86. Jack
EIGHTY-SIX
JACK
Jack and Abigail followed Leah Noble back into the palace, weaving their way through the gigantic building. Jack had no idea the palace had a lower level, but when Leah came to a door that swung open to reveal a spiral staircase leading down, there wasn’t a chance to ask questions.
“Wow, how big is the palace?” Abigail’s eyes roved around the interior of the lower level. “Why is my sister down here?”
“The palace has a long history of being the oldest structure in New Hope.” Leah looked back from her lead position.
“It was built long ago by those who came before us. You can imagine lower levels in any structure come in handy for storage and extra space. Elizabeth is being entertained here because the equipment needed in her sessions is located down here. You can imagine we don’t use these tools every day. Your sister is quite special, Abigail.”
Jack listened to Abigail and Leah’s conversation as he studied his new surroundings.
The halls were brightly lit, decorated with the grey and black colors of New Hope.
It was ornate and designed to be warm and inviting.
Visually, everything looked in place. Despite this, Jack couldn’t help feeling they were being led into some kind of dungeon.
“Have you been able to find anything else out about her condition?” Abigail asked in a rush of words. “Will it get better or worse? Is this just something she’ll have to live with for the rest of her life?”
“Have to?” Leah repeated her words with a raised eyebrow. “Your sister is gifted, Abigail. Elizabeth is destined to play a great role in the history of New Hope.”
Just as Jack made to ask for further explanation, Leah stopped in front of a door. It was already ajar, the noise of someone talking emanating from within.
Jack and Abigail were ushered inside. The room was expansive in every sense of the word. Instead of torches or candles, mage lights were strung up on the inside of the room, giving it the appearance of day.
For the hundredth time, Jack marveled at the tiny glass bulbs that were able to produce so much illumination. Two pale guards Jack didn’t recognize were standing near the door. They snapped to attention at the sight of Leah Noble.
Elizabeth sat on the floor on a large brown rug. She hummed quietly to herself as she colored the inside of a book.
“Please make yourselves at home while I ready the machine.” Leah left them with Elizabeth as she crossed the room to a large contraption connected to a padded reclining seat.
Jack and Abigail obeyed Leah’s request. They knelt next to Elizabeth on the stone floor. The younger Ahab sister smiled at them as she continued to color.
“Don’t give anything away, but I think something’s wrong,” Elizabeth whispered. Her eyes remained pointed down.
Immediately, Jack began searching the room for danger.
“I just told you not to look,” Elizabeth growled through a wide smile. She pushed a lock of red hair from her face. “You’re a horrible listener, Jack.”
“What’s wrong, Elizabeth?” Abigail failed to hide the concern in her voice. “Did they hurt you?”
“No, nothing like that.” Elizabeth scraped a red crayon over and over the page she was coloring. “But something’s off. I just can’t explain it. It’s like someone farted in a room packed with people. You know, it smells bad, but you can’t tell who did it.”
“Nothing specific, just something off?” Jack’s eyes wandered to Leah. “I can’t argue with you there.”
“Yeah,” Elizabeth said biting her lip, “and one more thing. I can’t read Leah’s mind.”
“Well, you probably shouldn’t be going through people’s minds anyway.” Abigail crossed her arms. She her younger sister a disapproving look. “I thought we talked about that.”
“I know, I know.” Elizabeth sighed, finally giving up her drawing and looking into her sister’s eyes. “But I had to. She seems … she seems off somehow. She’s the only one whose mind I can’t look into. Every time I do, all I see is blackness, nothing. Maybe she’s the one who farted.”
“Well,” Abigail answered, placing the rogue strands of Elizabeth’s hair behind her sister’s small ears, “maybe this is the beginning of your abilities leaving. Maybe this was temporary. Leah’s only trying to help us understand all of this.”
Elizabeth directed her eyes to Jack for support. As much as he wanted to, it wasn’t his place to get between the Ahab sisters.
“I think you’re both right.” Jack did his best to stay neutral. “Let’s give Leah a chance to figure all of this out, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be watchful of our surroundings.”
Both sisters nodded.
“Well, if you’re ready, Elizabeth,” Leah said approaching the group, “we can begin.”
Elizabeth rose, following Leah. Abigail followed next, and finally, Jack. Chance, more than anything, brought his vision down to catch the open coloring book Elizabeth had been working on. She had done a horrible job coloring side by side pictures of what looked like horses.
A closer glance brought Jack to realize that what he was looking at wasn’t a failed attempt at coloring at all.
Instead, a detailed map of the Outland ran across both pages, showing the city of New Hope and each smaller city depicted by name.
In the picture, a red wave was running outward from New Hope in all directions, consuming the rest of the Outland.
On instinct, Jack reached down and collected the book, folding it into the inner pocket of his vest. He wasn’t sure why he did it, but something deep inside, something like his father’s voice, told him it would be important.
A humming vibration that shook the very floor he was standing on awoke Jack from his trance-like state. The feeling was coming from the machine Leah had started. Bright green and blue lights blinked off and on at sporadic pulses from the machine’s control panel.
Elizabeth sat in the raised chair. Its back was reclined, giving Elizabeth the illusion of being comfortable. Jack had a feeling that the young girl was anything but.
“This won’t hurt at all,” Leah reassured her as she lifted a steel-domed cap connected to an array of wires. “All this machine will do is distinguish how powerful the electric waves coming from your brain are.”
“It’s okay.” Abigail moved to stand beside her sister. “I’m here.”
Elizabeth nodded, trying to hide the fear that had crept across her eyes.
A sense of urgency gripped Jack. Again the voice inside him whispered there was something wrong. The thought of stopping the process altogether darted across his mind. Before he could decide whether or not to act on the feeling, Leah Noble flipped a large switch on the machine.
The humming that had been reverberating through the room intensified. Jack’s eyes darted to Elizabeth. The girl, although clearly frightened, didn’t seem to be in any kind of pain.
“You’re doing wonderful,” Leah said, almost to herself. “This is exactly what we had hoped for.”
“Are you all right?” Abigail looked on with concern. She still held Elizabeth’s hand. “Do you need it to stop?”
“No, no, I’m okay.” Elizabeth shook her head. “It doesn’t hurt.”
Just as soon as the machine had begun its savage humming, it stopped. Leah Noble wore a wild grin as she removed the apparatus from Elizabeth’s head. “You did an outstanding job, young lady. You’re going to be such a special girl in the days to come.”
“What did you find?” Jack ignored Leah’s cryptic words. “Is Elizabeth going to be all right?”
“She’s better than all right.” Leah assisted Elizabeth from the chair. “Her power has the potential to be something this world has never seen. She’s too important now to be let out of our sight.”
Jack should have realized it was a trap all along. If he had been a second faster, he might have been able to save them.
The nod from Leah to the two unnaturally pale guards at the door was almost too soft to notice. Jack reached for his wand at the same time one of the guards slammed the door shut and the other rammed into him so hard, there was no question that these were a pair of the new vampire soldiers.
Jack’s body slammed into the far stone hall. His skull cracked against the wall, sending a shower of bright red into his vision. Pain lanced through his entire body. A concussion made it nearly impossible for him to stumble to his feet.
“Jack!” Abigail screamed. She fought the other assailant like a woman possessed, but against someone with super strength and speed, she was doomed from the start.
One of the guards grabbed Elizabeth, the other Abigail.
Jack finally regained his feet. The mage power inside him flickered as he forced himself to concentrate. Dark green magic swirled at his fist. He looked up to send a bolt of the magical energy against one of the guards.
Leah Noble appeared out of the shadows. She grabbed Jake’s fist in her hand. Immediately, the flickering flame of green magic disappeared. Before Jack could comprehend the witch’s power, she forced him to his knees.
Pain like the weight of a thousand pounds pressed on his shoulders drove Jack to his knees. Purple magic swirled around Leah noble’s hand and her eyes.
“I’m sorry it has to be this way, Jack,” Although Leah’s words were soft, there was nothing but evil dripping from her tone.
“But Elizabeth is much too important to us to leave any loose ends. Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you.
You and Abigail will be the perfect motivators to spur Elizabeth on with her work. ”
The weight from Jack’s shoulders traveled to his chest. Every breath came slower and more labored. Within seconds, the blackness of unconsciousness came for Jack.