At least Neriah is someone I can relate to – both our fathers are monsters. Mine is in prison where he belongs, so at least I don’t have to see mine any more – he’s the one locked in a cage.
At the foot of the stairs Dillon approaches me. ‘Hey,’ he says. ‘Heard about the curse. Good one,’ he laughs. ‘That should make you popular around here.’
What’s up with him this morning? He’s even more cynical than usual. For a second I get the urge to reach out and touch him without my gloves on, but of course I wouldn’t do that. ‘What’s with you?’
His eyes glue themselves on Neriah. ‘Huh? Did you say something?’
My own eyes follow and see Neriah talking to Matt, and if Matt’s body language is anything to go by, something’s happened between these two for sure. I can feel the tension from here! Matt’s wound up like a spring, and trying to look everywhere except at Neriah, especially into her eyes. Beside me Dillon can’t stop staring. Of course he’s noticed too. Who wouldn’t? Except Dillon’s eyes have turned into narrow pinpoints of envy.
Neriah lays her hand on Matt’s arm to get him to look at her, and beside me, Dillon turns greener than a frog covered in moss. He starts to take off, and there’s no need to read his thoughts to know where he’s heading, or what’s on his mind.
I try to get him to come back. ‘Hey, wait!’
He keeps going. This can only be trouble.
I call out again, ‘Dillon, stop!’
He doesn’t stop, but stomps right up to Matt. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’
Matt looks surprised, his eyes shifting sideways as if he’s wondering if it’s him Dillon is talking to, or someone beside him. ‘I’m not doing anything. What’s wrong, Dillon?’
‘What’s wrong? What’s wrong? I can see what’s happening here. While I was away, you moved in on Neriah!’
Neriah’s mouth opens wide. ‘Dillon, I think you’ve got the wrong idea. Let’s go somewhere quiet and talk.’
He stares at her, and while I can’t see his face from this direction, it makes Neriah step backwards. ‘This is between me and Matt,’ he says between gritted teeth.
Isabel and Ethan lift their heads to listen. Some other kids nearby look at them too.
Neriah starts to say something in protest, but Matt lifts his hand to stop her getting any closer. ‘Look, Dillon, I haven’t made a move on Neriah.’
Dillon scoffs loudly. ‘Yeah, right! Just look at her, she’s lovesick for you!’
Both of them turn and look at Neriah. Her skin turns from pale pink to bright red. She goes to speak but words don’t form.
Matt tries to get Dillon to calm down. ‘I’m telling you I didn’t do anything behind your back. You have to believe me.’
Dillon sees red. ‘Well, I don’t believe you. I’ve got eyes of my own, and they don’t lie.’ He shoves Matt, who flies backwards and lands on his butt, his back thrust up against the seat Ethan and Isabel are sitting on. They scramble out of the way.
It’s a big hit, way too hard for what looked like an easy shove. I remember that one of Dillon’s powers is strength.
Matt gets up, red in the face. ‘Now listen here, Neriah isn’t your property. She isn’t anyone’s. She makes her own decisions.’
‘That’s right! And she was deciding on me until you turned up and stole her from me!’ This time Dillon shoulder-charges Matt straight in the gut.
Matt falls backward again and looks winded.
‘Get up!’ Dillon calls out. ‘Come on. Get up and face me. Or are you scared?’
Matt gets up, and, to his credit, lifts his hands in a peaceful gesture. Dillon ignores it completely; instead, punches Matt square in the jaw. Matt goes flying, crashing into bags and dragging a bench metres backwards.
‘Dillon!’ Isabel screams, while Ethan’s thoughts come pounding into my head. He too is aware of Dillon’s infatuation with Neriah. Seems like everyone knows. But Matt’s done nothing wrong, and Ethan can’t believe what Dillon’s doing, out here in public.
He goes over and grabs Dillon from behind. ‘Cool it, OK?’
Dillon jerks his shoulders and Ethan drops off like a fly.
As Matt gets up, Neriah tries to calm Dillon down. ‘You’ve made your point, Dillon. We’ll settle this now, without fighting. Come with me and we’ll talk.’
But Dillon is out of control. He waves Neriah to the side, intent on squaring off with Matt again, but the power throbbing through him is way too strong. She runs into his arm and falls backwards, hitting the ground. Matt sees red.
By now a small crowd has formed around them, everyone jeering them on. The security guards keep glancing over, but seem reluctant to leave their posts at the gate. Matt comes over with his fists drawn. He lands a punch to the underside of Dillon’s chin. And now it’s Dillon who goes flying, crashing into Ethan, knocking him over again. The crowd starts cheering and hooting.
I look around for Mr Carter. Someone has to stop this before it gets any more out of hand. Knowing one of his powers is incredible hearing, I call his name. If he’s anywhere on school grounds, he should come.
Nothing.
‘Come on, Mr Carter, where are you?’ If he doesn’t come soon and break this up, it’s going to be too late, if it’s not already. The fighting grows more intense as they continue swapping blows. The security guards have finally decided the fight is getting serious enough for them to intervene. They start shoving kids aside to get to the two at the centre.
But the teacher on duty, the vice-principal Mr Trevale, reaches them first. ‘Hey! You boys stop this now!’
He gets in between them, holding them apart with a hand on each of their heaving chests. They stand and stare at each other until Dillon makes a move, but Mr Trevale screams at him, ‘That’s enough!’
Mr Carter finally turns up at a run, and when he sees that it’s Dillon and Matt fighting, his eyes nearly fall out of his head. ‘What’s going on here?’
Mr Trevale looks from Dillon to Matt, making sure the situation is stable and he’s not about to get his head punched in. ‘I have no idea, Mr Carter, but I’m going to find out. You two boys get to my office now!’
Matt exchanges a quick look with Mr Carter, who gives an almost imperceptible nod.
‘If you like, Bob, I know these two boys, I can look after this.’
Mr Trevale thinks about this and I hear his thoughts clearly. He’s got a lot of work on his desk and he has to teach a class in a few minutes that will keep him tied up for most of the morning.
The buzzer sounds and everyone groans. Mr Trevale gives them all a sharp look. ‘You heard the bell. Now get going to your classes, all of you.’
Mr Carter tries again. ‘I don’t have a class right now. I can get to the bottom of this.’
Mr Trevale finally relents. ‘Detention goes without saying, Marcus.’ He gives Dillon and Matt a strong look. ‘Perhaps even a suspension might be in order. We’ll discuss it this afternoon. You boys are both seniors. You should know better!’
At last everyone moves off to their respective classes. Mr Carter shakes his head, disgusted. He would be. ‘You two go straight to my office. We’re going to have a little private conversation.’
Dillon starts to move off, his head hanging as if he can’t believe what he just did. I go back to where I dropped my bag, intending to go to class, but just as I pull it on to my back I hear Matt talking to Mr Carter. ‘I want Rochelle to come too.’
Mr Carter glares at him for a moment, clearly not understanding why.
‘It’s important or I wouldn’t ask,’ Matt continues.
Mr Carter calls me over. ‘Matt wants you to come to my office too.’
‘What for?’
Matt says softly, ‘I want you to test Dillon’s loyalty.’
‘What? Are you serious? Why?’
‘You saw what happened. Dillon initiated that fight with no thought of the consequences. The Tribunal will wonder if he started the fight on purpose to reveal my identit
y, or the identity of us all. Testing his loyalty will be one way to put everyone’s mind at rest, and quickly.’
I can’t believe this is happening! Damn Dillon and his temper! ‘Matt, don’t make me do this.’
‘I don’t see why you’ve got a problem with it. You did it to all the members of the Tribunal. That couldn’t have been easy.’
‘It wasn’t, but … Dillon’s one of us. It feels wrong. He’s going to hate me.’
Like everyone else!
This wayward thought hangs between us, and for a moment I’m confused as to whose head it came out of – mine or Matt’s.
Mr Carter urges us to hurry. ‘We’re better off having this conversation in the privacy of my office.’
Without taking his eyes off me, Matt’s eyebrows lift, pressuring me to agree.
‘All right, I’ll do it. But it has to be now, with only Mr Carter as a witness. I don’t want to humiliate Dillon in front of the others. OK?’
Matt checks with Mr Carter. ‘That’s fine. I’m not expecting the other teachers back for another hour or so. All the same, we’d better hurry.’
Mr Carter’s office is a small room with three desks crammed into it and stacks of books lying around. The walls are lined with overflowing bookcases and filing cabinets in haphazard fashion. Dillon is already there, stretched out in Mr Carter’s reclining desk chair.
‘What took you’s so long?’ He sees me and sits up. ‘What’s she doing here?’ He gets it in a second. ‘Oh no, she’s not touching me without a glove on. You can’t do this. I want to see Arkarian.’
Mr Carter sits in another chair, dragging it over to his desk so that his face and Dillon’s are less than one centimetre apart. ‘Do you have anything to hide, Dillon?’
‘Nothing!’
‘Thanks to your little display out there, what do you think everyone’s going to think? For starters, the strength you exhibited would have to look suspicious. The Tribunal are going to be furious. They may even demand a trial. The very least they’ll demand is for Rochelle to test your loyalty. So you have the choice: do it here in front of me and Matt, or in the Circle with Lorian and all the Tribunal members watching.’
Dillon groans, but it’s a sign of resignation that everybody understands. Mr Carter pushes his chair back and pulls down the blind. Matt nods at me to go ahead. I make my way around a briefcase, its contents half spilled out on the floor alongside a garbage bin, and stand directly behind Dillon. For some reason I don’t want to be looking at his face when I do this. I feel as if I’m betraying him, and it’s a feeling that doesn’t sit right. I tug off one of my gloves with my teeth. Sparks sizzle and bright electric charges form a zigzag pattern from my wrist down every one of my fingers.
Dillon hears it, probably even feels it, and jerks his head away. ‘What the hell!’
Mr Carter gives a low whistle.
Matt frowns. ‘Your power is surging. Does it hurt?’
I shrug, trying to make light of my hands, even though they’re starting to keep me awake at night with pain. ‘They’re just a little stronger since Lorian enhanced my Truthseeing skills.’
A noise in the foyer has Mr Carter glancing at his watch. ‘We really shouldn’t be doing this here. We’re going to have to hurry and keep our voices down.’
Dillon tentatively shifts his head back. ‘You burn my hair and you’ll pay –’
‘Shut up, Dillon,’ Matt says.
When everyone is silent I close my eyes and focus my breathing – steady, slow, in and out. When I feel ready, I place my hand on top of Dillon’s head, my fingers resting lightly on his forehead. A vision of a wildly burning flame reveals itself. It surprises me and I jerk backwards, clasping my hands together.
‘What?’ Dillon says in quick defence.
The others look at me with questions in their eyes. I shake my head. ‘Nothing. It’s just the vision is stronger this time and I wasn’t ready. Lorian thought this might happen.’
Finding my focus, I try again. This time the flame flares wildly and I centre my attention into it, searching for the cause of this intensity. An image of the core soon develops and I see that Dillon’s anger is a result of feeling cheated. Cheated by Matt. He believes Matt manipulated Neriah into falling in love with him when Dillon was away becoming a member of the Guard. There’s pain and doubt there too, that Neriah might prefer Matt over him, but deeper there’s the pain of his childhood, the loneliness of being with parents who thought only of themselves. But this is not what I’m looking for. I wade through all this hostility to the very depth of the flame. Finally I see it.
I open my eyes and lift my hand off Dillon’s head. He pushes his chair away and spins around to face me. Now all three of them are staring at me, waiting for my verdict. I open my mouth to explain, when suddenly the door opens. Quickly I throw my hand behind my back and struggle to put my glove back on.
It’s Mr Trevale, looking hurried. ‘Just thought I’d pop in and see if everything’s all right.’ He spots me and a frown creases his brow. ‘What are you doing here, Rochelle?’
Lost for words, I look to Mr Carter. He says, ‘Well, Bob, it turns out that … ah … Rochelle is involved in this dispute.’
‘What do you mean, Marcus? How seriously?’
‘Well …’ Now it seems Mr Carter is lost for words.
Mr Trevale decides to put his own spin on the situation. He looks at both Matt and Dillon. ‘Were you two boys fighting over the attentions of a girl?’
Well, technically they were, except the girl isn’t me. They both grunt and nod a kind of acknowledgement.
Mr Trevale makes a scoffing sound. ‘I should have known. Seventeen year olds and their hormones!’ He starts backing out of the door. ‘Well, I’ll see all three of you in detention this afternoon, shall I?’
As soon as the door closes I spin on Mr Carter. ‘That’s not fair, sir! He’s got no right making me stay back for detention!’
Mr Carter groans and lifts his shoulders. ‘What do you want to do, Rochelle? Go and argue with the Vice Principal? Draw more attention to yourself and Matt and Dillon?’
I fold my arms across my chest to try and calm down, then mutter under my breath, ‘You could have said something.’
We fall silent. Of course Mr Carter’s right. I’m not going to make a fuss over one afternoon’s detention, but it’s still unfair.
Mr Carter brings me back to the real reason I’m here. ‘Rochelle, before we were interrupted, you were about to say –?’
I wave my hand in the air. ‘Dillon’s loyalties are true to the Guard.’
‘I could’ve told you that,’ Dillon mutters.
Mr Carter double-checks. ‘Are you positive? No doubts?’
‘He’s clean, so to speak. He has no doubts about his decision to become a Guard.’
Matt’s head nods and a smile eases the serious look he’s been sporting lately. ‘Now, about Neriah –’
Dillon’s whole body tenses. ‘You knew how I felt about her before I went into that safe room.’
Matt’s head swings to the side for a moment. ‘I’m only going to say this one more time: Dillon, I’m not interested in Neriah.’
‘It doesn’t look that way to me.’
Matt pins Dillon with a sharp look eye-to-eye. ‘I’m not looking for a relationship.’
‘Well, I think she’s hung up on you,’ Dillon mutters.
‘Honestly, Dillon, I wouldn’t know. I have no control over what Neriah thinks or feels. But I’ve made myself clear to her. OK?’
‘How good is your word, Matt?’
‘How long have we been friends?’
Dillon’s head bobs up and down, looking pleased. ‘Then promise me you won’t go after her.’
Matt stares off into space as he contemplates the challenge Dillon throws him. Mr Carter says softly, ‘Be careful what you promise, Matt.’
But it doesn’t take Matt long to make a decision. ‘Dillon, you have my promise. I won’t make a move on Neriah.??
?
Dillon jumps out of his seat and whacks Matt on his back. ‘You’re a real mate. D’you know that?’
Dillon is happy. Well, why wouldn’t he be? The way is clear for him to go after Neriah knowing there’s going to be no competition from Matt. But Matt’s promise leaves me with an uneasy feeling inside. If there’s one thing I know, Matt doesn’t make promises easily, nor does he take them lightly. But I reckon this one is going to be the greatest challenge he’s ever taken on.
Dillon can hardly keep still. ‘Can we go now, Mr Carter?’
Mr Carter starts to wave us away, when suddenly he calls out, ‘Wait! Be quiet, all of you.’ He closes his eyes and keeps them that way for a few moments, making my spine prickle. Mr Carter’s not a Truthseer, but obviously he has some sort of communication system worked out with Arkarian.
Finally Mr Carter opens his eyes. ‘There’s a mission on tonight.’
‘The sphere?’ Matt asks. ‘Has it stopped spinning?’
‘Yes.’
The prickles on my spine are now fully-blown shivers. ‘What year did it stop at?’
Mr Carter looks up, his eyes wide, round and glazed. ‘Nine thousand, five hundred and ninety-six, BC.’
‘What?’ Dillon hisses.
Matt frowns deeply. ‘That doesn’t make any sense. That’s prehistoric. What city could this be?’
Mr Carter’s tone is filled with awe. ‘It could only be Atlantis.’
Chapter Nineteen
Matt
I need to see Arkarian, and quickly. But first I have to finish detention. Detention! Forty whole minutes of ‘silent contemplation’, as Mr Trevale puts it, while he sits at the front marking homework sheets. For the first half I put myself into a trance. Since spending time with Dartemis, I’ve learned just how relaxing and replenishing deep meditation can be. Dillon could sure do with it. He hasn’t been able to stop fidgeting since we got here – jerking his arms or tapping his feet. He’s drumming his fingers on his desktop right now.
Sitting in front of him, Rochelle spins around. ‘Do you have to do that? It’s driving me insane!’
‘But Roh, this is such a waste of time.’