Shattered (3 page)

I watched in amazement. I had never seen a Catcher catch a djin before, just what Torrid told me about Catchers. Most Catchers require a glass lamp-like device, but Liam captured that djin by creating a glass pane. Liam must be truly gifted then.

I could see the victory in Liam’s eyes as he continued to trap the djin within the glass pane.

Trying to make my way over to him, I felt the cold hand of Dr. Sanz wrap around my neck. He pul ed me back and shoved me to the wal , his fingers digging deep into my throat. I gripped his fingers, trying to pul them off, trying to get air.

Dr. Sanz loosened his grip, but kept me pinned to the wal .

“You're not going to get away with this,” I said. “You’ve sadly underestimated what my father wil do to get me, to save me, and you obviously didn’t know of Liam’s abilities with djins.”

“If anything, it is you who has underestimated my abilities.”

“Liam,” I cal ed out softly as fear crept through my veins.

Stil caught up in maintaining control of the djin, he didn’t hear my feeble plea.

“He may have a knack for bottling djins, but he can’t hear you right now.”

Liam was slowly cornering the djin into a smal er and smal er space. The pane of glass he’d erected before the djin became a large transparent vat, then a sizable vase and final y a long, narrow vile. The puff of smoke that had been Liam’s oversized adversary, condensed and thickened, fil ing the vial with opaque r/p>ed fumes until Liam pressed his thumb over the opening to contain him.

As my heart raced with fear of Dr. Sanz’s next move, I couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride for Liam. I wanted to feel as victorious as he felt.

I tried to summon some of the magic I had recently acquired. If I had ever been faced with a time to put al my magic training with Torrid to good use, this was it. However, every attempt, every concentrated effort resulted in absolutely nothing.

The leather band, I thought. Though I knew it had the capacity to cancel out al my powers, I had to try.

“How heartbreaking it is to watch you, my dear,” Dr. Sanz said. His smirk deserved nothing less than a firm smack. “Need I remind you of the futility of your attempts? Not only does that handy little leather band keep you under control, but my own powers are quite impressive.” He raised his wrist, showing a leather band. “My powers are greater than that which is in that little band. See, even the great Catcher Pim Seer could not control me with the band.”

“You don’t say,” I droned, unimpressed.

“How stoic. You do put on quite a brave face, love, but let’s see how brave you are when I take you far away from Liam. You know, I’ve watched you, kept an eye on you since you were a child. I’ve known al about your mother and her unnatural love for a djin. The djins would never accept such a marriage, which was why she had to keep her marriage to your father a secret. You are a rare djin indeed, a half-breed, and the daughter of the most powerful djin warrior.” He licked his lips. “You’ve grown into a very beautiful young woman, something I wouldn’t have expected, given your half-breed nature. And your magic has just yet been tapped.

There is no tel ing what General Adar’s daughter is capable of…which is why you must wear that leather band.”

“What? Afraid a girl like me can possibly have enough magical powers to chal enge you, old Great Magical One?”

“So young. You know so little, especial y how valuable you are to Catchers and djins alike.” The wal s around us began to back away, The wal s around us began to back away, fading behind a wal of ever thickening fog. At first I didn’t understand what was happening. I looked to Liam and saw him through this cloud that emerged from nowhere.

Was the building catching on fire? Had fog descended on Arcadia and slipped in the warehouse through some open window?

With the sound of Dr. Sanz’s ominous laughter, the room faded away more and more. Just before the room faded away completely, I caught sight of Liam’s gaze. Horror, fear and heartbreak broke his features as he turned to me.

The silence that engulfed me was heavy, like death. I floated through a cloud, vagu haely aware of Dr. Sanz’s presence. I sensed him without seeing or hearing him.

After an eternal y long moment, the cloud gave way to a world of black skies and putrid earth.

I felt the pul of the dream and wanted to remain there. Too much had happened and I could feel the threads of sanity strain. I knew Liam was gone. I knew Dr. Sanz was nearby. I knew Arcadia was in chaos.

The dream of being home, of being where I belonged and where I felt safe; it stayed with me even as the intrusion of wakefulness nudged it away.

“Not so stoic and brave now, are we?” The sound of his voice, whiny, nasal and more annoying than I ever thought a voice could be, grated in my ears, leaving the tiny hairs of my inner ear prickling.

I opened my eyes, expecting some netherworld, expecting floating genies, warring soldiers or flickering fairies. Instead, I found myself in the Committee Building. Seated in the center of the Committee Conference room, I was surrounded by Committee members, many of whom I’d never seen before.

Just beneath my feet, beneath the gleam of the marble floor, was the room Liam and I had initial y been held in. Despite the feel of having escaped from the building earlier, I had the suspicion it was al an il usion Dr. Sanz created to make Liam and I feel as though we left the building.

But what for? To gain our trust, perhaps to slowly torture us? I could not get into the head of a madman or a mad djin. But I did know he wanted Liam and me as pawns in a game he wanted to play between my father and Liam’s father.

“Don’t be put off by the unfamiliar faces,” Dr.

Sanz whispered into my ear, trying to sound soothing.

He stood close, too close. Daring to touch me, he brought his fingers to my hair and pul ed it back to bring his lips closer stil . I shuddered as his breath brushed against my ear. “Listen closely, dear Kama. You're to learn much about the humans of Arcadia and the Magical Ones.”

He left my side and went to sit among the Committee members, taking up the seat at the very center of the long arced table, the very seat Governor warPim had sat in not too long ago.

“You’re aware of the force field that has been shattered?” Dr. Sanz said.

I glanced around the expectant faces. “I suspected as such, yes.” Turning my gaze directly to Dr. Sanz, I decided to accuse him outright. “Isn’t it rather brash of you to so quickly take the Governor’s chair?”

His amused chuckle fil ed the conference room, right up to the impressively high ceiling. “Yes, I guess it is. You know, for al his genius, for al his foresight, Pim overlooked a few key factors when he created Arcadia. Not al Magical Ones are interested in seeing humans flourish. You might even say that some resent the perfect little lives we so blissful y lead here in the world Pim so bril iantly created.”

“He only wanted to make us al happy, to give us an ideal life.”

“Yes, so he’s said. Apparently, Arcadia has in part been a gift… to your mother. She must be quite a woman. Pim has often mentioned how he crafted Arcadia around the perfect memories he had of his childhood. Quaint neighborhoods, trim lawns, architectural y interesting homes, al esthetical y pleasing to the eye. But we’re al grownups here, aren’t we, Kama. We know that perfection doesn’t exist. No matter how you work to make it so, life has a way of dealing you just enough imperfections.”

“What are you going to do?”

“What we, al the genies around you and myself, need to do is fight off General Adar. And that is where you come in. We need your help.”

“But General Adar is a genie, just as they al are. Why in the world would you want to fight him?” His lips curled into an evil curve. “Let’s just say there are different types of genies, with different points of views. General Adar holds to one point of view while we al hold to another, namely the ability to co-exist with humans.”

I gritted my teeth before blurting out, “You do know that I’m General Adar’s daughter, don’t you?

You know that I would never help you, no matter what.”

The double doors behind me were suddenly thrown open and three humans were brought in by two mammoth genies.

two mammoth genies.

I immediately recognized two of them…

Jocelyn and Matthew. The third, a thin gaunt young woman, looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite put a name to her face.

“Perfect timing. Here you have a perfect example of what you humans are capable of. They violated our rules. They even went so far as to venture into territory that humans of Arcadia have no business venturing to… the Coliseum.” Letting the weight of his words sink in, he slowly scanned the Committee Members around ="0him.

Shock slowly spread from one Magical One to the next. Their eyes widened, their lips parted and their fists clenched. I'd never heard of the Coliseum and couldn’t begin to imagine what could be so wrong with venturing out there.

“No one dares go into the Coliseum,” a Magical One sitting next to Dr. Sanz snarled. “They must be punished.” He stood and glared at Jocelyn and Matthew, the hatred in his eyes crossing the room and bringing fear to the young couple who clung to one another.

Jocelyn gazed at Matthew, her fingers fidgeting on his arm as she tried to calm herself. I wanted to reach out and reassure her, tel her that I’d do al I could to help them, but I was helplessly immobile. My every move resulted in a painful burn on my wrist where my leather band was.

The menacing Magical One held out his hand and violently slapped the air before him. At the same time I heard a loud clap fol owed by a heavy thud. I turned to see Matthew lying on the floor, a flash of red skin visible even from a distance.

“No,” Jocelyn cried out as she knelt beside Matthew and tried to help him up.

Before she even got her hands on him, the two genies at her side grabbed her and held her back.

“Please don’t hurt him,” she begged. “We didn’t know. We didn’t know what we’d find.” The genies showed no sympathy as they dragged her further away from Matthew.

I stood, knowing I could do little but wanting to at least convey to Jocelyn the pain I felt for her. Our eyes met, and for a brief moment we connected, knowing the impossible situation we both found ourselves in.

But when the genies slammed her to the wal , my body reacted on its own, advancing towards them. The slow burn at my wrist intensified until it was unbearable and just when I thought it couldn’t get worst, the burning sensation was replaced by a strong electrical shock. I swal owed a yelp of pain and stood, helpless and frustrated.

The thin gaunt woman tried to help, but her thin limbs seemed uncooperative. She took a meek step towards the genies and they easily pushed her back.

“I’m okay, Melanie,” Jocelyn shot out. ‘Don’t try to interfere.” She turned to the genies holding her. “She didn’t do anything wrong. Please don’t hurt her.”

I stared at the skin and bones cal ed Melanie.

She and Jocelyn’s brother had left Arcadia, had ventured outside the perfection of Pim’s world. Was this what the outside world had done to her? I couldn’t believe my eyes. Was the world outside of Arcadia truly worse than being within Arcadia?

“You should know better than that, Jocelyn.” Dr.

Sanz stood and crossed his arms before him. “We are the judge and jury here and your friend there is not as innocent as you claim. I’m sick and tired of seeing you humans try to have al the control. You ignore rules. You break laws. You selfishly think you know what’s best for everyone, for yourselves.” As he spoke I thought of my Life's Plan. I was to study under Dr. Sanz. He was to be my mentor for years. He was to prepare me for my career, my life with the Committee. My God; the very thought of spending time with him was sickening. He was clearly insane. Torrid has said as such, though I doubt he knew the extent of the doctor’s mental condition.

“You’ve made slaves of us,” he went on. “The time has come to turn the tables. We wil have control and we’l destroy anyone who chooses to stand in our way.”

I shook my head, wanting to deny his words, his intentions. The perfection of Arcadia, of the life I was supposed to lead had crumbled around me and there was nothing I could do.

Matthew got to his feet, though he was clearly hurt. He held his jaw with his hand and tested it by grinding it back and forth.

“I say we vote on the punishment most suitable for these violators,” Dr. Sanz shouted, his fist pounding the air above him.

“Hard labor,” a Magical One shouted.

“Public whipping,” another cal ed out.

“Exile,” a smal Magical One said.

“That’s not punishment enough,” a tal and formidable genie said in anger. “They should be executed.”

“Yes… they should be carted off to the Coliseum. Let’s see how they like being more than just a spectator.”

Dr. Sanz smile. “Yes. How fitting. You wanted to see what happened in the Coliseum,” he said.

His eyes took in their fear with pleasure. “Now you can witness al the horror, al the pain, al the tears from up close.”