly pressed her hand on her chest.

“
My
goodness
,
I can’t believe I forgot to tell you!” she exclaimed.

“
Tell us what?” Jaden asked.

“
Well, Vala and I are married, Aden,” Dorian answered “for about four years now. Look,” Vala and Dorian both raised their hands and showed us their peculiar rings of interwoven gold and Tartalum strips. The others gaped at the costly rings in wonder and I merely pondered at how Dorian fooled me into thinking he was a depressed, miserable, lonely being.

“You were probably wondering,” Vala began
, “but Dorian and I are still babies. We just entered our frozen youth a couple of years ago. I turned sixty-two last month and Dorian’s sixty eight.” She turned to her husband and they smiled at each other sweetly.

“We have about six hundred years
left together,” he said tenderly. I could feel the romance and passion he said that with as he gazed at his wife, and smiled at her as he truly acknowledged the many years they had as a couple. It was so bizarrely disturbing to think that at the age of sixty, here, is when you’d be entering your age of replenishment and youth. Whereas on Earth it was the complete opposite; at that age one can book their ticket to embark on the death boat and patiently sit in the waiting room ready to board at any time. How I love this alien anatomy!

“
Linda, Mark,” mum and Anne spoke, greeting an Indian couple with a cheek-to-cheek peck. The woman, who was of a golden sort of complexion, was tall and very slender, with inky black hair that swirled down to her waist. She had a long neck that made her seem more elegant and she shed a very radiant smile. Her husband that accompanied her was very tall with a slim yet muscular build and his mane of dark hair was neatly combed.

“
Guys,” Tantrus called us. “I want you to come and meet someone. This is Tarmo Tandon,” We were introduced to a teenage boy, seeming to be at least a year older than us. Also, it wasn’t my imagination when I realised that he had a vacant expression. But one thing from him stood out: his eyes. They shone through his black mask with unimaginably striking light.  They were
teeming
with icy mist and were almost transparent like my mother’s. But it was scarier to look at them because of the strange whitish-blue fog that loomed in their corners, and because his black pupils contrasted so much with his irises to the extent that he looked like he belonged to a totally different Vernaescian species; much different from what we had encountered so far in our new homeland. His hair was lustrous, thick and ink-black like his mother’s and a large portion of thick hair fell over his left eye in the form of a large spike. Contrasting with the similar light mocha skin complexion as Jojo, he was classily wearing an outfit almost indistinguishable from ours. He kept his hands behind his back, bearing an expression of the purest boredom I had ever seen. This kid did not want to be here – it was undoubtedly clear in this perfectly-designed face of his.

“
Say hello, Tarmo,” his mother nudged him. She seemed upset with her son, but he merely looked down at his shoes.

“
What’s wrong, Tarmo?” Anne asked. The rest of us teens watched him plainly.

“
He’s a bit upset because he was made fun of for being a hybrid. Plus he doesn’t know any others like him,” his father softly spoke to mum, Anne and Tantrus.

“
These are my children: Aden, Jaden and Jade, Tarmo. They’re like –” Tarmo’s head darted up at the sound of our names. His misty, icy-eyes kept jumping from Jaden to Jade and to me curiously. The adults, including his parents, grew curious as his lower lip dropped in shock. But we didn’t fully understand why.

He held out his hand.
I noticed, wrapped around his wrist and ending at his mid inner forearm, was what seemed to be a leather armband. Its white laces were crisscrossed and tucked into his sleeve. Each of us – Robbie, Jaden, Jade, Jojo, Tammy, Liam and I – gladly shook his hand as he kept his eyes fixed on us. His gaze was probably worse than mum’s.

“
We’re just going to…roam about,” Tarmo suspiciously spoke in his post-pubescent, noble, British-accented voice as he moved over to our side and dragged us all along with him.

“
Wait, what –?” Jade stammered but was quickly interrupted.

“
Mate, I don’t really know you but,
what
are you doing? Where are you taking us?” Jaden asked. Tarmo merely smiled mischievously and he carried on leading us towards the back of the room. We nudged and squeezed ourselves past all the guests that crowded the room. I slowly noticed we were coming closer to the built-in staircase which we suddenly realised was guarded by two muscular, daunting sentries. They were dressed medievally and carried archaic hatchets that were made of a sturdy, glossy black material.

“
Um, I don’t think we should be getting this close –” Liam seemed timid. Tarmo began to snigger.

“
No, seriously,
dude, what are you doing
?”  Jojo was tense. But it then occurred to me…I wasn’t moving. None of us were. Well, technically, we were, but not of our own free will. Our legs were rapidly pulling us along and our minds could do nothing to stop the movement. What I couldn’t shake off as suspicious was that Tarmo kept his hands suspended by his side, somehow floating in mid-air, as we marched on. The entrance loomed closer and closer to us until the guards suddenly spotted us. They stood stiffly and crossed their hatchets against each other, blocking the entrance. The guests had their backs to us; we were out of their sight.

“
You kids shouldn’t be here!” one of the guards spoke, his voice shaking the walls around the section we were in. We came to a sharp halt but Tarmo merely swaggered on fearlessly.

“
It is not in your place, gentlemen, to tell me where I should or should not be,” he spoke straightforwardly as he sauntered past them. Our mouths dropped open as he simply touched them on their hands and they instantly crashed to the ground in silence. They were motionless. Tarmo climbed the first step and looked back at us.

“
Well…aren’t you coming?” We looked at each other suspiciously.
What were we doing?

“
What did you just do?!” I was petrified. My goodness did he
kill
them?