Untitled Project

17. Feeling as fact

Ivy tore through the crowded subway station, pushing past throngs of late afternoon commuters. She scattered a group of tourists clutching their expensive cameras and cheap souvenirs, shouting an apology behind her as she breathlessly broke into the front of the pack. The next train was due to arrive any second; she was already running out of time. The train's imminent arrival was announced by a crackling voice over the intercom, and it roared into the station. Ivy was one of the first aboard, but she stood, fearing the time she would waste by sitting down.

The six stops she had to wait felt like an eternity. Finally, when her stop was announced, Ivy hurried off the train and out of the underground station, into the brightness of the day. There was no time to appreciate the sunlight, not a second to marvel at the mild November weather. Following the map in her mind, from the vision clearer than any she'd had before, Ivy took off running, to the building at the end of the street, the building which only existed if one knew where to look.

It stood precisely where Ivy expected it to, towering four-stories high, casting a reluctant shadow over the otherwise modest street. To uninformed passersby, Ivy knew, the building was just a vacant lot, uninviting and fenced off. She took only a second to appreciate the feat, before the bigger problem arose: how was she to get in?

The building – house, if you could call it that – was painted a deep, dark brown, with a steep roof. All the curtains were drawn. Vines reached up one side of the building, stretching to overtake what they could never overtake. A dirt path led up to the front door, and an impressively tall hedge encircled the lawn. Ivy took a step forward, and felt suddenly vulnerable. She had the distinct feeling someone sensed her presence. It didn't feel like she'd been seen, but it felt close to that, and it was enough to warrant caution.

Remembering her training, Ivy took this feeling as fact. There was no reason to doubt her intuition, not now, not when Cian's life and the lives of so many others hung in the balance. The pressure was building. Ivy dashed out of sight of the building, and crept along the hedges. For all her training in the mystic art of seeing the unseen, Ivy realized she had yet to learn the tactics necessary for infiltrating an enemy's house. She was a seer, not a spy, but now she was both.

The hedge circled around to the back of the house. Feeling hopeless, Ivy had no choice but to follow her chosen route. Some way along the back, there was a small hole in the hedge, where it appeared an animal of some kind routinely burrowed in and out. The hole was by no means human-sized, but Ivy managed to stick her head through to get a better view.

The back of the house was as austere as the front. The lawn seemed to go on forever, and Ivy saw no means of hiding herself to get to the house. Her eyes searched for a possible way in; several windows lined the base of the building, leading undoubtedly to the basement. It seemed reasonable to hope one might open for her, if somehow she made it to the house without being spotted. It was bright out, but Ivy dreaded waiting for nightfall. The cover of darkness would help her, but waiting that long could mean the worst for Cian.

It had to be now.

Ivy felt into the world unseen, letting her mind reach out, and waited to see if she felt any other presence. If anyone in the house still sensed her, she hoped she would be able to pick up on it, and plan accordingly.

To her surprise, the presence she detected was Cian's. It was his voice, the whisper of his thoughts. She hadn't meant to hear anyone's thoughts, and didn't even know she could read thoughts.

Please. No. I can't let anyone else down. Just let me die. I can't stand this anymore.

Cian's thoughts stood alone, beaming out from the house like the glimmer of a lighthouse. Ivy did not hesitate. She took off sprinting across the lawn, and crouched down at the closest basement window. She wiggled it, experimenting, and it felt stubborn. Ivy's hands trembled; did she have time to try others? Then something came into view. Ivy turned her attention to the gray shape on the ground next to her and smiled. An apple-sized rock was waiting for her. Still without hesitation, Ivy smashed the rock through the window. She was not buying herself any time by making this much noise, but it didn't matter.