Flight of Life (Essence Series #1) (6 page)

“
I would rather be weird
than annoying,” she snapped. “And you should be nice to the person
who is helping you.”

“
You’re helping Calloway,”
Breccan said. “I’m just along for the ride.”

“
You two are giving me a
headache,” Calloway said as he sat across from Easton. “If you are
that irritated with each other, don’t speak to one another. Got
it?”

“
That’s more than
acceptable to me,” she said.

“
Who talks like that?”
Breccan asked. “Just say okay.”

Calloway stared at him. “What did I
just say?”

“
Fine,” he said as he
leaned back.

Easton sighed before she looked at
Calloway. “Show it to me.”

Calloway opened his backpack and pulled
out the dusty book, which was still covered in a thin layer of
dust. Who knows how long it had been hidden in that room. Years?
Centuries? Easton stared at the cover of the book for a long
moment, admiring the texture of the surface with her hand. There
was a webbing of cloth on the front of the book which was dull and
gray, a different color than it had been when it was created.
Calloway felt his skin prickle as he watched her appraise the book.
He was certain the volume was genuine but watching her study it in
such detail confirmed his thought. It was one of the Kirin
Books.

“
It’s beautiful,” she
whispered.

Breccan opened his mouth to speak but
he closed his mouth abruptly, knowing he wasn’t supposed to argue
with Easton. Calloway knew what his cousin was thinking; how could
something that detailed the Hara-Kirs be beautiful? It was such an
odd thing to say.

Easton opened the book and read the
first page, which had two ancient symbols written on the old
parchment paper. The thinness of the pages revealed the age of the
book. The simple touch of an oily finger was enough to destroy the
integrity of the paper, dissolving it into grains of sand. “The
Tale of Life,” she said.

Calloway looked at her.
“What?”

“
That’s what the book is
called. The Kiri Book: The Tale of Life.”

“
And what does that mean?”
Breccan asked.

“
I suppose it details the
essence and the void, as well as the history of the Hara-Kirs and
their purpose.”

“
Who wrote it?” Calloway
asked.

She shrugged. “I suppose we’ll never
know,” she said as she turned the page. “This is the real thing—I
know it is.”

Calloway nodded. “I’m glad I risked my
life for something worthwhile.”

“
Do you know anything
about the Hara-Kirs?” she asked both of them.

“
I know to stay away from
them,” Breccan said.

“
That they seek to destroy
the world—all of us—everything,” Calloway answered.

“
Well, that’s incorrect,”
she said. “But how did you come across them? How do you even know
what they are?”

Calloway and Breccan were both quiet
for a moment. Calloway thought about the message his father left
for him, stowed inside his trunk in the study. The chest was locked
at all times but he inherited the key when his father died. Inside
was a letter that warned him of the Hara-Kirs. He thought his
father had gone mad. “I was informed by someone else,” Calloway
said quietly. He hated discussing his late father in any context.
Even though he’d been dead for ten years his absence was still
painful.

She stared at him for a moment. “You
trust me enough to bring me this book but not to tell me how we got
to this point?” she asked. “That is most interesting. We’re going
to need to confide in each other if we wish to accomplish
anything.”

“
And what are we trying to
accomplish?” Breccan asked. “I thought we were just trying to
survive.”

“
But how long can we do
that for?” Easton said.

Calloway nodded. “My father left me a
note that explained the existence of the Hara-Kirs. He didn’t give
me many details, other than the location of the book and a few
gifts, but that was it. And most of his notes didn’t make any
sense. It wasn’t until after I confided in my cousin that we
discovered the truth.”

“
What gifts did he leave
you?”

Calloway and Breccan shared a look
before Calloway decided to reveal his possessions. He dug in his
pocket until he retrieved the glowing orb and the picking knife and
placed them on the table. Easton stared at the objects without
touching them. They looked like ordinary tools.

“
Is that it?” she
asked.

Calloway nodded.

“
May I?” she asked as she
reached out her hand.

“
Yes.”

Easton grabbed the glowing orb from the
table and held it in her hand. She rotated the object in her
fingers and appraised the ball. The surface of the orb was
translucent and gray, like the inside was completely hollow, but it
couldn’t be distinguished clearly. Several minutes passed as Easton
stared at the ball. She never made a comment as she observed its
dimensions. “Is it a golf ball?” she finally asked.

Breccan laughed and it was the first
time Easton had elicited a comical expression from him—ever.
Calloway smiled at her words. “No,” he said.

“
Well, it looks like
it.”

“
Squeeze it,” Calloway
commanded her.

She stared at him for a moment.
Calloway nodded at her and she followed his instruction. Nothing
happened. She dropped it on the table and watched it for a moment,
waiting for something to happen.

Calloway grabbed it and squeezed it.
The light shined bright. He squeezed it again and returned it to
the table. Easton grabbed it and stared at it. There was no switch
or place to put a battery. In fact, there was nothing inside of it
to conduct any form of electricity.

“
What else does it do?”
she asked.

Calloway shrugged. “That’s it,” he
said. “It’s just a light.”

She nodded then looked at the pocket
knife on the table. “And what does this do?”

“
It can pick any lock and
lock any door,” Calloway answered. “At least that’s why my guess
is.”

“
Have you tried
it?”

“
Yes,” he answered. “And
it works.”

Easton leaned back in her chair and
thought for a moment. “All these gifts are not from
here.”

Breccan raised an eyebrow. “What do you
mean?”

“
They aren’t from this
world we live in. That would mean someone traveled to the
Anti-Life, took these items, and then brought them
back.”

Calloway and Breccan looked at each
other in confusion. Calloway turned back to Easton. “We don’t
understand what you’re saying. What are you talking
about?”

Easton sighed. “Anything
unworldly that functions in this world is not from
this
world. It was
brought back from the Anti-Life—where the Hara-Kirs and worship the
Anti-Life. In order for your father to have this in his possession
he would have either taken it from someone on this plane, or he
himself traveled to the Anti-Life and returned with these items.”
She picked up the ball again and looked at it. “How did your father
die?”

Calloway lowered his gaze. “He was
mugged one night after dark. After the thief stole his belongings,
he killed my father.”

She nodded. “Was his funeral an open
casket?”

Calloway stared at her. “No,” he said.
“Why?”

“
I was just wondering,”
she said. “And what did your father do for a living?”

“
He was a
historian.”

Easton nodded again.

“
Why are you asking him
these questions?” Breccan asked.

“
He was the one who gave
him these Anti-Life gifts,” she said. “I think it’s logical to
inquire further knowledge about the person.” She turned back to
Calloway. “Did he say why he wanted you to have these?”

“
No,” he answered. “It
wasn’t clear in his note. In fact, he may not have wanted me to
have them at all. I inherited everything since I was his only
son.”

Easton turned back to the book and
turned the page. “And that’s why you took the Kirin Book,” she
said. “You father detailed its whereabouts in a note?”

Calloway nodded. “It seemed
important.”

“
Since the Hara-Kirs
pursued you, I would assume it’s important as well. I just don’t
know why.”

“
Well, we’ll have to read
it,” Breccan said. “Or you will, actually.”

She turned the page. “Are you guys
ready to listen?” she asked.

Calloway nodded. “Go ahead.”

She cleared her throat and focused her
eyes on the page. “What once was Life was Anti-life; a primordial
balance of two segregated powers that forever battle for dominance.
Life is the world that is affected directly by the natural powers
of the universe, whereas the Anti-Life defies the rules of nature
by seeking to destroy it, for only with the absence of life will
the full of effect of the Anti-Life come into play. Life has no
purpose or fulfillment to seek; it is a waste of cosmic energy and
power, and Life needs to be doused with blackness. While life
continues to evolve and change, becoming different with the passage
of time, in truth, it is useless and invalid; it needs to be
stopped.” Easton paused as she turned the page. “The Hara-Kirs are
the symbol of life-ending of the embrace of death and shadow. They
accept their fate as endless and pointless; they seek to douse the
life that hides the essence and seek to claim it as their own. The
power of the essence is a virus, a plague that fluctuates the
purpose of life, when, in fact, it has no purpose. Death in
unavoidable and should be embraced. There is nothing past this nor
should there be.” Easton turned the page. “That’s the end of the
section.”

Calloway leaned back in his chair and
Breccan rested his head on his hand, clearly confused by the words
they just heard. Easton stared at the two boys, waiting for them to
speak.

“
I have no idea what you
just said,” Breccan said. “Seeking to destroy?” he asked
incredulously. “The absence of Life will affect the
Anti-Life?”

Calloway nodded. “I think it’s saying
that life has no purpose. We make that purpose when none shall be
had. Rather than waste our time evolving, growing, reproducing and
changing, we should just give up and accept the Anti-Life—the real
life.”

Breccan stared at his cousin with a
dumbfounded expression. “You’re going to do awesome on your
SAT’s.”

“
Calloway is right,”
Easton said. “That’s the exact meaning of the words.”

“
Then why didn’t it just
say that?” Breccan said.

Easton shrugged. “It’s more difficult
for them to compose their thoughts. Or perhaps we just have a
difficult time understanding their concepts.”

“
Even though Calloway
explained it, I still don’t understand the meaning. How does it
apply to us?”

“
They want us to give up,”
Calloway said. “We all have those days or moments when we don’t
understand the purpose of our actions,” he said. “Why do we go to
school? It’s so we can be educated. Why? This will lead to a
prosperous job. Why? So we can support our families. Why? So they
can grow and change? Why? So then our children can repeat the
cycle? Why? So we can fulfill our purpose. But what was the
purpose? Why are we bothering to do that? Sometimes I wonder what
the point is—why am I doing this?”

Breccan nodded. “I suppose.”

“
Wouldn’t it just be
easier—better—to understand what the purpose of all of this is? Why
do flies continue to exist if they only live for three days? Why
does life keep pushing onwards? In the end, does it really matter?”
Calloway felt the depression fall on his shoulders when he thought
about the words he just said. He felt this way on a daily basis. He
was pushing himself to be better by applying for a college
admission and getting a job to help his family with their financial
expenses, but in the end, did that matter? What
does
matter?

“
What do the Hara-Kirs
gain by forsaking the Life?” Breccan asked. “Why are they intent on
destroying this life?”

“
They don’t believe this
is the right one,” Easton said. “They believe their life is the
true life—the Anti-Life.”

“
And what do they do in
this
Anti-Life
?”
Breccan asked.

“
Since I’ve never been
there I can’t say,” Easton said. “But I don’t agree with them. I
think there is more to this life than we can
understand.”

“
Like what?” Calloway
asked.

“
Well, there’s the
After-Life,” she said. “You can’t venture in the realm of the
After-Life if you choose the path of the Anti-Life.”

“
Says who?” Breccan
asked.

“
The Hara-Kirs,” she
said.

“
So they are banned from
heaven?” Calloway asked

“
They choose not to go
there, if such a thing exists, unless they’re referring to
something else,” she said.