Scythe shook his head grimly. “You lost Kiyor?” It was more a statement than a question, a cold statement.
Hawk and Siren were clearly scared. Siren tried to answer. “He-He…was trapped not…”
“Leave,” ordered Scythe, very quietly.
The pair were slightly confused. Then they quickly
walked out of the room. When the door closed, Scythe buried his head
into his hands. He and his wife were sitting side by side on their bed.
Zareen was very distraught, close to crying in fact.
She stared at her husband for a long time. “Scythe…please…”
“What?” he coldly and quietly asked.
Zareen gave her demands quietly. “React, be
angry…something. Our son is missing! You must feel something-you
must.”
Scythe looked up. The emotion in his eyes mimicked
the feelings of his wife. “It won’t help.” He got up
and paced the room. His face remained a statue. “We need a
plan.”
“We need to go to the place and-”
“Zareen, Kiyor will be in a different
place,” told Scythe. He faced her. “We need time.”
Zareen’s voice became one of daggers. “We don’t have time Scythe!”
Her husband’s voice of daggers was stronger. “Think about it Zareen. Hawk and Siren said these are the people after Rowan. What would they do with Kiyor? If we find him tomorrow, he’ll be fine.” He softened. “I promise.”
She was still quiet. “We must pray.”
Scythe smirked. “To who? Angels or Auras?”
Zareen stood up. “Both!”
Kiyor could not see. He was cold. This place was hard. But it was not
big. He stood up. He walked slowly along, feeling around him. He found
he could see a little. Dark blue light went through cracks in the door
and lined the walls. He went towards them and felt along. Where light
got through, there were cracks.
Breathing was suddenly louder. “Who’s
there?” he asked. He realised he was panicking. He stopped
breathing. The breathing also stopped. He let out a shuddering breath.
“I know you’re there.” Silence answered him.
“No you’re not,” he realised. There was no intruder;
he simply heard himself.
With a scream, he crashed into the door. He
pummelled it, punched it, smacked it, groped it, anything to get him
out of there. He screamed for help. He screamed, again and again.
“HELP! SOMEONE GET ME OUTTA HERE!”
He slumped against the door. He felt like crying.
The door opened, knocking him backwards. Two men picked him up and held
him against the wall. It was still dark. It was not much lighter
outside the room. There was a woman in a dress, silhouetted by her
lantern. She had two attendants behind her, kept in darkness.
“Kiyor,” she said. “You seem to be getting emotional.”
“It must be daytime,” he answered quietly.
“Perhaps this will help calm you down,” she slyly suggested as she walked forward.
She pressed a cup against Kiyor’s lips,
forcing him to drink it down. He finished it, but spluttered a little
afterwards. He coughed gently, giving the idea that the taste was quite
vile. An attendant came forward and took the lady’s lantern and
cup. Kiyor’s breathing became jumpy, he seemed to fight back
tears as if he was fighting for survival.
“What are you doing to me?” he weakly demanded.
“Oh Kiyor, I just want to help you be more
open with your heart, more open with your mind. Having a Light Citizen
for a parent helps a great deal.” She raised her hand, holding a
small sapphire. “Now,” her tone became more menacing,
“let’s see what deepest, darkest fears you have been
hiding.”
The sapphire glowed. Kiyor screamed.
It was a beautiful morning, but neither of them noticed it. Zareen sat
on her luxury cream sofa and was wrapped in a warm, white robe, with
concern written all over her face. Scythe sat next to her, dressed in
jeans and a purple jumper. His natural face was an aftermath of severe
shock and his arms were wrapped around his wife.
Zareen quietly told her husband her dream. “It
was terrible. Kiyor was cold. He was in the middle of a shadow and
couldn’t run out of it wherever he went. He was scared, but all
the people who went past didn’t care. They didn’t even see
him. Then a bat somehow got in. Kiyor was suddenly a boy and was
running. He was screaming and crying, wishing that he hadn’t been
so bad. He didn’t want to die. Then the bat bit him. As I awoke,
I heard him scream.”
Scythe lifted his head off Zareen’s shoulder.
He let out a breath. “Can you keep a secret?” He seemed
more quiet and uncertain than usual.
“Of course,” she answered.
“I heard it too.”
Zareen faced her husband. “Then you lied last
night.” Both her voice and eyes were too soft to be accusing him.
Scythe didn’t know how to react. “I’m sorry Zareen, I still don’t-”
“We’re assembling everyone,” she told him. She stood up.
“Now?” he asked, puzzled.
She held his hand. “Yes, we need to get our
son out of there.” She was quite certain of this. “Ideas
will come more quickly in groups.”
Scythe allowed his wife to lead him.
Kiyor failed to ignore the erotically dancing naked woman in front of
him. There was something ghostly, but not quite solid, about this body.
He tried to think about Rowan, but he could think of nothing but their
love-making. Something refused him to think of anything else.
The woman chuckled. She held the sapphire in one
hand and Kiyor’s head in the other. She could see exactly what he
was seeing. The sapphire stopped glowing and she let go of his head.
Kiyor slumped, held up only by the pair holding his arms.
“Sweet dreams Kiyor,” she commanded. The pair dropped him. Kiyor panted but made no movement.