The Legacy: A Custodes Noctis Book (13 page)

“Yeah?”

“It’s coming for us again.”

“I think so.”

“We need to talk about what happened.”

“No,” Galen said softly.

“There might be something there, something that’ll help.”

“Might not.”

“Do you get far lying to yourself like that?” Rob’s voice had laughter in it, but a serious concern underneath.

“Depends on what I’m lying about.”

 “Seriously, Galen, we have to talk about what happened, to you and me.”

“I’m not sure that will help.”

“It’s the only way to know, to be sure,” Rob insisted.

“Sure of what?” Galen asked, dreading his brother’s answer.

“If this is the Legacy.”

“It can’t be.”

“Do you think just by saying it isn’t you can make it vanish?”

“Maybe. It’s not the Legacy.”

“How will we know for sure? We have to talk about this, we have to.” Rob paused. “What did you say about pictures?”

“Pictures?” Galen asked looking at Rob, still trying to bring his focus back a little.

“Of Rhiannon’s daughter?”

“She had pictures of the crime scene.”

“So you saw the sacrifice?” Rob frowned.

“I saw the pictures of one sacrifice, yeah.”

“Galen.” Rob sighed.

Galen reached out and put his hand on his brother’s arm. A brief flash of  pain was there, the impression of old wounds, long healed scars. He let a little of the light flow down his hand. “You’re right, we need to talk, Rob.”

His brother patted his hand. “Thanks.”

Past

Ten years Before

Day Three-Rob

Rob had a headache.
I wonder if this is what a hangover feels like? If it is, I’m never ever drinking. Where am I?
Memory flooded back. The hole, the sound of the rocks dropping on the board above his head. He opened his eyes. Rob was back in the room in the farmhouse, still wearing the purple pants and white shirt. His arm hurt where they’d cut it.
There really is a cut there, I didn’t dream it.
He tried to sit up and fell back down. His bones felt like jelly. He saw the brazier full of incense sitting in the corner of the room.
I wonder what’s in there? Whatever it is, it’s making me feel weird. It’s messing up the Sight. I can’t see straight, I can’t sense Galen.

He rolled over, from his back onto his side.
I thought I heard Galen. I thought he was there for a minute. It sounded so much like him. If he’d been there, I don’t know, I think…Just knowing he’d been around would help. I wish he were here. If only I knew…
He started to cry. He curled up, hugging himself.
If Galen were here…
He tried to stop, but the tears kept coming. He was sleepy, the incense taking away consciousness. Rob could hear his heart beating, he listened to it, trying to calm himself the way his brother had shown him. Then, just as he was almost asleep…
“Rob? I’m here, I’m looking for you. Sleep. It’ll help. I’m here, Brat. I’m coming for you.”
His brother’s voice played in his head, it calmed him, he let himself drift off to sleep.

The sound of the key in the lock woke him. The pretty young waitress with the black spots, Ashley, came into the room with a tray. “Time to eat, Chosen.”

“That’s not my name.”

“It is now. You have no other name, you have no past, no future. There is only today. Today is all. Today is ritual.”

“You’re all weird.”

“You need to eat this.” She put the tray in front of Rob.

“Not hungry.”

“Ah, come on sweetie. It’s pretty good.”

“Nope.”

“Okay.” She smiled, but her voice was hard. “You eat it or I force it down, how’s that?”

“Yeah, sure you could.”

“There’s help right outside the door. Are you going to eat, or do I call them?”

“I’ll eat it.” He tried to sit up. He still couldn’t. His hands weren’t working quite right either. He tried again. It didn’t work.

“Not funny. Just because you’re Chosen doesn’t mean you can get away with that.”

“I can’t, I’m trying, but I can’t,” he said, afraid. She had the same scary look in her eyes the bearded man had the night before.

“Fine.” She raised her voice. “I need help in here.” The door opened and two of the three guys Rob remembered attacking him and Galen came into the room. One of them had a large bruise on his face, and his nose was taped up.

Rob smiled. “My brother do that?” he said.

“Right before my brother knifed him,” the guy said with satisfaction in his voice. “We left him on the road, he was in bad shape. Might’ve driven over him on the way out. Never know.”

“Shut up. Galen’ll be here, he’ll come for me.”

“Not if he’s dead, kid.” The big guy yanked him up and held him. The other one just lounged against the door, knowing Rob was no match for the man who held him. Ashley started spooning the food into his mouth. Rob tried to spit it out, she slapped him across the face. In the end they managed to get about half the bowl of food into him. The big guy dropped him back down on the floor.

“Don’t get too comfortable, we’ll be back, kid.” The two men left and Ashley smiled at him, it was a terrifying smile, “Oh, yeah, we’ll be back.”

Rob lay on the floor. His face hurt, his arm hurt and his stomach hurt. Whatever was in the food was not sitting well. He felt sick, he wanted to throw up. Rob wondered if he should, Galen had taught him to rid his system of poison as fast as he could, but maybe that was what they wanted him to do. He wasn’t sure. Hearing his brother had calmed him, he hoped it was actually Galen, and not a trick of the incense. He was still unsure if his brother was alive. He was feeling sleepy again.
The incense, it’s making me sleepy, blocking the Sight. I wonder if that’s why I can’t sense Galen. He’d tell me to sleep if I needed too, a Keeper has to be strong.
He drifted off.

He had no idea how long he slept. It was dark in the room except for the glow of the brazier and the light coming under the door. When he woke up, his stomach still hurt, so did his arm and his head.

“Hey,” he said, hoping there was someone outside the door. “Hey, I have to go to the bathroom.”

The door opened. A man came in and looked at him. “Get up if you need to go.”

Rob pushed himself up. The room was spinning. He tried to stand—his legs wouldn’t hold his weight. The man came over, grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. He manhandled Rob out of the room and into the bathroom. “Don’t spend too long or try anything funny.” He closed the door. Rob heard his weight settle against it.
Can’t try to escape that way, I guess.

After he’d finished, he quietly closed the toilet lid and sat down, carefully easing drawers open, hoping to find something—anything—that might be of use. Mostly there were just bits and pieces of garbage. The final drawer yielded a treasure—a large safety pin. Rob pinned it in the waistband of his pants. He didn’t know what he could do with it, but he was sure Galen would want him to find something that might help in the long run. “
We’re Keepers, Rob, never forget that, no matter what happens. We’re Keepers and we use what we have, anything can help.” 
He smiled as he remembered the oft repeated lesson.
Galen’ll be happy that I remembered. That I stayed calm. He’ll laugh when I tell him about it. 

He sighed and tried to stand. Since he had been away from the brazier, his legs seemed to work a little better. Rob could not only stand on his own, he could walk without the rubbery feeling in his legs. He flushed the toilet and turned on the sink before knocking on the door to be let out.

Rob was pushed back into the room, the lock clicked into place. Once back in there the incense started affecting him again. He sank down to the floor and leaned against the wall, as far as he could get from the smoking brazier. He knew he couldn’t get far enough away, but he still tried. Having the pin bolstered him, he didn’t know what he could use if for, but having it gave him hope.

He heard the door and looked up. Ashley came back in with the two guys from earlier in the day. She was carrying a cup. Rob looked at the two men. There was a sudden lump in his throat and he closed his eyes for a moment, relief flooding through his body. The one with the busted nose looked pretty much the same, but the other—his face was red, covered in a rash, one eye swollen completely closed.

“What’re you smiling at, shithead?” he said to Rob.

“Respect the Chosen,” Ashley chided.

“The little shit’s smiling at me. What?”

“You don’t look so good,” Rob said, still smiling. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you about stinging nettles?”

“What’s that mean to you?”

Rob laughed. “It means a lot, more than you know,” he said. He could feel tears on his cheeks. “My brother’s alive.” He reached out, trying to sense his brother.
“Galen? I’m here.”

The guy made to rush at Rob, but Ashley stopped him. “No, you can’t. They will be here in a minute to prepare for the next ritual. Drink this.” She held the cup out.

“What is it?”

“It’s part of the ritual, like the food. This is the sacred drink, it has been prepared for you, it is ritual, you must consume it,” she said in kind of a sing-song voice.

“Uh, let me think about that.” Rob couldn’t help smiling. He’d been right all along, Galen was alive. That thought gave him strength.
“Nope, not thirsty.”

“You do it, or we will.”

 
“Not drinking it, sorry.”

“You need to drink this,” she said in the hard scary voice.

“No,” Rob said, even though he knew they were going to force him to drink it. He felt braver.
“Galen? I’ll be ready when you get here. We’re Keepers and I’ll be ready.” 
The guy with the broken nose came over and grabbed him, hard. He forced Rob’s head back and pinched his nose, Ashley poured the contents of the cup in this mouth and they held it closed until he swallowed. The liquid was bitter and made him gag. He was nauseous again. They pushed him back down.

“They will be here in a few minutes to begin the ritual of the Sun,” Ashley said to Rob as they left.

Rob lay on the floor. His arms felt bruised from where they held him. His head was starting to swim. He wondered what the next ritual was.
Sun ritual, that might not be too bad, maybe they won’t bury me this time. Galen’s alive.
Rob laughed to himself, thinking of the nettle rash on the one guy’s face.
They underestimated us. Galen will come, he’ll bring Dad and Uncle Bobby.
As reassuring as that thought was, when he heard the door he was afraid.

The bearded man and the man who’d called himself Other came in the room. The bearded man was carrying a black tray. He put it down by the brazier, took something off the tray and tossed it into the burning embers. Other came over and sat down by Rob. His body had been wrapped in what looked like bandages. There were dark stains on the cloth.

“We will begin the next ritual. We are nearly finished. After this one, there is only the ritual of the Moon. Aren’t you pleased?” Other said with a sick smile.

“I don’t know.” Rob could hardly focus. “Does that mean I won’t have to see you anymore?”

He wasn’t expecting Other to smile, it wasn’t a nice smile. “That’s exactly what it means. We will be taken to Her.”

“Her?” Rob was slipping away from reality. He felt strange.

“The One we perform the ritual for. She will be here tonight. You will see Her.”

“Lucky me.” Further away.

“Enough!” the bearded man said. “We must begin.” He walked towards Rob, a golden cup in his hand again. Rob knew what was coming and braced himself. They grabbed his right arm this time and cut it deeply, the blood flowing into the cup. Then they bound the arm the same way they had the night before: carefully counting the wraps and tying it in an intricate knot. They walked back over to the brazier and put the cup on the tray, chanting the strange language again.

The bearded man picked something up off the tray. Rob couldn’t tell what it was. The man called out in the strange language, and the door to the room opened. The two men came in, they were dressed in red shirts. Other stood with them by the brazier. They were chanting again, waving something back and forth. Rob watched them, it felt like he was watching a movie, like he wasn’t there at all. Other picked something up off the tray and they chanted again. It looked like a roll of bandages, only it was purple and red like the one on Rob’s arm.
What are those for? They look like the one on my arm. Are they for me?

The two men came over and grabbed Rob. The bearded man turned around and they began to chant again. He had something in his hand, it was glittering in the light from the brazier. The light from the embers made it look like it was covered with bright sparkles of blood. Rob could see the bearded man’s eyes glittering the same way. For an instant the Sight cleared and Rob saw black spots surrounding the man. Even though he tried, Rob couldn’t focus enough to see what the spots were, he couldn’t tell what was happening, he couldn’t tell what the glittering object was.