Chapter 28
The eyes of a killer hold my gaze. Lucas, bearing his teeth, smirks. He displays no guilt, no concern, no woe, nothing. He’s empty, devoid of a conscience or empathy. He’s evil. Truly evil.
“Why?” I mutter, with no strength behind my voice. For every fibre in my body is now weak. I am empty, lacking all hope and am now powerless.
“Oh, he was never part of our plan moving forward.” Talia goads. “I’m surprised I was able to tolerate him this far.”
Crying out in anger, Matthew powers forward with his palms pointed in her direction, lighting them up in seconds. But Talia remains cool and simply wags her finger at him while tutting. “I wouldn’t if I were you.” She mocks, nodding to the corner of the room.
With his hands wrapped tightly around Miah’s neck, Lucas orders Matthew to lower his hands, threatening that’ll she’ll end up, “just like Callum,” should he not. Filled with a rage that runs through my body, I pull at the burning sensation with my mind and piece it together, readying myself to strike.
“Down boy!” Talia orders. “You do not want to do anything stupid.”
To relinquish the ball of energy I’ve gathered pains me, but I take it apart and let it flow back through my body freely.
“Did you really think you could wake up from your dream and just… walk away?” Talia scoffs as she glides towards us. “After everything we’ve done to get you here. Callum’s power was only the beginning!” she sniggers. “Even your dreams tried to warn you, but that’s where I came in.”
She flutters her eyelashes and continues. “I thought we’d nearly lost you when TJ showed up from nowhere, that blabber-mouth know-it-all! But it turns out, you didn’t need much persuasion to believe you were turning evil. You really are the weaker twin.”
“Why me?” I mutter through gritted teeth.
“Oh, Mitchell Harper,” she shakes her head. “This has never been about you. You and your brother are simply a key, mere pawns in something so much bigger.”
Miah struggles a breath and without thought, my hands ignite. “Lucas!” Talia roars. “Loosen your grip now!”
Lowering Miah back to the ground, she begins to breathe normally again, but I keep my hands lit, surging more power to the flames.
“Finally, the faceless outcast has stepped out from his brother’s shadow.” Talia mocks. “And you have me to thank for that! Did you really think I had no idea how to perform the Kalayaan ritual?” she laughs. “I stripped you down, made you think you were losing control, then, when all hope was gone, I gave you the simplest of tasks.” She points to Matthew. “All so you could bring this one on side.”
“Me?” he questions.
“Why yes, Matthew. We need you both, one is not enough.” She smirks. “And unlike your brother, who has an array of weakness for us to exploit, you only had one… him.”
She twirls on one foot and returns to where the Nexus-Point sleeps. “You will complete this ritual.” She adds, looking to Miah, then back to me. “Do not test me.”
“Can’t we all just talk this out?” Aimee asks in an inconsistent tone.
For a moment, Talia’s face crumbles and I truly believe she’s gotten through to her, tugged at the last remaining strand of humanity she has left. But this is nothing more than a ruse, as she effortlessly throws her hand in Aimee’s direction, sending with it a metal cog that had fallen when the clock face was shattered.
“Aimee!” Riley wails, cowering over her motionless body.
Chuckling to herself, Talia blissfully sways side to side. “Was it just me or was her chirpy happy attitude really annoying?”
“She’s unconscious, Mitch!” Riley panics, cradling her limp body in his arms. “We need to get her to a hospital!”
Stuck in a clock tower that doesn’t tick, I’m forced to make a decision against time, knowing Aimee and Miah have very little left. The answer apparently has already been decided and I now know there’s no running from my fate. The Nexus-Points picked us as their saviours and they were right. “We’ll do it,” I murmur. “No-one else needs to get hurt.”
“Are you sure about this?” Matthew frantically questions.
I shake my head. “We have no other choice.”
“Excellent!” Talia beams, before ordering Lucas to hold Miah with the others. “And if they attempt anything stupid… you know what to do.”
Doing as he’s ordered, Lucas throws Miah to the ground beside Riley and it takes all my strength to hold back the burning sensation boiling within.
Offering out her hand, Talia sneers. “Be good this time.”
I reluctantly grab it and close my eyes, thinking of a normal day at college, anything to take my mind off my powers and the ritual. I think of the busy hallways and how everyone is unaware I’m even there. If only these people knew what I was truly capable of, or even what I’m about to do, but none of them are and they never will be.
At first, it’s a slight tingling sensation, one that gets stronger the longer she holds my hand. Then it feels as if my entire self is being pulled from every inch of my body, compressed into small chunks and crammed through my arm, building up before being released into its new host.
With my eyes open slightly, I look to Matthew who has turned a light shade of grey, like his skin has been drained of all its blood. Talia, on the other hand, glows, becoming a radiant beacon of light. Now empty and useless to her, she releases our hands, letting Matthew and I fall to the floor. “Oh my!” she cries. “I’ve never felt power like it.”
Head heavier than a steel bar, I roll to my back and witness as her eyes turn pure white, matching those of another Half-Breed. Slowly, she begins to build a ball of energy made of light and fire within her palms, resembling the sun itself. And once it’s big enough, the size of a football, she allows it to seep down into the ground below in generous drips.
A ray of light comes shooting through the floor, and like the early stages of a plant sprouting from the soil, the flickering waves spill out. For now, it’s no higher than her shins, but it grows and gains height the more power she releases into it.
The Nexus-Point is different to the one in my dream, this one seems chaotic like it’s buckling reality itself, pulling in the walls of the clock tower only to push them out again. But this doesn’t seem to compromise the structure, or bend the walls out of shape, instead it like they bow with the rest of the world as if everything is twisting and turning. Even the sound it makes sends my thoughts into a frenzy, and I can barely think under the strain of its high-pitched cries.
Matthew, with the colour returning to his cheeks, crawls to me and pull me away from Talia and the Nexus-Point. “We have to stop her!” he whispers.
By now, the flickering waves have become a swirling cyclone, covering her legs completely, reaching her waist.
“I don’t know about you, but I feel fine. Better than fine!” Matthew beams.
He’s right, I can feel it too; a warming presences that completes me. It repairs my broken body, filling it with an unstoppable energy. The same feeling I had when TJ, as the Nexus-Point, healed my wounds.
Signalling to Lucas, who is preoccupied with the others to notice us, Matthew grins and raises an eyebrow before leaping to his feet. And with his palms out, pointing in Lucas’ direction, he fires a quick bolt that crashes into his back, sending him high into the air before slamming back to the ground.
“Do ya feel it too?” Miah pants, pulling me to the others.
“It’s the Nexus-Point,” I reply. “I think it wants to help us.”
“It?” She questions.
I shake my head. “It’s a long story.”
Suddenly a furious Lucas, sporting a fresh gash to the forehead, jumps back to his feet. “You think you can take me?” he grunts, bursting into smoke.
Lucas, with the benefit of his power, jumps in and out of his smoke form with ease, to land a punch or kick on an unsuspecting Matthew, who can take it due to his large frame. “Quit hidi
ng you coward!” He yells, searching the room.
“If you say so,” Lucas replies, appearing from behind to land a powerful kick that knocks Matthew to the ground in agonising pain.
Hands ignited, I leap to my feet and ready myself to strike. Only for a thrashing Matthew to signal me to stand down. His skin then begins to spark, trapped within a swirl of dazzling stars, until it’s completely illuminated in a golden light.
“How pretty,” mocks Lucas as he descends upon him, readying his finishing blow.
But before he can, Matthew releases the built up light in a torrent aimed solely at Lucas, sending him soaring into the ceiling with such a force I’m surprised he doesn’t go through it. And once the stream of light dissipates, Lucas plummets back to the floor in a crumpled heap, lying face first to the ground, defeated.
Panting for air, Matthew lays flats on the ground as we crowd around him. “One down,” he smiles, sporting a bloodied lip and swollen eye.
Nearly completely covered by the Nexus-Point, Talia remains within its centre, releasing what’s left of energy ball she’d created; now half the size it originally was.
“We need to disrupt the ritual.” Miah panics.
“Can you use your power again?” I ask Matthew.
With his eyes rolling around his head, he attempts to light his palms, only for a mere spark to shoot out. “I can’t,” he confirms.
“Then it’ll have to be you, Mitchell,” says Miah as she grabs my hand, sending a bolt of nerves throughout my body.
“I can’t!” I protest. “What if I lose control?”
“Mitch! You have to!” a dust-covered Riley begs. “For Aimee.”
Seeing the results of my manipulation, her unconscious body lying flat to the floor, I take a deep breath and make my way back to the centre of the room, directly in front of Talia. The Nexus-Point has moved fast, covering her completely with only her face left exposed amidst the flickering waves like it’s purposely parted way for it. Breathing deep, I put my feet into the same stance Matthew did, hoping somehow it’ll help, and raise my hands out in front. Locating the burning sensation with my mind, I pull together as much of it as I can, connecting the pieces and immediately feel a surge running through my body. And with gripped fists and gritted teeth, I force the obeying power through my arms and fire a burning flare at Talia.
Sensing my power, Talia, blinded by the Nexus-Point, simply laughs. So I fire another, only for the Nexus-Point to gorge itself on what little power I display. Angered, I pull in more, overloading my centre and release an inferno upon her. With the vast amount of energy stored within me, flames begin to erupt from different parts of my body as I rain down a furious blaze. Devouring the power I throw at it, the Nexus-Point begins to become more violent in nature, swirling out of control.
Being thrown around within the flickering tube of light, Talia screams as she drops the glowing sphere, resulting in an explosion that throws me to the ground.
Dragged and pulled back into the ground, the Nexus-Point slowly begins to recede, along with a wide-eyed Talia. But she doesn’t fret, nor does she scream, instead she smiles at me – a genuine smile. “You are the smart one.” She murmurs as she begins to fade. Vanishing completely once the Nexus-Point collapses in on itself as if it was never there to begin with.
“Is it over?” asks Matthew, looking down at the spot Talia once stood.
“I think so!” replies Miah. “Ya did it, Mitchell!”
Flailing on the ground with flames bursting from my body, I tense my muscles in an attempt to contain the high concentration of power battling within me. Still, pieces of raw energy surge through my veins, growing in strength, with no place to go. Drowning under an invisible force, my lungs fill with a scorching lava and I find myself falling back into a darkness of my own creation.
Here, there is nothing to see, nothing to hear, it is just me being consumed by absolute power, which will need to go somewhere once it is done with my husk of a prison. I try and hold on to what makes me who I am – my memories – but with each second that passes me by, I’m forced to forget. First, it’s the little things, like my favourite songs and foods, then the places I liked to visit until I can’t even remember the faces of my friends, my brother or even my mother.
“Mitchell.” A soft voice calls out.
It continues. “If you can hear me, come back to us.”
The voice is soothing, as much as it can be in this agony and I find myself listening out for it, hoping it’ll speak again.
“You’re lost and alone, but you don’t need to be anymore, we’re all here with you.”
It sounds sad like it’s crying, making me want to shout out and let it know I’m here, but I can no longer move in fear of letting go.
“Please hun, come back to us.”
Hun! That word sparks a memory in my mind, granting me back part of my consciousness. It’s her, Miah. A single ray of light chasing away the dark, her face pierces the blackness, pulling me back to the real world.
“He can hear me!” she cries, kneeling by my side at a distance. “Mitchell, listen to me. You can control this, don’t let it control you.”
“I don’t know how,” I reply, pushing my head into the ground.
Hesitantly, she moves closer to the burning mess I’ve become. “Ya need to forget your power, stop fighting it.”
“I can’t.” I choke.
“Yes, you can!” She smiles. “Find a happy time in your life and take yourself there, forget the now.”
Closing my eyes, I think of past birthdays, but they all end in flames. So I try and think of days out with my family when I was a child, but the burning sensation tears them down. It’s no use, this power won’t allow a happy memory to pull through.
That’s when I see her face, and instantly I’m taken back to that day on the cliff top with the camera stood in front of us. With the sun shining, I look to her, Miah, and grin. Only then am I distracted by the blinding light ahead as the flash from the camera activates and make my surroundings disappear. Leaving only the picture that was taken visible; the picture I have kept safe in an old shoe box under my bed, the only one I can bare to look at. I’d do anything to go back to that moment, to be with her again, to be feel… safe.
“It’s working Mitchell!” she cries.
Opening my eyes, I am met by hers first, she’s closer than before as the flames around me have dulled, and nearly extinguished. I choke, coughing up black tar from my lungs and replace it with cool air – something I haven’t felt in a long time.
Behind her, stands Riley and Matthew, both of which have the same worryingly look on their faces, one that slowly melts away as the last of the flames turn to thick black smoke.
Miah grabs my hand. “Ya did it!” she beams, helping me up.
“Welcome back,” Matthew smiles, tapping me on the back.
“What did I tell you!” Riley gloats. “Am I an awesome coach or what?”
A weak cough echoes through the room, and to my surprise, the owner of it is a conscious Aimee, staring blankly at us. “So… does this mean we won?” she faintly questions.
And I don’t know where it comes from, but I laugh, something I thought I’d never get to do again. “I take that as a yes?” she adds.
But my laughter is suddenly stopped by a harrowing thought. “Lucas!” I yell.
“He’s gone,” Matthew confirms. “He must’ve ducked out during your showdown with Talia.”
“What if he comes back?”
“Then he’ll just get another whopping from me, won’t he,” Matthew smirks.
Handing me an old dusty blanket, Miah diverts her eyes. “Here,” she says trying to contain a chuckle. “Ya might want to cover up a bit.”
Blushing, I grab the blanket and throw it over my shoulders. Although, I’m immune to fire, my clothes are not. My t-shirt is nearly non-existent, burnt away to ashes and my jeans have so many holes in them, I could pass them off as a new style – the burned effect.
“My head hurts, can we go now?” Aimee groans.
Searching the base of the clock tower, we find no sign of Callum’s body, but an area in which he would have landed, covered in blood.
“Lucas?” Riley questions.
“It has to be,” I reply. “I guess he didn’t want to leave any evidence.”
We then stroll the streets aimlessly, unsure of our next move. Do we go home? Go get coffee? No one ever says what to do once the bad guy has been defeated. So, we head to the beach – of all places.
“This mean I get to keep my power?” Aimee asks, grabbing Riley by the hand with a grin.
I nod. “I’m afraid we’re stuck with them.”
“Yay!” she beams.
With his giant hand on my head, Matthew ruffles my hair. “It’s not all bad, I mean, did you see those moves of mine back there!”
“Yes, we all saw ya thrashing about on the floor.” Miah mocks, biting the tip of her tongue.
With no comeback, Matthew babbles a bunch of words that make no sense; for once he’s speechless and for once I can laugh at his expense, which I do. But my laughter is cut short as a loud sound echoes through the sky.
Bong! Bong! Bong! The clock tower rings.
“Oh look,” says Miah. “Times started.”
Looking up at the shattered clock face, I watch as the hands begin to tick round, moving us all forward in time, together. No longer do I have to worry about turning evil and destroying my home. The future for me is a clean slate, one I can finally look at and not be afraid.
Yes, the fuse of my second life – my Half-Breed life – has been lit and where I go from here, I cannot be sure. But there’s one thing I do know, the flames will burn brightly… And that’s my choice.
The End
Don’t forget to read the ‘After-Author Scene’
About the author:
My name is Zachary Smith, a lone traveller of the world and indie writer.
A self-proclaimed day-dreamer and nomad. I have a secret love for coffee (even though it gives me the jitters) and the country New Zealand.
After struggling at school with dyslexia, I left with satisfactory results, but at the age of 16, I had no idea where to take my future. So I found myself working from one office job to another. And it was not fulfilling.
That’s when I decide to see more of the world, learn about different cultures and ways of life. And boy was that the best decision I ever made.
Move forward a few years and I’ve come to find myself back home in England, where I revisited a picture book an 8-year-old-me drew, which later became the baseline story for The Half-Breeds series.
I do hope you’ve enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Please leave me a review if you have time and also check out book 2 in the main series, entitled; Nexus and the spin-off novella, entitled; Linear (featuring TJ)
Live Simple, Live Happy
Thanks!
Zachary Smith
Connect with me at the follow:
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZedSmithHB
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After-Author Scene
Tane-James ‘TJ’ Tira; Wellington, New Zealand
His face fades away, and I plummet back to the real world, thrown from a country I’ve never stepped foot on – not in my waking life at least. Once again, I’ve awoken prematurely from another one of his dreams. Mitchell, the English guy I’ve never met in person, but for some reason keep being dragged half-way around the world for a front row showing of his turbulent inner mind. Although, this time, it wasn’t all that bad, for I found myself in a clock tower beside a Nexus-Point – a gateway between worlds. He said he was there with his friends, looking to perform a ritual, that would in fact – unknowingly to him – unseal them. What this could mean for our world, I’m don’t know, but I’m guessing they were closed for a reason and should stay that way. Living at such a distance from the UK, I can only sit back and hope he was able to free himself of the trouble he’s become trapped in. And find myself wondering whether I’ll get to see him again, in one form or another.
Releasing myself from the knot of covers I have become tangled in, my heavy eyes are blinded by the morning light as I shuffle towards the window and listen out to the typical Wellington wind powering through the streets. Sounds like today is much harsher than normal, meaning I’ll be needing much more hairspray than usual.
My mobile sounds, signally a text message from Kristen – a fellow descendant from an ancient tribe called the Daemons. Like me, she also has a power, and can rewind time by a few minutes or at a push, a few hours. Odd, considering she’d be the last person I’d expect a message from at this time. She’s not really a morning person and stays in bed even after her alarm has sounded, before rushing through her daily routine. And it reads:
‘TJ, something weird happened to me this morning. I need to speak to you ASAP!!! I’ll be in the common room at break time. Come as soon as you can!’
Seems today is not the day for us Daemon descendants. It has to be something supernatural, as I’m her usual go-to when she’s needing answers for such an issue. But at least her ‘weird’ problem couldn’t involve an ancient gateway to another world… could it?
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