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She fell asleep not long after a bath, ignoring clothes as she slipped between the sheets. The bed was comfortable, and as every ache seemed to cease, the uncomfortable carriage ride slipped further and further from her mind. A few hours later, she was jerked from a dream to a crash of thunder and a flash of light from outside. It was raining heavily outside, and the curtains by the glass doors leading to the balcony were flapping wildly, stretched out to their extent. The sheer purple color seeming electrified when lighting flashed. She sat up quickly to see the doors had opened and were swinging wildly in the wind. Cold was curling itself around, taking the room by force. Cursing, she jumped out of bed while putting on a night robe and went to the doors. Before she got there, she noticed small puddles heading across her room once the lighting flashed again. She held her robe closed tighter around her and stiffened her hand.
“Who’s there?” she called out.
There was no answer. Even with being a Talented, she still got nervous. It was a hard climb from the ground to her balcony, and the fact that it was raining made it even harder. Very few people could achieve it.
“Who’s there?” she repeated. Her heart quickened it’s thumping in her chest. She edged nearer to the open doors, instantly being bombarded with rain. She had to squint through the rain to see that someone standing across the room. The next flash of light confirmed her suspicions.
“What are you doing in here?” she asked loudly.
But the figure suddenly bolted, almost disappearing from sight as it ran towards her in the dark. She instantly clung onto the person, stopping him while she placed the palm of her hand on the persons arm, and he cried out in alarm and pain. She let go and when she did, they were at the edge of the balcony. He had his leg already over the edge of the balcony before she got to her feet.
“Who the hell are you and what in Adia’s name-“ she stopped.
She felt as if she’d been in this situation before… She remembered years ago she was caught in the rain on a warm summers eve. Except now it was cold, announcing the end of autumn, and arrival of winter. The person took his leg back from over the edge of the rail, and placed it back on the ground. With the next flash of light, she knew who he was.
“When will you grow up?” she said with a laugh.
She turned her back on him and went back into her room.
“Are you coming in or are you going to stay outside all night in the rain?”
She didn’t wait for an answer before she grabbed his arm and pulled him into the room, shutting the doors behind them.
After placing towels and a lit candle on the table, she sat down after fixing her robe.
“I’m not going to ask why you were in my room,” she said slowly, taking a towel and wiping her face. “Nor how in Adia’s name you climbed up here in the rain. But I am going to ask you to stay for awhile.”
Jack’s face lit up, and he took a towel.
“I’d just like to apologize for scaring you,” Jack said. “I just wish you didn’t have to hurt my arm, though.”
”Oh that’s right! Come to the bathroom, I’ll clean that up for you.” Elizabeth stood up quickly.
“No, it’s quite alright. I’ll clean it later.”
”No, I said I’d clean it now. Come on,” she urged, and Jack gave in.
She ushered him into the bathroom, where she lit an oil lamp by the sink.
“Sit,” she said, pointing to the edge of the bathtub. He obeyed, and while he was seating himself, she dampened a face cloth and turned to him.
“I’ll need you to take off your shirt. Wipe that grin off your face,” she laughed as a stupid smirk crossed his face. He removed his wet shirt, and she immediately placed the cloth on the injury she inflicted on him. He instantly cried out and pulled his arm away.
“Come now, how am I supposed to clean it when you’re pulling away?”
“I said I’d clean it myself.”
“You little baby,” she said standing up and attempting to place the cloth back on his arm.
“Lay off Elizabeth!”
“Watch your head,” she said suddenly, and pushed him backwards into the tub. It took him a few moments to realize what happened, and when he did, he had Elizabeth sitting on his chest, keeping his good arm pinned under him. She grabbed his other arm and slapped the cloth down on it. He cried out again, and squirmed to get away.
“It’s useless,” she said, trying to hold back a laugh. “You’re trapped, and will stay trapped until your wound in cleaned and bandaged.”
With a sigh and a wince, he gave up.
After he was cleaned, and released, they returned to her room where they sat back down, and spoke until sunrise. They spoke about what had happened between them all those years back. They discussed the events completely, not leaving anything out. They voiced everything, from fears to other emotions that seemed to be nameless until brought out into the open. It took them the whole night until a little bit after sunrise for the slate to be cleared. With a yawn, Jack stretched, and announced he was leaving. Elizabeth escorted him to the door.
“I’m glad you broke into my room last night,” she said with a smile as she opened the door for him. “Just next time, knock.”
He laughed and said he would.
They were leaning closer together, and about to kiss when there was a shout from down the hall. Elizabeth pulled back and looked at Jack before sh tore down the hall in an instant, ignoring her poorly tied robe as it flapped, threatening to expose her to the cold air of the Estate. She found Heather tumbling out of her door to the floor, crying.
“Heather!” Elizabeth shouted, falling to her knees by her. “What happened? What’s wrong?”
Jack showed up seconds later.
“It’s Donovan. He just passed out with no warning!“ she broke down into sobs, and Jack when running in.
There were more shouts and screams from downstairs, and Elizabeth could recognize her father’s shout.
”Stay here,” she said to Heather as Jack came back out, terror on his face.
She sprinted to the stairs with Jack in hot pursuit and began to descend when she began to feel dizzy. Her head throbbed, and everything swam before her eyes.
“Jack-“ she began, but fainted, falling down the stairs until she stopped tumbling several floors down.
“It’s only effecting the Talented, Michael,” Mateo said, sounding almost relieved. “Doctors said all Talented in Koura are fainting, and it’s spreading to Finela and Kanta too.”
”Only Talented?” He too sounded a bit relieved. “What else did the doctors say?”
”They said they should wake up soon.”
”And what about the blue aura’s?”
“They didn’t know. They said only a Talented doctor could say for sure, but as all Talented are currently unconscious…” he paused. “Don’t worry, they’ll wake up soon.”
”I’ve got to get back to Ariel. Please keep an eye on Elizabeth and Donovan.”
“Will do.”
Mateo left Michael where he stood by his door. And he remained there for several minutes, thinking about what could have happened. First it was Donovan, and then it was Ariel, General Andarie, and Ryan. Soon Elizabeth was out cold too, and then reports of whole Talented communities passing out. He sighed, and sadly shook he head, and entered his room.
Was it a dream, or merely a vision that plagued all Talented? Scenes of creation and wars disturbed their unnatural sleep. Not one dream was different. All were the same to the very last detail. It was almost as if someone slipped them all into a theater, and a play was performing before them. History was replayed before their closed eyes until all was dark. And then there was a voice. A dark voice full of emotion and desperation, as well as need. And as the voice spoke, his image came into view with his back facing them. He spoke to people as he slaughtered them. This man, not much older then twenty-five destroyed people in mustard colored robes, which blocked their faces from view. But those robes could not hide the sounds they made once his fists and weapon came into contact with them.
The man’s voice seemed to wrap around his invisible audience, creating rage and awe as he continued to kill. And slowly, very slowly, it stopped. He stopped killing. All that was left were bloody bodies and himself standing amongst them with a satisfactory grin on his face. He was covered in blood, but he didn’t seem to mind. The room he was standing in seemed to brighten, and he was standing in a stone chamber without a window in sight. Dark, concrete walls surrounded him, lacking any color. But they held pictures carved into them, as well as words in a different language. But he seemed to understand what they were saying. When he looked up, their eyes followed his as he searched the wall. A crack was noticed running smoothly down the centre. And the man was silent no more. He spoke and it turned to a chant. Over and over, he chanted the same line in the language written on the walls in a monotone. Soon, twelve other voices joined his. Twelve voices filled the silence of the stone tomb. Twelve voices, scattered throughout the lands, spoke out in their sleep, adding the ringing of their voices to his. Slowly, ever so slowly, the wall began to part. A shining light erupted. That’s all they got to see before waking up, except for the twelve, who were still chanting, still trashing in their sleep, still being plagued by the dark mans voice.
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