Blue at Midnight (13 page)

Chapter 29

The text from
Izzie made Christian want to forget going to the coffee house and see her
instead. Although he knew she wouldn’t have been alone, it would have been a
good chance to clear things up with Sonia, who was practically Izzie’s shadow,
like Cale used to be with him. As he made his way through a pungent alleyway
which opened up directly opposite Coffee Time, memories of the time spent with
his brother kept entering his mind. Christian couldn’t risk letting his
emotions get the better of him. He had to have his wits about him. Murdering
someone regardless of whether they were a human or a Child of Orsa for personal
gain was ruthless. He didn’t understand how the elders granted Cale access to
the lands, when they knew he would have been desperate to prove himself, so
desperate that he would do anything. It was worse knowing that Cale had used a
poison from the ocean, leaving the humans to suspect foul play.
 

If a Child of Orsa had
a strong enough purpose they could gain access to the lands without the elders’
approval, as the waters would allow their exit. The fact that the waters let
him through showed that there was some right in what he was going to do. Deep
down he knew he would have to confront Cale about his actions and make him pay
with his life.

With the ting of the
Coffee Time doorbell Christian entered, wondering why his journey had been so
easy. There was change in this place. Christian could feel it like a magnetic
force. It was coming from the front of the coffee house, by the large window
looking out onto the street. A vase of bluebells caught his eyes.

“Can I help you young
man?” Awaiting his customer’s order, Hugo stood there staring at the vision of
a distressed young man with dark ruffled hair, pale skin and eyes that were as
distant as the sun. Even though he was looking back at him, his clenched fists
and strong stance gave Hugo the impression he wasn’t here to buy coffee.

“Well, I was wondering
if you could tell me where you bought that vase from.” Originally, Christian
had planned to ask for a coffee but he needed an opportunity to touch the vase
without looking strange enough to be thrown out.

“Now why would a young
man like you want a vase like that?”

“My mother, she
collects vases and this one caught my eye,” he answered a dishonestly.

“How lovely.
What’s her name?”

“Orsa.”
He was glad that Izzie wasn’t working at this moment.

“What a unique name.
Well this was a small gift from a charming young man that used to work
here.”
 
Hugo’s eyes were filled with
sorrow as he stepped down from the counter and walked towards the fragile
object.

“What was his name?”
asked Christian, even though he now knew.

“You’ve probably read
about him recently in the papers – Craig. The boy died a tragic death. I was
only speaking to him about doing more hours a few days ago and now he’s not
with us anymore.” Pain was the same, no matter how it was caused or who was
feeling it; human or Child of Orsa. Christian could see it all over this
heavy-set man’s face and he couldn’t help but feel guilty. It was even worse knowing
that this was just the beginning.

“I’m sorry for your
loss.”

“ME TOO!” shouted a
disturbingly familiar voice from behind the counter. Leaning forward with a
vicious glare, shooting nails into Christian’s eyes was Cale, showing a wide
grin, which used to mean mischief to Christian but now it was darker and
somewhat out of touch. Both of them stood there transfixed with sheer hatred
which Hugo was starting to sense. Strangely, the vase collapsed off the table
and lay smashed on the floor in a pool of water. A disorientated Hugo went to
clear it up when Christian told him to stop.

“I beg your pardon,”
said Hugo, clearly offended at Christian’s tone of authority. The situation was
very tense. Cale looked ready to kill and if Hugo didn’t leave right now he would
be next. It was obvious by the look on Cale’s face that he didn’t care. He was
here to cause chaos and make it very difficult for his brother.

“You’ll cut yourself.
Do you have something to clear it up with?” Christian asked, convincing Hugo to
walk into the back storeroom, before swiftly slamming the door behind him and
bending the metal handle so he couldn’t get out. A furious Hugo pounded the
wooden door but had no luck as his attempts were just background noise for the
two Rourkes.

Both of them were
standing opposite each other surrounded by sharp kitchen utensils and steam
flowing from the recently opened dishwasher. As soon as Christian stepped
closer Cale pressed his right hand into the wooden counter then lifted his
weight over it to land lightly on his feet in front of him.

“Sorry to ruin all the
fun. It’s quite a shame Christian. I could see you were really starting to get
comfortable around here.”

“You couldn’t just
confront me to my face. You had to go around like a snake.”

“Now where would the
fun be in all that? Think about it. If I did just that I’d miss out on
experiencing the lands for myself.”

“Why would you suddenly
be interested in coming here?”

“We all are! Except we
wait for the perfect time, permission from the elders, but you couldn’t wait
could you? Persevere! Wasn’t that what we were taught? Now look at you...”

“Look at me? Look at
you! You get joy from murdering people!”

“You mean humans?
Already you are starting to embarrass me, living in a filthy, musty, forgotten pit
whilst interacting with these flawed beings!” Based on Sebastian’s teachings,
nothing Cale had stated was
incorrect,
he just chose
harsher words to communicate this. On the other hand, Christian had recently
learnt that none of this described the people he had observed and got to know.

“Have you even stopped
and just looked at who is actually in front of you, around you? Thought about
it simply, without…” It was so difficult to complete this sentence without
showing disrespect for his own kind, his home, his world.

“Without the
numbers?
Teaching of the
elders? Everything Orsa had taught us? Since when did deceit start running
through your veins?” The man that stood in front of Christian’s eyes was not
his brother. He loathed his very existence. His repulsion vibrated off him
making the ground beneath Christian’s feet feel like it was going to rupture at
any moment.
 

“You feel betrayed,
angry that I left, broke the numbers and never looked back. Do you think I
would have just done that for nothing?”

“It was all for nothing
because nothing is more sacred than Orsa.” Christian reminded him that they
were trained as soldiers, trained to be efficient, precise and strong, maybe
even perfect which was why they never reflected on their actions. If they
decided to do something it was their duty to follow it through.

“It’s natural for our
kind to come to the lands, find a human to sacrifice, redeem our soul and claim
our rightful place but what have you been doing?”
 

“I’m not the only one
with something to hide.
 
Why did you put
an impression on that vase?”
 

When the Children of
Orsa were feeling mischievous they would purposely put an impression on objects
to trick other Rourkes. This would stop them from seeing the object in real
time. In other words you would put an impression on an object if you didn’t
want someone to see its present state. Children of Orsa would put an impression
on an object by reversing its timeline to a chosen moment. This ability was
given to them as keepers of lost objects whereas humans simply forgot or
disposed of things as soon as they didn’t need them any longer. The more you
practised this, the easier it became for a Child of Orsa to identify an
impression. It was impossible to build an impression that would trick an elder
but that never stopped the two brothers from trying when they were bored.

 
“Why don’t you see for yourself?”
Aggressively, with the slightest touch, Cale whisked the droplets of water
mixed with shards of wet glass towards Christian’s face. Within seconds the
glass flew at him only to crash onto the counter, leaving not a single mark
whereas the droplets of water went straight into his eyes as they had a story
to tell. He witnessed the moment Cale held Izzie in a paralysed state while he
moved in closer. The water showed her soul spasm hysterically in her attempt to
break free. Once the water had shown its story, the droplets pulled themselves
out of his eyes like tears and dispersed, creating a barely visible mist.

At that moment
Christian knew exactly how far Cale was going to go with this and had lost all
control of what he was about to do next. Both men stood in the coffee house
intent on murder.
  

“Now that we have
passed all the formalities, may I start with the words
déjà
vu
.
I wonder who is going to come in and save this place this time.” Lifting his
leg with a blinding speed Cale slammed it down on a coffee table, smashing it
to smithereens. Larger pieces of the wood were sent to harm Christian but he
moved between them rapidly and leapt towards Cale who grabbed his shoulder in
an attempt to crush him against the wall. Responding with a head-butt, Cale
stumbled backwards giving Christian a couple of seconds to grab a broken piece
of furniture. As soon as he did, Christian felt the tight grip of Cale’s arm around
his neck as his head was jerked back. That’s when something sharp was forced
into his back. With an irritated howl Christian smacked his head into Cale’s
chin, causing him
to
slightly ease off which enabled
him to spin around and cram a narrow piece of wood through Cale’s stomach.
Using the weight of his body, he pushed Cale back not seeing the chair between
them causing him to trip and fall flat onto his back. Excruciating pain erupted
through Christian as he lay there plunging into darkness…

The
Rightful Place

The
next book in the Blue at Midnight
trilogy by S.D Wile

September
2014