Aegis: Catalyst Grove (22 page)

He took a deep breath and in a quick and fluid motion, dove back down in pursuit of his friends.
 
It was too dark to see anything under the water, so Damien swung his arms around, feeling for anything.
 
He was getting desperate.
 
It had been too long.
 
They had to be running out of air.
 
He continued swimming down with breast strokes then pausing to feel around, then a few more breast strokes.
 
No luck.
 
If only he could see!
 
Still moving his hands around, Damien’s wrists began to glow in the pattern of the golden bands.
 
With a slight tingling sensation, two balls of light sprang from his palms, propelling down towards the bottom of the pool.
 
It was then that he could see three bodies struggling frantically to find which was up.

Damien stopped swimming.
 
They were still so far away.
 
They were moving upwards, but not fast enough.
 
He was beginning to run out of air himself.
 
Without thinking, he twisted his body so that he was upright, with his feet a little wider than shoulder-width apart to keep him steady.
 
He extended both arms out in front of him, elbows slightly bent.
 
His fingers were spread and extended.
 
He had no idea what he was doing, but in a very instinctual way, he did.
 
Something deep inside, almost like the silent voice of his conscious was telling him that this was going to save his friends.
 

His hands began to shake. Streams of bubbles escaped from the sides of his mouth as he strained and grunted.
 
His wrists began to glow again, this time with more intensity.
 
The entire pool started shaking and bubbling like the whole underground lake was boiling.
 
Creating a type of vacuum, Graham, Kel and Ailey started being forced upward by a current.
 
Holding his position, Damien strained harder, letting a large cluster of bubbles pour from his mouth as he yelled.
 
His wrists were glowing like iron rods in a furnace.
 
The force of the current grew stronger, propelling all four of them up to the surface with such intensity, that they shot out of the water a couple of feet into the air like playful dolphins.
 
They all fell back into the water, emerging a few seconds later flailing about and heaving air into their lungs amidst gagging coughs.

Once they realized they were not going to drown, they were able to calm down and begin to look around them.
 
They had lights.
 
Not natural light.
 
Electric lights.
 
There were large flood lights mounted around the perimeter of the cave spaced out every thirty feet or so.
 
Over to Graham’s right, he could see a wide open area beyond the edge of the pool.
 
A flicker of light revealed a small room carved into the rock on the other side of the stone floor.
 

“This is part of it,” Graham said as they all waded over to the edge of the water.
 
They all put their hands on the rocky ledge and pulled themselves up onto it.
 
Exiting the water, they stood to their feet, taking in the construction of the cave.
 

Everything was.
 
Their compound stretched out well beyond that warehouse.
 
The entire section of forest between that warehouse and Portfield Manor must be part of Catalyst Grove.
 
Aegis had gone to great lengths to carry out their experiments.

“It doesn’t matter what we do or where we go.
 
They have rooms everywhere.
 
It is like we are in one big rat maze,” Graham continued.
 

“Whatever they did with Casey, they are apparently still doing.
 
How in the world were they able to build all this without anyone knowing about it?” said Damien.

“I guess money can buy anything.
 
Even silence,” said Graham.
 
Mr. Alexander was the richest man in town.
 
He could do whatever he wanted.”
 

Graham’s mind flashed back to the photograph from the warehouse.
 
He could still picture Mr. Alexander posed with his hands on the lapel of his overcoat.
 
His large top hat.
 
The radiant smile shining from behind his large beard.
 
Something kept bugging him about that picture; about his face.
 
It was more than the fact he recognized him from the portrait at Greenwood.
 
There was something else about him.
 
He could not put his finger on it, but it was as if he had seen him somewhere else.
 
It had been grating on his mind ever since he saw that picture.

Ailey shuffled over to Kel and wrapped around her arms around her waist, trying to keep the trembling at bay.
 
Kel wrapped her arms around Ailey and began rubbing her hands up and down her back with pressure so that the friction would begin to produce some heat.
 
It was not as cold down in this cavern as it was above ground, but it was still pretty cold, especially when soaking wet.
 

Graham was shivering, too.
 
He walked towards the room carved into the wall of the cave as the light flickered on and off.
 
Maybe there would be something of use in there.
 
It looked like an office from the warehouse, with the same type of door and large window.
 
Before he reached the entrance to the room, Graham looked to his left to see a small metal table against the rock with three oval mirrors hanging above it.
 
They were the very same mirrors that he remembered seeing in Portfield Manor.
 
They even had the same four divots carved into the wood along the right side of the glass.
 
Graham reached out his hand and placed his four fingers into the small oval divots in the wood.
 

 
“Well isn’t that cute.
 
They even coordinate their decor in every room,” he mocked.

Walking back to the door, he checked the knob.
 
It was unlocked.
 
He looked above the door, looking for any sign of a siren.
 
No red lights.
 
No speakers.
 
He twisted the knob and opened the door.
 
Silence.
 
He then proceeded inside to take a look around.

Damien stood there completely focused on his wrists.
 
He had no idea how it happened.
 
Curling his fingers in again he tried to reproduce the light and the current that he had just performed underwater, but nothing happened.
 
He grunted and strained to the point that small veins started to bulge from his temples and neck.
 
He held his breath for a few seconds, then let it out in one big disappointed breath.
 

Kel caught a glance of Damien as he was trying to re-enact the underwater light show.
 

“What are you doing over there?”

Putting his hands back down at his side, he let out another heavy sigh.
 
“Nothing.”

Kel’s eyes narrowed as she tried to understand what he was doing.
 
She remembered the water lighting up as she struggled to get to the surface.
 
Then the current pushing her to the top of the water.
 
Her eyes widened.

“That was you?!”
 

Damien looked over at Kel again.
 
“Yea. It was.”

“You didn’t tell us you could do things too!”
 
Kel’s excitement was evident.
 
All four of them now had shown a supernatural ability.

“There was nothing to tell.
 
This is the first time it has happened,” said Damien.

“What was it?
 
What did you do, other than the light?” asked Kel.

“I…well, I remember thinking that I could help if I could see, and that is when the light shot from my hands.
 
Then, something inside just told me to hold out my hands and try.
 
Just try.
 
I can’t really explain it.
 
I just strained like I was pushing a heavy object out of the way, and that is when that current forced us all to the surface.”
 

Kel let go of Ailey and walked over to Damien.
 
She could see the confusion brewing beyond his excited exterior.
 
It was in his eyes.
 
She could relate.
 
They all could.
 
She gave him a firm hug then backed away enough to put her hands on the sides of his shoulders.
 
“You saved our lives.
 
Thank you.”
 
She then gave him another tight squeeze.

Damien didn’t know what to say.
 
He really did not feel like he did anything.
 
It was not really his decision or intent to do what he did.
 
He just reacted.
 
It felt good, though, to have some appreciation.
 
It is a rare feeling for an orphan.
 
His normal smirk returned to his face.
 
“
Gracias amiga
.”

“Hey guys!
 
There are some clothes and towels in here!” yelled Graham from the other room.

They all ran over through the doorway of the office like room to see Graham searching through a free standing metal closet.
 
He had already retrieved five or six pair of crimson red sweatpants and thin, hooded sweatshirts.
 
Each sweatshirt had the same yellow sun emblem printed on the back.

“I am not putting that on,” said Kel.
 

“Would you rather tromp through the forest in that?”
 
Graham pointed to her clothes.
 
Large drops of water continued to fall from them, forming a small puddle of water around her feet.

Ailey didn’t care what it was.
 
She was wet and freezing.
 
It was dry, and she wanted them.
 
Her lips were purple and her teeth would not stop chattering.
 
She sifted through the pile of clothes on the floor that Graham had pulled out, finding a set that fit her.

Damien also pick up a pair and found his exact size.
 
“Um, guys.
 
These all fit us.
 
Perfectly.”

“I know.
 
I noticed that, too,” said Graham.
 
“I think this is where Chase was trying to make us run to.
 
If they intended us to ride this waterfall down here, then they knew we would be freezing.
 
I guess they knew if they need us to make them stronger, then they need us alive.”

Kel held up the sweatshirt at eye level.
 
“Say we make it out of here and back up into the woods.
 
These things are bright red.
 
We will stick out like literal sore thumbs.”

Damien looked at the clothes in silence.
 
His mind was churning.
 
It was evident that he was sorting out the details and events of the last couple of hours.
 
His unfocused eyes darted back and forth as his mind continued to race, until a smile curled the sides of his mouth.
 
“Oh, that is good.”

“We don’t really have a choice,” said Graham in response to Kel.
 
“It is either wear these or freeze to death.
 
We will just have to get a little creative to stay hidden…wait, what?”
 
Damien’s remark threw Graham off guard.
 
“What do you mean this is good?
 
I am pretty sure this is the exact opposite of good.”

Damien looked directly into Graham’s eyes.
 
He held up the red clothing.
 
“I was just thinking that it is a little ironic to me that the clothing meant to trap us is actually going to set us free.”

“I don’t follow,” said Graham.

“You said it yourself.
 
We are in a maze, and we are doing exactly what they want us to do.
 
This whole place is their playground.
 
Do you really think we can hide from them?

“Well, when you put it that way…”
 

“You know I am right.
 
They chose you two because you already showed signs of unnatural abilities.
 
They probably are always on the look out for people like you.
 
I guess you give them the most bang for their buck, but Ailey and I never had anything like that happen to us before, but for some reason, we can now.”
 
Damien pulled back his wet sleeves enough to expose his wrists and forearms.
 
“It makes sense then, that those bands were their initial experiment.”

They all pulled back their sleeves to look at their wrists.
 
There was nothing visible, but they knew it was there, lying just beneath the skin.

“It reminds me of something my dad used to do.
 
Before my parents died, my dad used to collect sap from Maple trees to make syrup.
 
It was a much different trade then what he did back in Peru, but he was always good at adapting to the new skills that were needed in the area.
 
When we moved here, in the North East of the US, he got a job where he would get maple syrup.
 
He would go out mid-morning during the latter part of winter as the temperature would rise and drill holes in the trees.
 
He had a bunch of these small metal Spiles that looked like little tubes with a spout at the end.
 
We called them the ‘sap taps.’
 
He would take those sap taps and hammer them into the trees where the holes were drilled.
 
Once they were in place, the sap would begin to run out of the center of the tube, and he would collect it in a large bucket.”