"Can you tell me what happened?" I ask.
"What do you remember?" Taregan replies.
"Finding the body, seeing the body. After that, nothing. Airmid said that I tried to heal it?"
Taregan nods. "I think something set you off. You said that something was missing and you needed to help him. After that you overloaded yourself with power and tried to heal the dead body. You were radiating so much raw energy that we couldn't get close you. Except for Mictain here," Taregan gestures to Mictain. "If it wasn't for him, Airmid said you would've completely burnt yourself out. You're lucky he was there, Zivena."
"How'd you stop me?" I turn to Mictain.
He glances away from me, scratching the back of his neck. "I might've knocked you out."
"Whoa. You can do that?" Mictain nods. "Was it that bad?" I ask the both of them.
Mictain is quiet when he speaks, "It was like you couldn't hear any of us. You were so intent on fixing whatever it was."
I rub my face, trying to get rid of the details I remember. "I'm really sorry," I say through my hands. "Why the hell would I do that?" It's more than that though.
"Zivena, you'll figure this out."
"People need to know that they can rely on me. Who the hell is going to want help from someone incapable of controlling their own mind and power?" A tightness begins to swell in my chest. My breath shortens and I jump out of the bed, the blankets getting too heavy. "What if I never remember today or whatever it is that happened when I was younger?" My voice becomes small. Something is pressing down on my chest.
A cool hand takes hold of mine. "You need to stop thinking like that," Mictain says. "It won't get you anywhere." I take a shuddering breath as I squeeze his hand. Mictain takes my shoulders and forces me to look at him. His pale eyes are solid. "In a second you're going to close your eyes and concentrate on what you can hear, feel and smell. Once you've done that you can open your eyes again. Then I want you to take in what you can see. Okay?"
I nod. Mictain steps away but doesn't go far.
I close my eyes and lean my forehead against the glass. I take in a few deep breaths before following Mictain's instructions.
The window against my skin becomes my focus point. I use the cold and imagine it running through my sweating body. The floor beneath my bare feet is smooth and cool as well. The soft fabric of my pajamas no longer sticks to my body.
The beeping from the monitor continues on. Mictain's breathing is slow and steady. My heart slows to match the pace. Rain is pattering against the window.
I don't move as I open my eyes. The trees beyond the fence are trying to chase the wind and students are racing across the courtyard after dinner. Lightning crashes down and I finally feel most of the weight ease off my chest.
"Better?" Mictain asks.
"Much."
Mictain moves to sit back on the bed and I lean against the window sill.
"I'm sorry, Taregan."
"Don't be. You're lucky Mictain was here to save the day. Again," Taregan smiles kindly before turning to Mictain. "Where did you learn that technique?"
"My aunt taught me when I was younger. I suffered from anxiety as a kid." I hear the implication in his voice. He's still plagued by it.
I sit back on the bed and shuffle my pillows.
"Forseti will be coming in to talk to you soon. I know the pressure on you at the moment is intense but try and keep your mouth shut. Leave the talking to Mictain."
"What's that suppose to mean?" I glare at him.
Taregan sighs heavily. "I think you know what I mean, Zivena. Not everyone is going to like your attitude."
"I don't have an attitude!"
The both of them stare at me.
I sigh. "Fine. I'll keep my mouth shut. But I don't like him! I get a bad vibe."
"You don't have to like him, you just have to get off on the right foot with him. Forseti isn't the type of man you want to be on the wrong side of. I've seen what he can do."
"Okay, fine. I'll behave."
The three of us sit in silence. I wonder what Forseti wants.
Moments later, the devil himself strides into the room. He's wearing a deep red suit and this time his gold watch is accompanied by a couple of dazzling rings that sparkle in the light. I try to not to gag.
"Good afternoon," Forseti says.
"Afternoon," Mictain politely replies. Taregan and I nod in greeting.
Forseti scans the room, slight disgust tingeing the air around him. "How are you feeling, Zivena?"
"Fine. Thank you."
Forseti continues to stare at me, his gaze turning predator-like.
"What do you need to talk to us about?" Mictain asks.
"The corpse, from the forest."
That corpse had once been a human you horrible, manipulative dick.
Mictain glances at me as if he can read my mind.
"However this is a discussion for the three of us. Only." Forseti stares at Taregan, condescension slipping through his words.
Taregan rolls his eyes and starts to get up, but I wave for him to stay. He hides his surprise well. "I trust Taregan." I try to keep my tone pleasant and my face blank.
Forseti looks at me. Annoyance flickers through him but he shrugs it off before turning to close the door.
"I've been informed that you suspected there was something wrong with the body. Is that correct?"
"Apparently," I reply. Best to keep my answers short.
"Care to elaborate?"
"I don't remember most of what happened. Taregan and Mictain have helped fill in the gaps."
Forseti nods as if he already knew. "Hod has informed me that there's been no further progress with finding the memory." He states.
"That's correct."
"Is it possible the same thing occurred?"
"Yes. It's something we'd been discussing earlier," I reply.
More annoyance wafted from Forseti but he hides it well from the others.
"Hod also told me that Artemis experienced the same," Forseti pauses, waving his hands as if he can pull the right word out of the air, "incapabilities, that you're struggling with now. Artemis has been called in to search the forest so I've asked her if she could stay on. To help you."
I take a deep breath and force back a retort. Instead, I plaster a massive smile on my face. "That's very kind of you, Forseti. Thank you."
"Is there anything else we need to discuss?" Mictain asks.
"Yes. There is." Forseti pulls out a folder that had been tucked under his arm, opening it up. "Airmid has preformed an autopsy on the hiker and she's discovered some interesting connections. I'm not sure if you are aware of the killings that have been taking place in New York recently?" He glances at us. Mictain nods but I feel myself hesitating. "It appears that the hiker's body has been left in the same condition as the previous victims."
My body slackens.
"What? How?" Mictain asks.
The world shifts around me, like I'm sliding through quicksand.
"There's no evidence, no witnesses, no leads."
"And this hadn't made it any easier," Mictain mumbles.
Forseti nods.
The hiker's mangled body appears on the floor beside me but it morphs into someone else. Owen's kind eyes are dead. His body is ruined and still seems to scream even after death.
"This is what the Council wants us to do," I say, numb. "You want us to find the killer."
Forseti is tightlipped. "Yes."
All I can do is stare.
Mictain gapes, "You honestly think that two novices will be able to do that?"
"You two aren't ordinary, Mictain. You were created to overcome impossible situations. This is one of them." Forseti gives us a tight smile. "I'll leave you with the files. Good luck."
Before Mictain can get another word out, Forseti leaves the room.
"Well, that's nice of him," Mictain mutters, bitter.
"I agree with you there," Taregan says.
"Is he serious though?" Mictain replies.
Taregan shrugs. "Forseti isn't the type to joke. However, you won't be dealing with it alone. The whole Council will be there. And you'll also have Isis and Anubis."
"Is it possible?" Mictain asks, trepidation coursing thick through him. "Will we be able to solve this?"
"Yes. I really believe it. You two are capable of wondrous things. It's going to be difficult now though."
"What do you mean?" I ask but the words come out choked. Neither of them notice.
"The New York killings had a pattern to them. But it's different now. The killer has murdered someone over 3000 miles away from Central Park. Why here? Why now? But we could use this to our advantage.
"New York City's population is so big, it's virtually impossible to find suspects when there's no evidence or witnesses. But out here, in the mountains of Western Virginia? Strangers are more noticeable." Taregan looks between Mictain and me.
Mictain nods, but I still don't understand.
Mictain starts. "What he means is that the killer has become unpredictable. Before there was a way to systematically check the missing person reports to hopefully find evidence. Now that the location and time frame has changed, there's no easy way to narrow down the search. But we might be able to use the environment around us to help."
I sit there, trying to make my tired and frayed mind work around Mictain's words. In a way it makes sense. But what I can't understand is why? Why cause such pain and grief? What could someone possibly gain by doing such horrible things. And... why Owen?
I slowly nod. "I get it. But what can we do from here? Where do we go?"
Taregan stands and stretches his back out. "Artemis will be arriving tomorrow to help search the forest for anything that will help. If you get another good night's sleep then you and Mictain will join the search and hopefully learn something." He smiles cheekily but frowns when he tries to stand straight and turns his frown to his chair. "These things are gods damn awful. I don't know how you sat in that chair for nearly 24 hours." Taregan claps Mictain on the shoulder. "It's well past time to leave. My bed is seeming more and more like heaven at the moment. Goodnight."
"Goodnight." Mictain and I say in unison.
We sit in silence as Taregan leaves the rooms and we hear him murmur goodnight to Airmid.
"You should get some more sleep, Zivena," Mictain yawns and slides off the end of my bed.
"Mmm."
"If you're worried, you should talk to Isis."
I nod sleepily, closing my eyes and squirming deeper under the covers. "Mictain?"
"Yeah?" I hear the hesitance in his voice.
"Thank you. For everything tonight." I feel him draw closer but I can't seem to open my eyes.
"You handled yourself well with Forseti. You didn't make one snide remark."
"I know. I'm so proud of me." My face is so tired that it doesn't want to smile.
Mictain laughs and it warms me to hear it.
"Goodnight, Mictain."
A cool finger brushes my forehead. "Goodnight, Zivena."
✲✲✲✲✲
"Zivena, what's the matter?" I hear Isis ask. "Are you having trouble accessing that memory?"
"Well, yeah. But that's not the problem."
"Then what's troubling you?" she asks.
I shake my head and sit on one of the rocks. "What was your hardest case?"
Isis studies me before coming and sitting by me. "Anubis and I were sent out to take down a hybrid. Somehow, someone had created a fae cross demon. No Guardian or Council member could defeat it." I flinch but Isis doesn't notice. "The hybrid was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen but its... habits were," she searches for the right word, "unnatural.
"We'd both been on the Council for around a hundred years."
"A hundred years?" I gape.
"The Council didn't want to study it, it was far from natural and had to be destroyed."
At least she knew what she was hunting for.
"How did you know where to start? Did you have help?"
Isis laughs without humor, giving me a look full of concern. "Half a year of training teaches you many things but when it comes down to the reality of it, it's a hundred times more difficult. In the end, everything turned out for the best. We pieced together the evidence, collated the data, got it."
Dread fills me. A hundred times more difficult? They had a hundred years more training than us and they had witnesses and evidence? How can we possibly figure out what's killing the humans? I don't want more people dying just because I can't stop it. Air can't come quick enough.
"Something's bothering you. What?" Isis places a hand on my shoulder. Immediately soothing thoughts wash over me and I'm able to breathe.
"Before my birthday a few bodies had been showing up in Central Park. There were no witnesses, no evidence but the Council knows it's the same person." I try my hardest to shove down thoughts of Owen being one of those bodies. "Over the three months that I've been training, there haven't been any more humans killed - Mom keeps me updated," I explain, "but yesterday afternoon, we found a hiker. Killed in the exact same way. Now Forseti expects Mictain and me to stop it.
"And when I was there — god, Isis — I tried to heal the hiker's body. I almost drained myself dry but I don't remember doing it. I don't remember anything!" If it wasn't for Isis's hand, I'd start having another panic attack. "Taregan and Mictain both said I was muttering that something was wrong. Something was missing."
Isis sits before me. She gazes into the forest around us and at the animals nearby, her green hair being pulled by the wind. "As if something was missing?" Isis murmurs to herself. "The only thing I can think of is that had you had an affinity for spirit then you could have returned the soul to the dead's body. But you don't have access to your power yet." I shudder at the thought. "It's a good thing that you're struggling with that memory then." Isis shakes her head. "Let me think about it, Zivena. I'll talk to you again soon and I will hopefully have an answer."
But that doesn't help me now!
"Thanks," I say instead but she gives me a knowing look.
"You won't always get answers straight away, Zivena. As annoying as it is you need to have patience with these things."
"Even if more people die?"
"Especially then. You need to be able to keep your head in a crisis," Isis says, stern. "Try not to think on it now. You need your sleep more then ever."
I nod and watch as the forest around me disappears.
YOU ARE READING
Life - Life & Death Book 1
Fantasy- WATTYS LONGLISTED 2018 - "As a child I was never scared of the dark or of the monsters that lurked under my bed. From a young age I have known exactly what wanders the streets at night; what preys on the ignorant. I know of the evil that plagues t...
