Chapter
36
Equivocate
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Rebecca’s short, spaghetti strap, sundress...
Wafted with her stride. I remained behind her, and just now noticed her eye-catching, and awfully bright yellow dress. She looked beautiful with the sun’s touch embellishing her smooth, silky, shoulder-length hair and her pink lipstick glittering like the ocean’s wrinkling waves amidst a sunset.
“I’ve never seen this place so empty before.” Rebecca said.
I smiled. “Well you know, it’s a bit nice not having gazillion faces staring at me for once!”
Rebecca turned around and stared at me with ogled eyes and jaw-slumped. She lifted her hand and pressed her finger against my chest. “Boo!”
Rebecca stuck her tongue out and then smacked me in the face with her hair as she walked off.
I winced. Guess I shouldn’t have said anything.
We made our way to the center of the market and sat down next to the big water fountain.
“Do you think the Myrmidons expect an attack if there are any stray guardians about?” Rebecca said.
That seemed reasonable, I mean Oliver is there hidden with his fellow Myrmidons… meaning they expect something might happen. But what else can go wrong?
“I’m not sure what that means Becca.” I said.
Clicking footsteps approached us from behind, “And I thought I’d have to search harder than this to find the two most popular children of this generation…”
It was a voice I haven’t heard for nearly two years now; it was him, Xavier Rees.
The first thing I noticed was his blinding, shiny shoes, reflecting the entire sun like a blackened mirror. His smooth black slacks ironed black suit with that white tie, and compelling feature exaggerating his bewildered face.
“Happy Birthday, Sam, Rebecca, congratulations.” He said a bit monotonously.
“Gee thanks.”
“I haven’t seen you in forever”
“If Jason didn’t explain… which he probably didn’t, he commandeered my post, and I was promoted by the Council as a Seeker Warden. And no Rebecca, unfortunately I’m unable to quench your curiosity about what role I now play.” He smirked at her. “You two have grown. Rebecca, a glamorous princess, and you Sam, a nice, tall and slender prince… might have to broaden you up a bit, you seem a bit flimsy.”
“Are you the one who is escorting us?” Rebecca said.
“Regretfully.” He sighed sarcastically. “I had to abandon my job to come here and drag you two to your birthday celebration… how rewarding indeed.”
“Great to see you sir!”
“Same to you Sam, now I say we should begin our course to the Recreational Facility.” He made his way through the vacant market. “Come come now, we don’t want to be late.”
Rebecca and I followed him.
“So why is this place so empty Rees?” Rebecca said.
“You and your questions Rebecca”
“Ugh fine!” She snapped.
“It’s your birthday beautiful, no need for a feisty attitude.” Rees said.
I scoffed and she smacked my arm.
“Pinched a nerve huh?” I said bellowing in laughter.
She hissed and stomped on in front of me.
“Fine job Sam.” Rees said.
Rebecca cleared her throat, “This is not funny.”
Reese cleared his throat, “Of course not!” Rees said.
“Nope.” I agreed.
“Ok enough!” Rebecca shouted, “Let’s just get the birthday thing. Ugh, I can’t believe I’m ready for this day to end.”
With all this random nonsense spiraling about, a question just happened to have leapt forth my lips without me even considering or thinking.
“Rees did you hear any word of our latest and greatest achievement?” I said.
Was that really me asking that or that other anonymous spur of the moment individual who happens to speak before I even think?
“About the thing that really didn’t happen since we’re not supposed to talk about?” Rees added.
“That’s the one.” Rebecca said.
“Of course I have,” he hesitated briefly, “Not.”
Maybe, just maybe, tonight I’ll have another dream with that so-called President. I cringed at the thought of that, I felt like slapping myself in the face for even considering something so radical. There I went again: curious; curious about this and that, ugh why can’t I shake it off just for a little while? Why do I have to be so unrelenting when it comes to questions that I want answered? In order to seize my questions I did what I had to do, shut off my train of thought: become insipid.
The rest of the trip to the recreational facility remained as quiet as the lifeless pieces of stone and crud cluttering parts of the sidewalk. Not even Rebecca and all her sudden lividness said a word.
My eyes remained on the ground right behind Rebecca’s clicking heels. Hands buried in my pockets… and I suddenly stared down at myself, and noticed I wasn’t even dressed adequately for my birthday again.
I kept my sight on the ground. Odd, muddied footprints stopped my movement. The sudden horror embracing my conscious left me petrified.
“Guardian footprints.” I whispered.
I glared at the progression of footprints over the grass and they disappeared near a meadow of shrubs that trailed to the area where the river use to be.
I worried about Rebecca’s security. Could there possibly be one stray renegade still running about this place? I didn’t know, and my question wasn’t going to be answered unless I actually witnessed it. For all I know it could just be an old trace from before… perhaps, maybe.
I hurried along the sidewalk and caught up with Rees and Rebecca, whom apparently didn’t notice my little absence. Gee made me feel important. Well I guess Rebecca’s obnoxiously noisy heels cloud any form of unnatural sound to enter their ears... aggravating.
Recreational Facility
A lush aurora of splendor ignited the atmosphere as soon as we passed the beautiful meadow in front of the Recreational Facility. A blast of nostalgia hit me like a rock in the face. Felt exactly like last time.
An alignment of baby blue and pink balloons trailed all the way to the entrance. The glittery corresponding strings sparkled with the sun’s touch like glancing across the ocean during a sunset. We passed a gargantuan archway made up of the same colored balloons.
“Isn’t it splendid?” Rees said.
“It’s amazing! It’s like a work of art.” Rebecca said.
I didn’t answer.
As we made it to the door a strange urge to see Amy noosed around my heart. I tried recalling the time I danced with her last year… but I couldn’t seem to picture it, only a void space of nothingness enveloping that memory.
Why couldn’t I picture her face? Why couldn’t I look back, and relive that entire moment of serenity? The strain left me in vain; there was nothing there, not a single reminiscence of her features. Nothing... how, how can I not envision it again?
My memories, the things I care so much about, vanishing...
Rees stopped at the door and turned around. He smirked and then clapped his hands.
“You two enjoy.” Rees said.
The doors opened and to my surprise two identically dressed individuals, silky black cloak and gold masks, whom I assumed were the invisible myrmidons, greeted us with a respectful bow.
Rebecca nudged my shoulder. “Thought we weren’t going to notice them!” She whispered.
I pursed my lips and held back my chuckle.
I couldn’t see passed them, it was pitch-black.
“Don’t be afraid now. Go on and step inside. It’s perfectly safe.” Rees assured us.
I felt Rebecca grab my hand. She took one glance at me, nodded, and together we stepped inside.
As soon as we took our first step inside, the darkness enveloping the Recreational Facility vanished with a single poof of flash
ing lights.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” Bellowed a crowd of people.
My eyes adjusted and I saw a mass of people ahead of us clapping.
When the echoing combustion of applauds and yells seized, a blast of booming music roared and flashing different colored lights moved in secession with the ear-splitting thumps.
Ms. William and Ms. Malcolm stood before us with bright big smiles embracing their faces. I couldn’t help but smile back. The warm, awkward feeling, like little butterflies in the pit of my stomach reawakened again. I almost forgot how that felt like, it felt weird and good all at the same time, and I truly did miss it. But now it’s back, and I’m going to enjoy every minute of it.
Rebecca rushed ahead and met Ms. William and Ms. Malcolm with a hug.
I felt Rees’s hand massage my shoulder, “Go on Sam, don’t be shy.”
Just as the warm feeling came, it disappeared, replaced by utter fear as his hand massaged my shoulder. I didn’t know what to say to him. I didn’t know what it was, but I just didn’t feel whole. Or perhaps I was confusing the feeling with security? Those guardian footprints that I saw kept on edging closer and closer to my conscious.
I saw Rebecca waving at me to come, and Ms. William giving me the same gesture.
“Come on Sam!” Rebecca called.
I took my first step forward just to be met with a nag that left me paralyzed. All the roaring sounds distorted. My eyes glared at Rebecca, Ms. William, and Ms. Malcolm, the rest of the faces were a mass of blur, unrecognizable, illusions perhaps?
“Sam!” I heard Rebecca’s distorted voice yell again.
I blinked, only to envision the man with those emerald eyes mumbling something. I closed my eyes and felt the comforting darkness envelope my whole. And slowly the darkness broke apart with a bright light slipping pass the eluding mist. I briefly opened my eyes again. This time, the same scene in front of me, Rebecca, Ms. William, and Ms. Malcolm waved at me in a slow motion that curled my stomach.
I blinked. Everything went back to normal. The distorted sound clarified and my nauseous feeling went away.
I shook my head and commenced towards them. But something was happening here, every step that I took had this booming outburst, quivering the floor around me.
I blinked.
Again that man’s blurred face flashed before me.
I blinked faster, and faster, watching the image behind my eyelids come to life as though I were shuffling through a flipbook.
The blurred face wasn’t blurred any longer. The man behind it was Dr. Harris Brown. His eyes were this hardly translucent, almost fake, shade of jaded green. His lips moved. I held my eyes tightly shut to hear his mumble.
“Ages past and ages rise.”
I opened my eyes and was met by Ms. William.
“Happy birthday sweetheart!” She hugged and gave me a kiss on my forehead. “Don’t you forget that I love you honey.”
Another quivering outburst radiated across the distorted sounds permeating together to make one gargantuan nest of heaving noise. The irk on my side came back, this time, I fell on my knees to the pain. It felt like a supernatural force had just punctured me with some sharp object.
I groaned. I looked around and nobody seemed to notice my yelps of pain.
I closed my eyes again, the darkness, that black void made the pain go away. I wanted to reach out to it, grab a hold of its all-sanctifying nurture… come to me, please make the pain go away. I pleaded to the darkness. Make it go away... MAKE IT GO AWAY!
“Y-Y-y-ou-you-you m-m-m-mak-k-ke-make me feel special.” A familiar voice bellowed out to me from the void space behind my eyelids.
A harrowing force plowed my face.
I opened my eyes.
I stood there staring at Rebecca, Ms. William, and Ms. Malcolm in between the sea of blurred faces.
“Come on Sam, let’s dance!” Amy said
No, it wasn’t Amy, what am I thinking. It was Rebecca, standing there, beautifully and patiently as she waited on my reply.
I smiled at Rebecca’s warm, comforting, aurora that captivated me. My lips moved and I concurred to her request.
“You know Sam. I’ve always wondered what happens… once your body returns to its stasis field of tranquility. When the gripping and haunting black consumes forever… what if nothing really happens. What if life goes on even after that? Death is an illusion to those that fear it, and a reality to those that embrace it.” Rebecca said, her voice distorted again, shifting into a much deeper tone.
“W-what are you talking a-a-a-ab-about-about-about?” I asked.
She smiled.
“Huh?” Rebecca said as her voice returned to normal.
I felt my body move with hers, dancing majestically to the smooth, slow rhythm of the music. My hands were wrapped around her waist, and her hands were around the back of my neck.
She giggled. “Uh you ok Sam? You seem a bit flustered.”
I grinned. “No, no, I’m feeling great Becca.”
“You know Sam.” She hesitated as her eyes connected to mine, “You’re really special to me.”
She leaned her head against my chest.
One I heard her words, that numbness that was enveloping my body, was erased by this strange feeling of wholeness and joy.
The sound surrounding me distorted away into nothing but a flicker. The lights brightened. Everything stopped for that split moment when I heard it, that screeching roar the roar that took him away, the roar that was about to come and take me away.
The sound stopped and the lights dimmed. Rebecca pushed away and looked around.
“Sam… Sam what’s happening?”
All the people that surrounded us flickered like a picture and then buzzed off.
“What the...”
“Sam, Becca, get down now!” I heard Oliver’s voice yell.
“T-That sounded like Thomas, Sam!” Rebecca said.
“Thomas…” I muttered, “But where’d everyone go?”
Where are Ms. William and Ms. Malcolm at? What’s going on?
The entire room was empty. It was one gigantic white warehouse of nothing but bare tables and chairs. I glanced up and saw that same mirror making up the entire ceiling. None of this was making sense. Where did everything disappear?
I heard echoing footsteps running towards us.
“Sam, Becca, follow me.” Rees said.
“What’s happening Rees?” Rebecca snapped.
A tremble shook the ground.
“No time to explain Becca we...”
Loud clangs echoed across the warehouse.
“Myrmidons get over here now!” Rees screamed.
From the shadow’s five cloaked men in gold masks appeared.
“We’re already ready.” A mysterious voice said.
A high-pitched shriek cracked the ceiling, sprinkling small fragments of glass all over the floor.
I felt terrified. I couldn’t move at all. What were they talking about? Ready? Ready for what? What’s happening?
“Sam.” Thomas said with his muffled voice. “The entire facility is on an EMQ alert.”
Rebecca rose. “That doesn’t answer anything Thomas. What’s happening, huh? Where’d all the people go?” She strolled over to Thomas and dug her finger in his chest. “SAY SOMETHING!”
He stood like a statue.
“Rebecca.” Thomas grabbed her hand and pulled it off. “Be coy for once.”
Rebecca inhaled profoundly. “Fine. Be that way!”
She shoved Thomas back with a vigorous push and then broke into a sprint towards the enveloping darkness.
“BECCA!” I screamed.
I tried to follow but one of the other myrmidons grabbed my shirt and yanked me to the ground.
“Don’t move.” He hissed. He glared up at Thomas and Rees. “Thomas and Xavier, go get her now.”
They did what they were told and disappeared as well.
Am I dreaming? Could this be some unpleasant unreali
ty that has somehow summoned itself out of my mind? None of this was making sense.
“I apologize Sam. I guess this isn’t a good place to explain. So I promise you, that once this little obstacle is over I’ll personally give you an insight on this. But I’ll need a request from you after all this is over.” He said.
This wasn’t helping. That just brought more bewilderment.
“Just listen to everything I tell you to do, ok?”
I nodded.
With another plowing blow a break of sunlight slit through the darkness to the far right of where I sat. I felt the myrmidon grab my collar and pull me up.
“Get up, get up.” He grabbed my hand and dragged me towards the opposite end. “Quicken your pace child.”
A screech shattered the entire mass of mirror.
“Stop.” He said.
I felt the cold shards of glass prickle over me and chime down against the ground.
The other three myrmidons stood behind us with rifles aimed towards the hole on the opposite end.
Fast paced footsteps approached us. From the misty debris, spiraling like smoke amidst the beaming sunlight, Thomas and Rees appeared; Rebecca carried over Rees’s shoulder.
I gasped. “Bec...”
The myrmidon covered my mouth.
“Shhh. Relax. She’s fine.” He assured me.
But how did he know? How could he know! She just appeared out of the blue on Rees’s shoulder. How could his bland assurance satisfy me?
“She’s fine Sam.” Thomas whispered.
“Xavier take the children. Thomas align yourself with us.”
Rees took my hand and yanked me away the commanding myrmidon.
“Just stand still.” Rees said.
I couldn’t think straight. My thoughts were spiraling out of control into an overdose of shock and awe that left me disorientated.
The lights sprung on.
A guardian on hind legs stood about ten feet away from us. Its ruby coated eyes glared directly at me as its clenched jaw gnawed against its own razor sharp teeth.
It shrieked so loud that the shards of glass on the floor trembled and then shattered into smaller bits. The ground shuddered. Bits of wind-driven debris sprinkled down from the ceiling.
“Do something.” Rees whispered.
The myrmidons stood motionless, only their long cloaks ruffled with the brushing strokes of wind.
I remained idle. My eyes caught sight of Rebecca. Her inert body remained on the floor. I bit my lip and shut my eyes as tightly as possible. But this time, the darkness didn’t comfort me; it didn’t draw me in, it only pushed me away. I opened my eyes again and turned towards the Guardian.
I heard a click. In that moment the guardian roared and then leapt to a sprint. It rammed against the myrmidons like a bowling ball, slinging them across the floor. One of the myrmidons jumped to his feet and hurried forward.
“Yield!”
It was Thomas.
The guardian whinnied and did a moan-like clacking sound.
I gasped as I heard the cock of a gun. I didn’t know what inauspicious reaction left me baffled, but as that sound creaked back, I felt something puncture in my leg. I darted up.
The pain on my leg faded away as I saw the Guardian clamp its jaws around one of the myrmidon’s head. The beast jerked the myrmidon’s head left and right and then threw the body on the floor. The gold, dented and blemished, mask, rolled to a stop at my feet. I stared at it and then glanced back at the body. Could it be Thomas?
The Guardian shrieked, as blood, swarmed out of its mouth like a puff of smoke. The beast rose on hind legs and pounded its chest. It lifted its arms and then drove them against the tile.
I took a step backwards, lost my balance, and fell backwards onto a bed of glass.
I no longer could open my eyes. All I could feel were those tiny shards of glass slitting through my clothes... and then it finally came to me, the lush black abyss finally accepted me, taking me away into the void…
Coiling blood circulated behind my eyelids. The blood smeared itself like a splash of paint and then drizzled down until all that remained was blankness.
A streak of sunlight broke from a hole. I made my way towards the light, stretched for it, and felt its warmth touch my skin. But no matter how much I strived, I couldn’t reach it.
“Echoes venture with the wind.” He said.
Finally the bare emptiness broke apart and an unending tempestuous sky accompanied the unsteady ocean.
I gasped as I felt a hand clutch my shoulder.
“Relax Sam.” The President said. “You’re safe.”
In the corner of my eye I saw that archway.
“Why is it that I am always appearing here?”
The President cleared his throat. “I don’t answer questions Sam. Now, let’s pass the archway.”
I gritted my teeth and inhaled profound. “Why should I?”
“Questions are obsolete.”
“Then what if I refuse?”
I heard the President burst out in laughter.
“Then perhaps it would do just to wake up.”
I arched an eyebrow, “How am I supposed to do...”
The President grabbed my mouth and squeezed. “For some reason you and Rebecca are the only test-subjects that have a form of reason and consciousness when you enter this unreality. And I can’t seem to put a finger as to why. You don’t know how aggravating it is to not comprehend this aberrant phenomenon.” His squeeze loosened and then he shoved me to the ground. “The rest of the subjects give in… but you and Rebecca just don’t.”
I tasted the blood in my mouth… I could taste blood in my mouth from this-this thing, this area of examination that’s composed itself like a vision or something. All of this seemed unbelievable… but then again I was conscious inside the Consolation Chamber for a prolonged period of time; and I never questioned that.
“Perhaps your prerequisites will have to be taught in person after your departure from Preteritus. Close your eyes.”
The entirety of this was but a wake left behind by a trail of coincidence. His inexplicable comments answered some of my questions… so I was just to leave... yet I wasn’t quenched.
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