The Unspoken: Book One in the Keres Trilogy (43 page)

The warning bell sounds, signaling power down is approaching. The six of us remain in our places around the sofa. We reach out to each other, holding onto hands and arms. And we wait. I look into Wex
’
s eyes and we agree in that instant that death is our only way out of Chelon, our only reprieve from The Mothers
’
cold-blooded tortures.

The one-minute warning sounds, and PG3456 remains positioned in a last display of unified defiance in the common room. I can feel Doe
’
s pounding heartbeat through her hand. The only light comes from the pulsing hand over my bedroom door and the fire, still smoldering in the grate. No one comes to lock us in our rooms. The five in black do not make an appearance. One by one, we succumb to exhaustion and drift asleep around Frehn stretched out on the sofa.

My eyes have only just closed when I feel someone shaking me awake. I scuttle backwards at the sight of a small group of people in black crowded around the room, looking down at us.

“
Keres,
”
Abbot says urgently,
“
Wake up. You have to leave. They are coming.
”

“
Who? Who
’
s coming?
”
I splutter at Abbot. The tense lines in his face reawaken all the fear in my body.

“
Not here, we don
’
t have time,
”
he says pulling me off the floor.

“
I
’
m not leaving without PG3456,
”
I say.

“
Now is not the time to show your ignorance, Keres. Look around you.
”

I turn my head to see Loshee and Statric waking up Harc and Doe, coaxing them into their rooms. Holden and Zink are carrying Frehn to his room while Wex and Merit follow at Journer
’
s signal.
“
Move,
”
he orders me in a desperate voice, dragging me to my room. He flings open my closet, throwing clothes in my pack at random. I yank open drawers and add anything I can lay my hands on to the bag.

Loshee appears at my door almost instantly,
“
They
’
re ready. There
’
s no more time.
”

Abbot snatches the pack up with one hand and grabs my arm with the other, pulling me back into the common room. Frehn is standing on his own, but leaning against Zink, his face drained of all color. Abbot gazes over their rigid faces as if taking inventory. He gives Statric a pained look and barrels out of the common room door into the hall, my arm still in his death grip. We all run quickly and without making a noise out of the residence compound and through the Quad, sticking close to the trees and sides of buildings. At a sound up the street, Abbot flings me around a corner. We all hold our breath. Crouching against a building, the Tulelas
’
covering our bodies with their own, their black clothes make us disappear in the dark. I can hear footsteps on the gravel street and I shut my eyes against the terror of being caught by the night patrol of Mothers. The sound passes and we creep through the trees, low to the ground all the way to the Gratis Building.

Inside, Loshee jumps over the Keeper
’
s desk and buzzes the doors of the elevator. Everyone but Statric and Holden cram in the car, as the two of them nod to Abbot and dash out of the building, back into the night. I open my mouth to thank them but am silenced by the doors closing. Silence reigns, save for our heavy breathing and Loshee
’
s clicking beads, until our shoes connect with the floor of the hall. We pass right through to the Warren, running down the long hall.

“
Abbot!
”
Marum shouts, making all of us jump. He is running towards us from the cross section of hall. Panting, he thrusts something towards Abbot,
“
Here, it
’
s ready.
”

Abbot snatches a thin wooden box from him and shoves it in my pack. He drags me further down, almost to the end of the hall, and looks behind us for the first time,
“
Everyone here?
”
he asks Marum.

“
They went down a minute before you arrived. Half of the others are already installed in the Burrow. Serees came, the others declined.
”

Abbot
’
s jaw clenches and he slams his fist into the wall in front of him. Doe lets a strangled cry escape before covering her mouth with her hands. When he pulls his fist away from the wall, the floor begins to drop from underneath our feet. Harc looks wildly around for something to grab, Frehn loops his free arm around Doe
’
s trembling body. The floor moves like an elevator, quickly but smoothly, deeper into the earth than the Warren itself. When we finally come to a stop, my stomach feels like it was left behind on our residence block.

“
Get them to the horses. We will follow you,
”
Abbot says, pulling me off the section of Warren floor. I watch as PG3456 is gently but urgently guided by Zink, Loshee and Journer through the immense space and towards a large rolling door. Abbot drops the pack and turns to me, looking savage. He clasps my shoulders with his hands and tries to steady his breath.

“
You have to leave Chelon.
”

“
Wh-
”

“
The Audauxx are hunting, they are coming here. They can
’
t find you.
”

“
What are Audauxx?
”

“
Not what, who. Tutelas who have forgotten their purpose,
”
his eyes jump around my face,
“
They want the Catalyst.
”

“
Me? What for?
”

“
You are one half of the ultimate weapon, Keres. Born in the seventh minute, of the seventh hour, on the seventh day, of the seventh month, of the seventh year of the seventy-seventh century. You are the most powerful Tutelas ever to be born. You are the Catalyst. And we can
’
t protect you here. You have to reach the safe city. You have to get to Credo Cantus. Tell them the Audauxx are moving. They will know who you are and what to do. We will hold them off for as long as it takes, but you have to reach Credo Cantus. The whole world will be hunting you once they know the Audauxx have discovered your existence. If you get caught, if you are killed, everything we have been protecting for thousands of years will be gone.
”

“
Gone?
”

“
Humanity will be erased.
”

“
You
’
re coming with me? You and Zink?
”

The corners of his eyes twitch and an expression of heartbreak covers his gruff features.
“
No. We have to stay here and protect what
’
s left.
”

“
I can
’
t go alone, Abbot. I
’
ll be dead in minutes!
”

“
You will not be alone. PG3456 is being apprised of the situation now. Well, to the best of our ability.
”

“
We have no defenses, no food. We
’
ll be hunted down and murdered! Abbot! They will die! And I
’
ll die trying to protect them! The guard ink will make sure of that!
”
My heart feels like it will burst with horror. Real panic like I have never felt before traps me.

Abbot yanks at my shirt, exposing the black smoke finger tattoo on my upper sternum.
“
This will hurt,
”
he says, thrusting something sharp into my chest. I fall backwards and hit the floor flat on my back, unable to breathe. I put my hand to the place where I
’
m certain I will feel a knife. For a split second I think he has stabbed me in the heart. My fingers come away wet with black ink and blood. The front of my shirt is quickly turning a dark, dirty red color. I look up at Abbot, trying to make sense of what has happened. In his right hand he holds a wide, flat silver blade. My blood is dripping off the serrated edge of tiny scoop-shaped razors to the floor.

“
You have no guard now,
”
he says as he flings the tool across the floor. I struggle and roll around the floor, gasping for air.

“
Listen to me,
”
Abbot kneels down in front of me, putting both his hands on my shoulders and looking hard into my breathless face.
“
You will always have a choice. Being marked as the Catalyst has no effect on who you are. It makes no difference. You are in control of you, what you do and what is done to you. There is no question the Catalyst will be compelled to wield the weapon, but when you do, no matter who is forcing you, you will have a choice. A choice to destroy all human life or to save it. Remember that.
”

I stare at his wild eyes, looking from one to the other. His whole face is fierce with the earnestness of his words. When I reach out to touch him, my hand is warm and wet with the blood and ink from my chest.

“
We are out of time.
”
Abbot wrenches me up suddenly before I can reassure him. He drags me across the room towards the rolling door PG3456 went through. I lift my hand to the place my guard tattoo once was, trying to feel what has happened to my body. My skin is already rough with scabbing and congealed blood, my shirt still wet with ink and blood. When we pass through the doors, I stop short. Spread before me is an expanse of rolling pasture, nine horses in harness wait by a hitching post. Sotter is among the seven or so already mounted, talking quickly to Frehn, who still leans against Zink.

“
PG3453,
”
I say.

“
We knew Sotter wouldn
’
t leave without them. Frehn wouldn
’
t leave without her and you wouldn
’
t leave without Frehn. They had to come. Complicates everything nicely. It will be a miracle if any of you make it out alive.
”

“
What about you? What will happen to you and the Warren?
”

“
The Tutelas have gone underground as of tonight. We took as many people as would come with us. Some refused. They have been left on the surface and to The Mothers. There
’
s nothing we can do for them now.
”
Abbot begins to jog forward to the horses, and I follow. His Play Group chose to stay above ground, only his Banded partner, Serees, trusting him enough to follow him.