The Ascended (21 page)

"How did your dad get the money for all this?" I asked, trying to distract myself from the source that was making me sick. "I know he was involved in shady dealings, but this goes beyond that," I added.

"I'm not sure, but I guess when your buddy, buddy with The Dark One, money isn't an issue."

"We're almost there. I can feel a large group of Daemons up ahead of us." I finally said, trying to fill him in on what we would be facing. "Your sister and Victor are waiting for us also."

"So, you're trying to tell me we're walking into an ambush," he said with a small smile, obviously trying to lighten the mood.

"Exactly," I said, lacing my fingers through his as we approached the double-wide doors. I fought the temptation to flee with him in the opposite direction. The thought was irrational. I knew that if we left our friends behind, we would never forgive ourselves.

Mark placed his hands on the door handle and pulled the large door toward us. The essence of evil in the space beyond us was staggering, causing me to take a wobbly step backwards, trying to adjust to it. I fought with my own emotions, pushing it back to protect Mark and me as we entered the oversized lab space.

"Sheesh, what's with your dad and his mad fascination with labs?" I gripped sarcastically to Mark.

"I'm pretty sure it has something to do with his
God
complex," Mark piped in as we studied the obscure scene in front of us.

Kim and Kieran were still unconscious on the lab tables, just as we had seen on the monitors earlier. John and Jacob must have become a little harder to handle since they both were tied against two of the pillars that ran from the floor to the ceiling in the center of the room.

I fought the urge to run to my friends, fearing that they suffered similar injuries as Sam from Harmony's brain manipulation. Anger built up in me as I eyed their prone bodies and the dazed look of their Protectors. Without turning to face Harmony, I gathered my emotions together, feeling them grow stronger than ever before. I pushed them out away from me, blanketing John and Jacob before moving on to Kieran and Kim. I cringed, feeling the evil that Harmony was subjecting them to. Their every emotion was nothing but grief, despair, and hopelessness. I focused my concentration, taking in every negative emotion and replacing them with my own positive energy.

Turning from my friends that were now safely tucked under my emotional protective cloak, I turned to face Harmony.

"I see you made it back," she said snidely.

"And I see you're still daddy's little toy," I answered, sweeping my eyes around the room to gauge where the biggest threat was. I observed most of the Daemons hanging back on the far wall, surprised they had yet to try to apprehend Mark and me. Confused, I moved my eyes beyond them before finally resting them on Victor, who was eyeing me appraisingly. Using my gifts, I delved into his mind without any effort and pulled the thoughts from his head. I could see that he had been waiting months for the moment that Harmony and I would face off with our gifts.

My protection began to clear John's and Jacob's heads and I could hear them off to the side as the realized their Guides were somehow in harm's way.

I wanted to help them, but we were in a standoff, with each side waiting to see who would flinch first. I knew that a step in their direction would be the
the
catalyst Victor was waiting for. So, I ignored their pained voices as they worked to loosen the knots around their wrists. Their pain was mine as they anxiously tried to rouse their Guides on the table. Harmony shot me a sinister grin as she read my inner turmoil.

"You see why being an Ascended is subpar? You'll always have others pulling at you, wanting, needing. Always taking your gifts for
themselves
," she mocked, pushing back on my protective blanket, making me work harder to keep it in place.

"That's where you're wrong Harmony. That's the very best thing about being an Ascended. There's no other feeling in the world better than knowing your gifts have helped someone. You're wasting your time. I'm not letting you mess with them anymore," I said, indicating my friends.

"I'm bored with that game anyway. I'd much rather show my father that you're not half as talented as he thinks you are," she said, pulling back from my friends abruptly.

Her attack came at me in an instant. Blackness encircled me and everything went dark as she thrust her evil energy straight for my soul. The force of it knocked me flat on my back before I had the chance to protect myself. My mind struggled to sift through the darkness that tried to burrow through it. Images of mass destruction flooded my thoughts making it hard to breath. I could feel it channeling into my brain much like I had seen once in an alien movie. Its tentacles worked to tangle into my every thought, taking over. I began to succumb to the images, forgetting everything that was important or that I cared about.

My perspective changed and I could feel myself being pulled to Victor. Suddenly, I could no longer remember why I had fought so hard to reject him. He was right all along, I knew that now. I could feel him urging me to my feet, to accept my rightful place.

My feet began to move on their own as I slowly limped away from the person that was trying to anchor me to him. I could hear him pleading with me, but his words no longer made sense. I jerked my hand from his, turning back toward the voice that beaconed me forward.

I paused when another presence finally weeded its way through the darkness, stopping me in my tracks. The presence was everything the dark wasn't and I could see its bright light as it slowly began to unravel the tentacles that clung to my mind. I pulled away from the dark, swiftly resenting the intrusion and embraced the light. As I pushed the darkness the rest of the way from my mind, I was finally able to see the light clearly and the person it belonged to.

Mark had
Ascended
.

Chapter 17

I could faintly hear Harmony's snarl of displeasure as she reached the same conclusion as me. Tuning her out, I turned to Mark who was smiling broadly at me.

"You did that?" I asked in awe.

He nodded.

I limped back to his side, grasping his hand. I could feel his newfound power flowing through him and the joy he felt from it. I allowed myself a moment to glimpse into his soul and had to control my gasp at the purity of it. With the exception Haniel, I had never seen a soul as crisp and clean.

"
See, for once I get to be the one coming to the rescue,"
Mark silently teased, finally able to read my thoughts once again.

I turned and smiled at him in surprise, overjoyed to have him in my head again.

"Father he's an Ascended," Harmony shrieked, stating the obvious.

"I'm well aware of that my dear. It would seem once again that you've failed me."

"It's not my fault, I couldn't manipulate everyone's minds at once," she said, defending herself.

"You are correct dear, it would be wrong of me to hold you responsible for your faults," Victor said condescendingly.

His mocking tone struck Harmony like a slap and I watched in morbid fascination as her eyes darkened and the anger inside her built to a boiling point. She lashed out, directing all her misguided anger at Mark and me, driving us to our knees in agony. Her anger was worse than the darkness that had previously tried to take over my mind. It stung every nerve ending in my body, making it impossible to know how to fight back. I had glimpsed into people's souls many times over the last few months and none held an ounce of the anger Harmony had flowing throughout her entire body. I tried to process through and filter it like I had been trained, but it was never-ending, leaving me lost where I should start. The pain from her anger strike made my bones weak like I would melt into nothingness. Through the pain I felt, I began to see the pictures in Harmony's soul that had turned her into the monster she was. I saw her crying for her mother as a little boy tried to comfort her. I felt her pain as the little boy was forcefully snatched from her. I could see her agony and loneliness as she grieved for a father who had caused her so much suffering. The pictures of her life moved in rapid sequence as I saw her pain change over time until she began to believe the lies she had been fed. My heart wept as the sweet little girl that had been so filled with sunshine changed into the monster she now was. With a wrench of pain, I felt the pictures being jerked away from my grasp. Harmony's anger intensified as she realized I had gotten a glimpse at something she had long ago buried.

Her anger pinned me to the floor as it worked to destroy my will. I could feel it eating away at me fueled by a source greater than my own. I tried to fight back, protecting my mind the best I could from her intrusion, pulling everything I had into a protective shell. I could feel my strategy beginning to work, a moment later her trespass into my soul and mind were completely blocked.

"NOOOOOO!"
An angry shout rang throughout the room.

Finally able to focus again, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me when I saw Harmony lying in a pool of blood. Victor and Mason stood where she lay. I took in the enraged look on Victor's face as he lifted Mason up off the ground with one hand wrapped around his throat, using strength beyond any I had ever seen. The bloody scalpel Mason clutched in his hand clattered to the floor. Confused, I tried to sort through what I was seeing. I watched horrified as Mason's air supply began to run out. Time seemed to move in slow motion as I watched his face take on a peaceful expression, losing the dazed look he had worn before. I reached out with my emotions and could feel the tangible peace Mason felt as I finally peered into his soul. His thoughts were much like the ones I had glimpsed in Harmony, but instead of manifesting into anger, he remained pure, always believing in The Light, despite being surrounded by so much darkness. I could see how he had struggled against Harmony's oppression over the years, but lacked the support of a superior being. My heart wept for the boy that had been left alone to fend for himself amongst so much evil. Within moments, I had a glimpse into his entire life. I pulled my emotions together and sent all the love I could gather his way, showering him with more caring than he had seen since his parents had been brutally murdered so many years ago. His eyes met
mine,
accepting the only gift I could give him as his eyes glazed over and time resumed its normal speed.

I was watching him so intently that I never saw the person that rushed by me until he crashed into Victor and Mason, knocking them both to the ground. Bewildered, I realized it was Mark that had rushed to the aid of Mason. Within seconds, every Daemon in the room rushed to the aid of their earthly master. Three of them grasped onto Mark pulling him away.

Victor pulled himself to his feet, looking at the two lifeless bodies on the floor. There was no need for me to seek out his
emotions,
I could feel the rage that surrounded him. For the first time since I met him, Victor was no longer the controlled, dominating person I had come to expect. He kicked at Mason's body one last time with little respect.

"You did this," he said, practically spitting the words at Mark. "You and your whore of a girlfriend," he continued, striding toward me as I backed away. My injured leg threatened to buckle out from under me as I tried to keep distance between us.

"Stay away from her!" Mark yelled, still struggling against his Daemon restraints.

Victor ignored him, continuing to stalk me. His eyes glowed brightly red and I shuddered, realizing he had finally accepted The Dark One into himself. He had
Descended
. I was shocked to realize that the death of his lackey was the straw that had broken the camel's back. I couldn't help wondering what was so special about Harmony that her death would make him become something he had rejected for years.

"Why?" I finally asked him as I bumped into the concrete wall, running out of space to retreat.

"Why what?" he snarled.

"Why would you do all this," I said, sweeping my hands out to indicate the lifeless bodies of Harmony and Mason. "Now you decide to Descend? Why torture your own flesh and blood if all you were going to do was Descend in the end? Why turn her into a monster?"

"She was NOT a
monster,
she was a work of art!" He yelled in my face, showering me with his rancid saliva as he backhanded me.

Reeling from the blow that lifted me off the ground, I worked to hold my footing. I could hear scuffling behind him, but I could not see around Victor's bulk. I cringed as I thought about what the Daemons were doing to Mark. I raised a hand to my cheek, feeling the swollen skin that stretched from my lip to the corner of my left eye.