First World (14 page)

I tried to imagine that world. I knew there would still be fights and pain, but
apparently no one would be sneaking around with the neighbour to relieve this week’s boredom. Yeah, right. It wasn’t in my nature to believe in perfection.

Brace was still speaking.
“If we die, either by choice or accident, that energy’s transferred to a new life, and is the only way to have a child on First World. When you find your true mate, if you wish for a child, you must add your name to the free-energy list. You can also gift or steal energy.”

Lallielle
cleared her throat before speaking. “That is how I fell pregnant with Samuel; the man killed his sister. She bled out in front of me.”

M
y expression was a little horrified. I definitely understood her ‘born of drama’ comment.

And,
considering my current mini-obsession with Brace, I wondered ...

“Say I fell madly in love with someone and they didn’t return the feelings. I’ll never let that go? I’ll never love another?”

Lallielle cast a soft glance at Josian. “Don’t worry, Aribella, we exist in perfect balance. For every man there’s a woman’s energy to match. Anything else is infatuation, not love. You will learn the difference with time. But please don’t misunderstand; most of the couples on First World are not true matches. And they will continue to seek, but it’s a lonely life, so many settle for companionship.”

Josian
added. “There are a few who let infatuation turn them crazy, and then we have the situation Lallielle was in.”

Josian
swung her close, her waist-length hair flying behind. “Walkers carry darkness inside. Millennia of alone is more than most could accept. That is why they choose to sleep or release. We rarely find our mate. Until recently we didn’t know we could mate outside our people. But Lallielle and I prove there’s more connecting our two races – and you, my girl, are the most convincing evidence.”

“Who had to die so I could be born?” I
understood the concept of the great circle of life but ... gross.

For the first time,
Josian grasped my hand. It was warm and comforting. “No one had to die. I can create my own energy. I can bring life.” He said it so arrogantly.

But simple little Earthlings can create their own life as well. Maybe that was the exchange for having no magic and short ‘finite’ lives.

“So where is my Walker mark you mentioned earlier?” I was positive there wasn’t another mark, spot or mole on my body and that at any point they’d realize they were mistaken and there was nothing exceptional about me.

Josian
smiled. “Wait here.” He zoomed out of the room, Lallielle right behind him.

By the time I’d sunk into the white sofa, Lallielle was back. She carried a floor-length mirror. Brace moved to help, but she waved him away.

She placed the large white mirror, with a kick-stand support, in front of me.

I stared at my reflection. I saw tired green eyes surrounded by dark circles, long red hair tousled again, many strands escaping my braid.

Brace sat next to me.
“You doing okay with all of this, Red?”

I sighed, resisting the urge to grasp his shirt front and pull him closer. I intertwined my hands instead.

“Honestly, it’d all be awesome. Except ... Lucy’s missing.” Tears pricked at my eyes again. I blinked them away.

He leaned back closer to me, our shoulders almost touching. “Don’t panic yet. We’ll find her. The men are still looking – the town
was put into shut-down almost immediately, even though Josian is pretty sure she’s not here. If that’s the case, I’m with you all the way to Earth.”

I nodded in acceptance. Why Brace
would want to accompany us, I didn’t know, but I’d welcome any help. A guy of his size was perfect intimidation against Gangers.

“Do
... do you think she’s okay?” I whispered, my voice laced with anguish.

Reaching over, Brace hesitated a moment, before he picked up my left hand. He laced his fingers through mine, and the world slowed
. My heart skipped a beat and heat flooded my body. Forcing myself to breathe and my ears to listen, I focused on him. That delicious male scent, so uniquely his, and his features, so unnaturally perfect.

“I made a promise to myself that I would get you and Lucy here safely and I failed. I will not rest until I make this right, Abby.”

I blinked at his formal words, although in the First-World accent, it sounded perfect.

Josian
appeared behind the mirror. The
laluna
had been replaced by an object covered with a dark gray cloth.

Brace stood abruptly, jolting me on the couch.
“One of the men needs my assistance. I’ll be right back.”

My eyes followed his broad shoulders as h
e exited the room.

Josian’s
eyes were glued to me.

Did he not notice that strange
behavior?
And how the hell did he get out the door?

Probably
Josian didn’t harbor the same mini-obsession I held for Brace.

“Are you ready?”
His anticipation, and excitement, drew my attention. “This mark is for identification. Every Walker clan has a unique design. It can only be viewed under the light of a
moonstale
crystal – remember, they are part of the original colliding energies that created the Walkers.”

Ahhhh
, that’s what
moonstale
was.

I nodded.
Let’s get this show on the road.

He removed the cloth to reveal a small dark-
gray crystal. I squinted, trying to get a clear image. Shimmery sections glittered, casting illusions. It also emitted a yellow light that splashed across my features.

I gasped, staring at my reflection in shock.

Josian exclaimed loudly, his expression that of a stereotypical proud father, “You look beautiful, Aribella, my girl.”

I was Walker.

From the creamy white of my skin, the mark emerged. It started along my forehead, moving around my left eye and down my face, continuing to the edge of my shirt and down my left arm, like a dense network of lace; dark red to match my hair. It wasn’t solid, like a tattoo. Instead it pulsed. I looked up into Josian’s joy-filled face. He’d never looked more god-like than with his own red mark pulsing along his right side.

Lallielle
stood to the side, hands on her slender hips and a tearful smile across her face.

“Why is
yours on the right?” It was amazing and mesmerizing. I couldn’t stop staring.

“Men’s are on the right; women’s the opposite.” He grinned. “The marks were passed from the original Walkers
. There are seven distinct clans descended from each.”

I was trying to understand. “How is that possible, uh, surely you need two Walkers to make baby Walkers?”

I blushed slightly; it was a delicate subject to be discussing with your father.

He chortled loudly at my pink cheeks. “The seven had a unique energy; they could create more Walkers, without the need of humanoids
’ complex reproductive systems.”

It never seemed that complex to me, but what the hell did I know.

After many minutes,
Josian re-covered the crystal. My mark lingered for a moment before fading away beneath my skin.

With
the
moonstale
in one hand, he used the other to hoist the mirror, before leaving the room. I was pretty sure he grinned the entire way.

Suddenly I found myself alone with
Lallielle. She looked at me and I turned away.

It was probably unfair to lay the majority of blame on her.

Okay, definitely unfair.

She’d been forced to make some tough decisions which may have screwed up my life. And she didn’t have hindsight
. But right now I couldn’t forgive her. Well, I guess technically I could, but I really didn’t want to.

Ignoring my reticence, she sat next to me.

Continuing to disregard her, I simply enjoyed the opulence of the couch, sinking into its luxurious depths.

Lallielle
was rigid, twisting her hands over and over. Eventually, when I couldn’t stand the uncomfortable atmosphere any longer, I faced her.

“So how does the mind-reading and telepathy work?” I asked, needing more information to figure out how to block my thoughts.

She smiled hesitantly. “I can’t read your thoughts. You have a strong natural mind-block, same as your father.

“Sometime during our evolution, we learned to communicate over distance and mind to mind.
How it works is beyond me. From our age of power maturity we’re mainly taught how to control the powers, not about their origin.

“We keep constant mind-blocks in place, but if someone wants to communicate with me there is a nudge in my head, as if someone is scratching lightly. When that happens I can open my mind enough to talk – like a one-way door. Or I can open a window and allow a back-and-forth flow of information. Each nudge is unique. You’ll sense who’s trying to communicate – if they’re familiar to you.”

“Can I see memories?”

Lallielle
opened her hands, palms out. “If the person allows you full access.” She shrugged. “And maybe even if they don’t; we’re not sure of your powers. They won’t enlighten until your eighteenth birthday.”

It was all useful and interesting information, although my tired brain was starting to ache. Despite this I wanted to try something.

Taking a deep breath, feeling a tad stupid, I squinted and pictured entering Lallielle’s skull.

The strain must have shown on my face
.

S
he laughed. “Are you trying to read my mind?”

I shook my head innocently. But I was fooling
no one.

“I’ll help you
,” she said, “but you have to relax. Close your eyes.”

Sighing, I obeyed, allowing a small trust and letting her voice guide me.

“Now you need to find the energy inside. It will be a deep place that you know and feel but have never examined too closely.”

As her words washed over me, I started an internal exploration. It wasn’t difficult. I knew the spot she referred to. Even on Earth I had felt the warm, pulsing depth. It
was
familiar to me so I never questioned its existence.

“Have you found it?”

At my nod, she continued.

“Now draw on the energy, take a small strand and pull.”

I attempted to mentally follow her directions. I was shocked. The substance felt like sticky taffy as a coil started to remove from the centre.

“Now direct the energy
toward my mind. Create an entrance. I’ll stay blocked; see if you can disable my wall.”

The strand continued to unravel. Taking a deep breath, I gathered as much as I could and threw it
toward Lallielle. I pictured it slamming into her mind and creating a huge hole.

My eyes flew open at her loud gasp. She was clutching her head.

“Are you okay?” I grasped her arm. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

She shook her head. “No
... no, it’s okay. Just a slight shock.” Looking up, she smiled in a reassuring manner. “You don’t need to blast quite so hard. Try for subtle.”

Sucking in a deep breath, I closed my eyes. I was nervous to try again, but my determination to learn outweighed this. I repeated the process, but this time understated, allowing the energy to seep through small cracks in her wall.

And just like that I was inside.

I don’t know how to explain the sensation of being in another person’s mind. Probably how a schizophrenic feels: your own thoughts and then a completely separate
entity’s as well. Images ... random words, like watching snippets from lots of different movies.

There was something else.
Lallielle had been hiding it well, but she was in agony. Every time I treated her indifferently, I was killing her. The strength added to my guilt. Brace hadn’t been kidding when he said they felt emotions intensely.

I waded through the pain. Pushing it aside for a moment, I tried not to be overwhelmed by the plethora of memories
.

Suddenly a scene appeared before me –
Lallielle was outside – in the street. A young baby was safely tucked into a pram behind her. I squinted. No one was touching the little cart, but it drove along unassisted behind Lallielle. Some of this world was wicked advanced.

Lallielle
smiled as the baby girl waved fat little hands in the air. I knew immediately that the chubby baby with rosy cheeks, short red curls and huge green eyes was me. I noticed Quarn, a few steps behind, looking much younger and carefree. Lallielle paused in front of a small store with dark-blue walls. She hesitated a moment before opening the faded and patched door-hanging and stepping through. The carriage and Quarn followed.