Glimmer (17 page)

              "Just try it," he spits back. "One move from you, and you'll be strapped to a chair for the rest of your life. They'll take away your special talents, numbing you down to a power source. The Council will never let you play make-believe as the
prophet
again."

That is enough.

My heart races and I want to make him pay. Make him suffer. I want him to feel the way the girls in this Center feel. 

Exiled in darkness.

I throw my hands up once more, this time attempting to grab all the light around this room. I've never tried this before, tried to take the light away.

I've always given.

Now I steal, taking it all away from him.

Light repels from the room and is absorbed by me. It enters through my pores, into my blood, pumping through me.

And I feel different; I stole light, light that wasn't mine to take. But it's had the effect I hoped for. This Humbleman has been blinded from my Light and then filled with darkness. He can have a taste of his own -- and the Council's own -- prescribed medicine.

I slam the door behind me, my hands cross the lock and seal it shut; forge the metal tight so he can't escape until someone comes to help him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Lucy

Charlie and I walk down the driveway to find Timid, she's been with Junie all morning. The sun cracks through the clouds, and little specks of sunlight fall on my skin. For a moment I look like Lukas, and a smile forms on my lips at the thought. But then, suddenly, the smile disappears and I grab my chest. My heart races, and then stops mid-beat, as though it's stopped. I can't breathe, and I feel my legs falter, my eyes blinking fast.

"Lucy, what's wrong?" Charlie grabs my arms as I crash to the ground. My eyelids close and instead of the glittering stars I always see, there is nothing but black.

I'm filled with darkness.

"Lucy, Lucy, wake up!" Charlie holds my face, and I feel his hands against my cheeks. I try to open my eyes but I can't. I hear him scream out for help. I can't stop him, I'm motionless.

And then, just as suddenly as the light left me, emptying me completely, it returns.

The light is back.

The glittering stars once more, and my eyes flutter open as I gasp for breath.

"I'm okay. I'm okay. I don't know what happened."

But all I can think is Lukas. He's in trouble.

Lukas

Down the hall, Perfection stands in front of an opened door. This girl I've known my entire life turns her head, her long blond hair loose from its braid, her face as white as the gown she wears, and when she looks at me it's as though she doesn't know who I am, what she is.

What we all are. Who we've always been.

Members of The Light's fold.

"Basil is here, Nobleman." Perfection's voice is clear in ways I didn't expect. Perfection is stronger than I've ever given her credit for. She's still standing, here, by my side. She could have run, but she hasn't. Not yet.

I run down the hall toward her, not knowing what to expect. A young woman sits on the bed shaking her head at Perfection and Care.

"Get away from me. Don't hurt me. Don't touch me." She rocks back and forth, trembling on the edge of the bed, her feet tucked tight around her, her arms squeezing around her body. Long black hair hangs in front of her face, but it's impossible to miss her big brown eyes zooming in.

On me.

"What are you?" She stands and inches away into the corner of the bed, as far away as possible. She points at me. "What is that, all around you?"

"It's light, Basil. Light that can help you out of the darkness. I'm here to help."

"Get away. Don't touch me." She holds her hands blocking me from view. I see her nails have been nearly bitten away, and her tan skin is riddled with red scratches. She's clearly in pain, and taking it out on herself.

"Lucy sent me." She slackens a bit when I say Lucy's name, as though that was the one thread of hope she's been desperately clinging to. That Lucy would try to help her. "She sent me to find you. To help you. I'm the Nobleman."

"You're real?"
she asks incredulous. "Where is she?" She looks behind me wildly. "Is she with you? Does she have my sister?"

I look towards Care, not knowing how to answer that part.

"Your sister is here, but she isn't well."

"And Lucy? Where is she?" Basil asks, looking at Perfection with complete disgust, but at least her glazed look appears to have snapped away at the thought of her sister being here, so close.

"She ran away. She disappeared, drowned maybe," Perfection answers for me, but she looks pained at the words, that maybe Lucy meant more to her than she's let on.

"Look, there isn't much time. I need everyone to listen to me and do as I say." I look at Care, Perfection, and Basil, the strangest assortment of women I could ever have rounded up -- but they are the ones in this with me now, and I need them.

"Lucy is alive. She went to find my parents."

Perfection gasps, her hand flying to her mouth. She's always believed my family was dead. I understand the shock, the horror, the confusion.

"I know, Perfection, it sounds outrageous, and I can explain later. But what I need now is everyone to work together. Perfection, Basil, Hana, and I need to get off this Refuge
tonight
. Care, you told me you were on Integrity's side, if that's true, even if I don't trust him, he trusts Lucy and me. He told me to get Lucy and bring her back. So that's what I'm going to do. Can you help us find someone who can take us off the island? A boat?"

"You don't need a boat, Nobleman," Care says.

"What do you mean? We need to escape, run away."

"You misunderstand, this island has a bridge to the mainland. It's the only Refuge with one. Most members don't know that, but I do since I crossed it when I was a child."

"She's right," Basil says. "This island is called Bainbridge Island. I've seen the maps."

"Do you know if it goes to a place called Southworth?" I ask, remembering the words on the paper Integrity gave me. "That's where we need to go."

"I'm pretty sure I can get us there," Basil says. "It's a trek, but we can do it. I'm pretty weak though, I don't know how well I'll travel." She looks down at herself, as though it's the first time she has in weeks. She recoils visibly as she pushes back her own hair from her face.

"And Grace. She can't walk, can she? If she's been in the ... dark?" I ask, turning to Care. I expected to take a boat and travel like Lucy.

"Who's Grace?" Basil asks.

I look toward Perfection, who's remained quiet. It feels as though we're all missing important pieces of information. None of us know the whole truth about anything. We're all holding back different portions of the story, but missing the pages that tell the parts that matter most.

"Grace is your sister, Hana. She had her Naming Ceremony," I say.

"You changed her name? You took her away from me? You, the Nobleman, are the reason for all of the horrors we've suffered since we arrived at your freaking paradise!" Basil yells at me, and I don't blame her. She deserves to yell, to scream, to hate.

Perfection steps in, to defend me, "Basil, the Nobleman has done nothing to hurt anyone. He's here helping you, risking everything for you, and I don't even understand why. But I do know he'd never harm you."

"Listen," Care interrupts. "There are people on the inside, the followers who are fighting for the return to the original teachings. They will help you travel, and help me gather supplies for the journey. No fighting now." Her weathered face fills with exhaustion, but also passion, as though she's been waiting for this moment a long time.

For me to fight for The Light, for me to revolt.

For me to be the Prophet I was born to be.

"Perfection and I must leave for the reception or people will notice our absence. Care, you gather your help and get Grace and Basil in the best shape to travel as possible." It feels as though I'm forgetting something.

"There's one more thing that might help," Care says. "There's an electroshock gun that could help Grace. It was created to reverse the black-outs that happen when Vessels spend long amounts of time in the dark rooms, although no one has ever used it. It's locked in the Councilmen's chambers. There's no way we could get to it without being caught. Believe me, I have dreamed of using it for years on these girls."

"I could try," Perfection offers.

"You'd help?" I ask. "What could you do?"

I know the instant I speak, it's the wrong thing to say.

"It's actually a good idea. No one would suspect Perfection, and if a plan goes south, she could say she got lost," Basil says, hopefully.

"Exactly," Perfection says. Then she clears her throat, as if she has something important to say. "Excuse me, but Nobleman? I know I told you I trust you explicitly, and I do ... but I was wondering how you could leave the Refuge? It needs your energy, your light," Perfection reminds me, biting her lip.

The Energy Room.

I knew I was forgetting something.

Lucy

I sit down in the grass, alone. Charlie left to get me some water and food, he thinks I'm dehydrated or exhausted, but I know that's not it.

Whatever is going on with Lukas, it isn't going well, and it affects me in ways I never would have realized. Our connection is deeper and brighter and truer than I imagined. That is beautiful, but equally terrifying. I never intended to fall in love so hard or so fast, and now I don't think I could choose something else even if I wanted to.

Junie, Colton, and Timid come running over, "Are you okay, Lucy?" Junie asks, out of breath. "Someone told us they saw you take a bad fall."

"I'm fine. Really, it's no big deal." I brush them off. This isn't about me, it's about Lukas.

"How are things going with Layla and Ernie? Any progress?" Colton narrows in, eagle-eyed and focused.

"No." I shake my head at Junie and Colton. "Why didn't you tell me more about this place, the
Safe House
isn't on the same team as them, that there's some mysterious laboratory?"

"There's nothing we could have said that would have stopped you, this way you got here safely and in one piece. And it's good you came, now you can make our own choice about what you want to do next," Colton tells me, tenderly, as if he can tell that I've had enough of harsh men in my life, and would maybe respond better to someone empathizing and not just ordering. It softens me, his thoughtfulness, and an unexpected smile breaks over my lips.

"How democratic of you," I say laughing. "My own choices, huh?"

"Or you could go back to The Light, with me," Timid pipes in. "It's what Integrity wants for you." I wonder who this girl was back when she received her name, she is anything but shy these days.

"Don't you like it here with the animals, the people, the sunshine?" Junie asks.

"Yes, of course, but you've never been to the Haven, you've never seen the Nobleman. And Lucy and the Nobleman together is, like, magic. Real magic." Timid stops and looks up, Charlie came up behind me with an apple and a glass of water, and I know he heard what Timid said, but the frown etched on his face.

An awkward pause passes. I wish once again I could be like the sunset, two different places, and two different people.

"What kinda magic, Timid?" Charlie asks, sitting down, handing me the water, without looking at me.

"When they touch, it's like a rainbow of color shoots out of them. Then these stars, like they have in the sky here, appear all around them. And when they--"

"That's enough," I say, cutting Timid off. "No one wants to hear all that." I know Charlie has feelings for me, I don't want to hurt him by rubbing in the connection between Lukas and me.

"Is it true, does that really happen when you're together?" Junie asks, awestruck.

"Only when we touch ... but look, it's because we were born the same day, at the same time. It's like a cosmic connection or something. I can't explain it. But Timid, I don't want to go back there. It's a trap."

Indicating I'm done talking about this, I take a drink of my water. It's fresh and so cold it runs down my throat sending shivers throughout me. Or maybe that is just the way I feel exposed in front of everyone, they know the truth about me, the truth I spent a lifetime hiding from even my own father.

Charlie scoffs, clearly offended. "So they know, about your energy?"

"They do...."

"Only because Timid nearly died on the trip here. Lucy saved her. Like, literally. She healed her with her hand," Colton explains. He likes to be center stage, telling the story, and I'm grateful. I don't have the energy to defend myself to Charlie.

"What, what? You can heal people too?" Charlie looks at me, and I sense a wedge instantly form between us, as though I've held back too much and now the divide is too wide to cross.

I nod my head, guilty for my ability. I don't like this feeling, I want to feel strong because of my gift, useful, powerful, and important. It's not how I feel right now at al.

"You know what, I'm going to go ask to see the laboratory," I say, standing. "Timid, I'm sorry for letting you down, but I'm not going back to that cult without a plan. And right now, there are no plans. None." I say the last part looking at Charlie.

He looks at me with his blue eyes full of disappointment, in me. 

"I'll be back."

I run up to the house to find Ernie and Layla. I need to understand what they want to do, before I can decide what I want.

And maybe that's letting other people make my choices for me, lead the way.

But I really don't know how to do anything else.