~ Number Four's POV ~
Em's insisted we go see her parents one more time before returning to California. I can't understand why; her dad yelled at her—and me, but that's beside the point—just yesterday. Why risk that again?
I would ask but, for one, she's been so quiet since we got here, it's making me nervous. For another, well, dinner with her parents is going okay this time, even if her dad isn't here. I hate to imagine that he isn't eating with us because of me...
"So, I have something to tell you," Em starts, and I'm grateful for the break in silence.
"What is it, Emi?" her mom wonders.
"I didn't tell you this last night, but I've been hearing these voices."
I put my fork and knife down, a little too loudly, I think; I can't help it. I thought we agreed not to tell them about that. If they think she's going crazy, they might blame me and make it worse on us. "Em..." I say, softly as if in warning.
"No, it's ok, John," she says. "You should know too. I think I figured out why I'm hearing it and what it wants from me."
"What it wants from you? Emi, what are you talking about?"
"Yeah, what are you talking about? We shouldn't talk about it untill Malcolm finds something," I press, hating this idea of hers with a reborn passion in my stomach.
"Like what, John? We don't know if he'll find anything at all," she claims, and she's right; I know she is. I sit frozen in my chair across from her brother that won't stop staring at me, keeping my gaze locked on my fiancée. "This voice... I've heard it before. Never quite like now—so singsongy and melancholic—but I've heard it before. It's Pittacus."
"Pittacus? But how—"
"You mean that author from that book series?" her brother wonders.
"Yeah. More or less."
"What do you mean more or less?" I wish she'd get to the point already.
"His voice is in there, but it's mixed with part of the Entity's too," she goes on, turning to her mom then. "It's tied to me with my Legacy, and I think it's trying to tell me something, just like how Pittacus tried to tell me."
"Wait, what? When did Pittacus tell you anything?" It's like I'm missing half the equation here, or was I just not paying enough attention? No. No, that can't be the reason.
"In a dream," she clarifies. "Sorry. I thought I told you. He said I had to prove myself after what I did. It's why I had to do what I did in Switzerland. But this is beside the point. He's been showing up in my dreams more and more recently—not him, just this voice—the Many-Voice as I call it—and I think I figured it out."
"Figure what out?" her brother asks.
"Yeah, I'd like to know that too," I add.
"Come on, Emi," her mom urges gently. "Tell us."
Em takes a deep breath, which in and of itself, tells me just how valuable and important this is to her, and ergo, makes me even more nervous. "I think I can save Lorien."
***
"Bullshit! No way!" Nine cries, smiling ludicrously at the head of the conference table.
"Emily, are you sure about this?" Malcolm asks, all the way worried.
"Of course I'm sure."
"What makes you say that?" asks Lexa, for once looking up from her screen.
YOU ARE READING
A Hero in the Dark: 2nd Edition
FanficTHE EVENTS IN THIS STORY ARE REAL. NAMES AND PLACES HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO PROTECT THE LORIEN. WHO REMAIN IN HIDING UNTIL THE TIME IS RIGHT. - SHE HAS DEVELOPED POWERS. SHE CAN FIGHT BACK. SHE CAN HELP YOU SAVE THE WORLD, BUT SHE MUST CHOOSE A SI...
