Rachel Rener's Blog, page 35
March 4, 2019
Chapter 35
“You have a sister?” I asked, astonished. “And she’s being held in Containment?”
Aiden nodded grimly. “Shortly before I quit – or, as my father prefers to say, ‘betrayed’ – the Asterian Order, my parents came to me one day, out of the blue, to inform me that my little sister and her fiancé had eloped, abruptly left the state, and no longer wanted anything to do with the family.”
I took a sharp intake of breath.
“But my sister and I h...
March 1, 2019
Chapter 34
Wordlessly, I handed the letter to Evelyn. Aiden and Robert read over her shoulder as she scanned the pages, quietly sobbing. I fingered the tanzanite pendant around my neck mechanically. I’d like to say that I felt a great relief, or even a deep sadness, upon reading my mother’s final words to me. But the truth is, I was numb. I had processed more in the last two weeks than what had seemed humanly possible. My head was aching; whether due to the cathartic letter or concussion, I...
February 25, 2019
Chapter 33
We pulled into the parking lot outside of the university library. We were the only car there, but we parked far away from the building, several yards away from the nearest streetlight. Aiden took my hand in his as we quickly strode across the parking lot.
“Are we allowed to be here so late?” I asked.
“It’s closed, but I have a badge to get in after-hours,” Aiden replied. “And no – no one here will torture us in the basement if they find us.” He chuckled, then suppressed a cough. In the light of the overhead streetlamp, I could see him wince.
“Too soon for jokes,” I muttered.
“Hey,” he stopped for a moment, looking at my face “Your eye…”
I raised my hand to my face, self-conscious. “What is it?”
“It’s just… I could have just sworn your right eye was… glowing…” he trailed off, scoffing at himself. “That was a ridiculous thing to say. Perhaps I unknowingly hit my head in there.”
“I think I’m the only one between the two of us with a concussion…” I started to reply, but quickly stopped when I saw his eyes widen in alarm. “Anyway, uh, forget that… All I wanted to say is that I’ve noticed that eye doing strange things before, too. It flashes bright purple for a split-second, almost like a black light was shined on it, right?”
“That’s very strange,” Aiden replied, almost to himself. “It’s not something I’ve heard reported by any other Elementalists…”
We got to the front doors then; Aiden swiped his badge and the reader beeped as the door clicked open. The library was dimly-lit; the fluorescent lights were switched off, leaving only a handful of softly-illuminated sconce lights on the walls. It smelled musty, like old books and yellowed pages. I breathed in deeply. I loved the smell of libraries.
“This way,” Aiden said, leading me to the elevator. “We’ve gotta head up to the stacks.”
“What was it Robert – uh, Professor Borstein – was saying about this meeting place?” I asked as we stepped into the elevator. “That the two of you had some sort of argument here over bacon?”
Aiden suppressed a snicker as he hit the button for the top floor. “Yeah – Roger Bacon, a medieval philosopher.”
“Oh. I assumed it had to do with preferred crispiness, or whether it’s best served as an accompaniment to eggs or open-faced on toast with lettuce and tomato.”
“That would have been a much more interesting conversation,” Aiden laughed, again wincing slightly as he did. My stomach knotted; every time he cringed in pain, I was filled with overwhelming guilt.
The elevator doors slid open and we entered the stacks – the top floor of the library, that is, which was filled with towering shelves upon shelves, each loaded with heavy, scholarly textbooks and antediluvian tomes of ages past. Aiden started to head towards the meeting area, but I gently pulled him back.
“Aiden…” I started, the corners of my eyes wet from the dust as well as my remorse, “I can’t tell you how sorry I am.” He immediately started to shush me, but I shook my head firmly. “Everything that happened tonight was my fault. You told me to stay away from them. You warned me that they would try to use me. But I was so consumed by trying to find my parents that I didn’t listen to you. And now, I’ve gotten you hurt – and who knows what they might try to do to us next…” I trailed off, my emotions rising in my throat. I swallowed tightly, trying to force them back down.
“Hey… hey,” he said softly, gently tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear. “It’s okay. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to go years without any idea of who you are or what happened to you… to feel like your only option is to remain alone, isolated from the rest of the world.” My eyes were brimming with tears. He cupped my face gently, wiping a stray tear away with his thumb. “I told you – coming with you tonight was my choice. There was no way I was going to let you go alone. And you know what? I frankly owe you an apology.”
I looked up at him, confused. “How could you possibly owe me an apology?”
“I didn’t realize the gravity of what we were getting into. I was naïve, allowing us to break in there together in some half-witted attempt to protect you. I underestimated them. And because of that, you got hurt,” he said, gently touching my bandaged shoulder. “Worse,” he added darkly, “They know what you are now, which is what I had hoped they would never find out.”
“I’m too angry to be afraid,” I whispered, bowing my head. “They killed my parents.”
Aiden started to speak, but a shrill voice interrupted him.
“Aspen!” Evelyn cried from behind us.
I whipped around to see Evelyn run towards me as she and Professor Borstein stepped out of the stairwell. She approached me breathlessly, throwing her arms around me in a tight embrace. I stiffened.
She pulled away to look at me, her hands still clenching tightly to my jacket sleeves.
“I can’t imagine how angry you must be with me right now,” she said, her face creased with pain, “but I hope you’ll at least give me the chance to explain.”
“Hello, Aspen… or do you prefer ‘Rowan’?” Professor Borstein greeted me as he clasped Aiden on the shoulder. “Well, either way, it’s very nice to meet you.”
“Professor Borstein,” I nodded. “‘Aspen’ is fine.”
“Very well! And you may call me Robert!” He smiled, then glanced at Evelyn, shifting awkwardly. “Aiden and I will just, ah, give you and Evelyn a moment… It sounds like he and I have some catching up to do, anyway…”
Aiden gave me a fleeting look over his shoulder as he and Robert walked away, heading into the stacks.
“What did they do to you?” Evelyn asked, her eyes wide. She was regarding my bandages through the burnt-away jacket.
I crossed my arms in front of me, grimacing as the burnt skin on my shoulder tugged. “Fulman?” I asked bluntly. “Who are you, exactly? Why didn’t you tell me we were related somehow?”
Evelyn sighed, taking a seat at a nearby table. She looked exhausted. She patted a chair next to her for me to sit, then unknotted the pale blue scarf from atop her head as I sat down.
“Please know that I have not been intentionally misleading you by using the name Messner. That was my maiden name, which I reverted back to shortly after my husband, your grandfather, died.”
“So, it’s true,” I uttered in amazement. “You’re… you’re my grandmother?”
“If we are to be perfectly precise, I’m your ‘step-grandmother’, though I loathe that term. I was married to your grandfather, Donald, for nearly twenty years before he passed away eight years ago. I was there when you were born. Rowan Elizabeth Fulman. You were the most beautiful baby any of us had ever seen. I loved you instantly. Just as I loved your mother and father as though they were my own flesh and blood.”
My heart caught in my throat. I didn’t know what to say, so instead I just listened intently, doing my best to absorb every word. As the IV painkillers were wearing off, my head was beginning to throb more acutely.
“For the first few years of your life, your grandfather and I saw you and your parents every summer and Christmas… and found any excuse we could to visit in-between. But by the time you were three or four years old, the visits became less frequent, as your parents’ jobs in Washington, D.C. became more and more demanding, plainly isolating your family from the rest of the world. Both of them were involved in some sort of government work, or so I thought at the time, and had been promoted to classified positions, working on top-secret projects that they weren’t at liberty to discuss with either Donald or me. What I didn’t know – what they and your grandfather kept from me for all those years – is that they were not government employees. They were members of an organization, the same one who apparently did this to you,” she said grimly, gesturing to my shoulder.
“It wasn’t until your grandfather was on his death bed that he admitted to me that he was never a member of the ‘Freemasons’, a story he had fabricated all those years we were married. All those days ‘playing golf’… overnight camping trips, weekly meetings… it was all just a front to hide his actual membership with the Asterian Order. You see, until just days before he passed, I had never known that your grandfather was a… a…”
“Pyromancer?” I offered.
Evelyn nodded. “Therefore, I didn’t know until the very end that he was strongly discouraged from marrying a non, um… well, a ‘non-Elementalist’ I suppose I’m called there. Or that he was forbidden from telling me about his abilities, or the organization he and your parents were a part of. I guess it made his life very complicated to try to keep those secrets from me all those years…” She trailed off, lost in thought for a moment.
“So… you were married to my grandfather for twenty years, and he never told you what he was? Or what he was a part of?” I asked. She shook her head sadly.
“And my parents?” I pressed. “You said visits became more and more infrequent… But, at the end, did you see them before…? I mean… Did they ever explain what happened, why they…” I swallowed, struggling to find the words.
“Why they left you?” Evelyn finished. I mustered a nod.
She sighed wearily. “After Donald died, I almost never heard from your parents anymore, save for a photo of you here and there, always sent with a P.O. Box listed instead of a return address. It was heart-breaking at the time, but in my grief, I just glumly chalked it up to the fact that I was only a step-mother to your father. In years prior, I had thought that David and I had grown very close, but when I stopped hearing from him and your mother, I conceded to the cynical idea that while I had always thought of him as my own son, I was not, in fact, his biological mother. I thought that might have been the reason why they fell out of touch. But I was terribly mistaken.”
Evelyn’s eyes were red. I reached across the table to take her hand and she smiled, gripping mine tightly.
“I’m sorry, I know you must be anxious for me to get to the point,” she sighed, taking a tissue from her purse to blot her eyes. “Aiden already explained to us on the way here that you found a file about your father tonight, so I’ll try to skip to the part you may not yet know. Your parents, obviously, never worked for the government. They were members of that society, which they didn’t fully gather was a cult, and a rather malevolent one at that, until after you were born. Once they realized they were in too deep – and that your very livelihood might be at risk – they fled with you to California. I didn’t know at the time, but that’s the real reason why I heard from them so infrequently. They were trying to do everything they could to keep low profiles, to avoid advertising their whereabouts in order to protect you. But, after years of hiding, they were eventually found, and for reasons I don’t fully understand, they feared for their lives.”
My breath stopped. At this point in the story, Evelyn’s voice was shaking and she had to stop a few times to collect herself as she spoke.
“The three of you showed up on my doorstep in the middle of the night in February, just over three years ago. Your mother took you to the guestroom while your father explained everything to me as quickly as he could. I have to confess, I didn’t understand everything he said, but I’ll do my best to tell you everything as he told me.” She closed her eyes, as if trying very hard to remember his words exactly. “He said that… that the three of you were in danger… that he and your mother didn’t think there was much chance for them to escape, but that they had an idea for how to best keep you safe.” Her eyes were brimming over with tears as she spoke; I realized tears were pouring down my cheeks as well. I felt a gentle hand on my left shoulder as Aiden came to stand behind me. Robert pulled up a close chair next to Evelyn and patted her hand as she struggled to speak through her tears.
“Your father said that you, Rowan, were very special… something not seen in hundreds of years. He told me that if you were found by this group, that they would use you as a weapon and keep you against your will. He said that the only way to give you a chance would be to…” she trailed off, wiping her tears with a crumpled tissue. Robert handed her a purple handkerchief from his coat pocket and she appreciatively took it, blowing her nose into it loudly. “I’m sorry, it’s just very difficult for me to have to recall that day…”
She dropped the damp handkerchief on the table and began fumbling around her purse. A moment later, she retrieved a sealed manila envelope.
“David asked me if you could stay in the nearby cabin his father and I had maintained over the years, and of course I said yes. He said that they hoped it would only be for a few months at the most, but in case things went south…” She cleared her throat, closing her eyes tightly. A moment later, she spoke again, changing the subject.
“Aspen, your mother asked me to give this to you if they hadn’t come back yet and your memories or abilities returned in any capacity. I’m so sorry I didn’t realize what was happening just a little sooner,” she said, handing it to me. “I’ve clearly been distracted. I was so naïve to think that man was who he said he was… I guess I just wanted so badly to believe that someone could help make your life better, since I wasn’t able to…” she took up the handkerchief again as she handed me the tan envelope.
“You’ve done nothing but make my life better,” I told her firmly. She nodded, blowing her nose into the handkerchief again. I looked down at the letter in my hands; the front of the envelope simply said Rowan. I traced my fingers over my mother’s handwriting lightly. Gently, I opened the envelope, pulling out a folded, handwritten letter.
2/7/15
My Sweet Rowan,
If you are reading this, it means that we have failed you. I am so sorry.
I cannot imagine the questions you must have, and my only wish at this moment is that I had more time to answer them. My greatest hope is that we’ll be together again one day, and that I will have the chance to explain everything – including the memories I took from you.
The gravest mistake your father and I ever made was selling our souls to the Asterian Order. But it was all we had ever known, having both come from Elementalist families. We met through the Order, our friends and family and teachers were in the Order, and we were young and ambitious when we became Officers, dazzled by the allure and the prestige of what we thought we had accomplished to achieve such a status.
You spent the first few years of your life under the watchful eye of the Asterian Order while your father and I continued to rise through the ranks. We thought the walls of the Order would be a sanctuary from the world outside, a safe place for our young, bright Elementalist daughter to learn, grow, and be protected; what we didn’t realize was that we, along with the rest of the community, were being brainwashed. In truth, the Order has a much more sinister agenda than what most members will ever come to realize. Your father and I, while we ascended higher up the pyramid, began to get glimpses of that troubling reality. But we were carefully-indoctrinated, blinded, and ignorant to the true meaning of our own actions. I am ashamed of those actions I carried out before we deserted. If you ever learn of them, I pray you’ll forgive me for those transgressions.
It wasn’t until you started getting older, and your powers began to manifest more visibly, that we realized what you were – and what the Asterian Order would do with you if they ever learned your true potential. We knew we had to keep you from them. You alone, Rowan, gave us the courage to leave.
When we moved to the west coast, we severed all ties with anyone from the Order, save for a very select handful of people. For years, the three of us lived a happy, quiet life in California. We assumed new aliases to avoid being detected by the Order. But apart from that, and your special abilities, you led a relatively-normal life – we homeschooled you, but you had many friends. You loved hiking, painting, climbing, writing, playing. You thrived, excelling at everything you did. We watched you grow up so fast, along with your Pentamantic gifts.
Your father and I knew we had to nurture those talents; as the first known Pentamancer in three centuries, we recognized that you would be destined for great things. We trained you as best as we could, very careful about how and where we practiced with the Elements to avoid detection. One of the few Elementalists we stayed in touch with, Ted Nichols, was a powerful Pyromancer with a strong secondary ability in Terramancy. He helped us train you for many years and remained a close friend. But by the time you were 14, your abilities had far outgrown what any of us were able to teach you. You went to college when you were just 17, staying at the dorms just a half hour from us. You told us you wanted to be a doctor and had straight A’s every semester. We were so proud of you.
But one day everything fell apart – someone had reported your father’s and my whereabouts to the Order. We knew then that we needed to leave, but the thought of uprooting you again was too much to bear; the Asterian Order had already taken so much from you. Foolishly, we decided to move across town, to live off the grid thinking we could elude detection until you had graduated. We told you it was to downsize to a smaller house to avoid worrying you. Had we only left then, we might have escaped.
They came again a month later, but we caught wind of it just before they got to us. We piled the things we couldn’t live without in the van and came straight to get you. You were so upset to leave college so abruptly – we didn’t even let you say goodbye to your friends. You didn’t speak to us for the entire ride to Colorado. I couldn’t blame you.
We left you close to family, but made Grandma Evelyn swear she’d avoid interacting with you to avoid jarring your memories. Please forgive her for that. We knew that if we could keep you from remembering your past and, most importantly, accessing your abilities, the Order would most likely leave you in peace. (As a minor when we fled D.C., you have no culpability with respect to your parents’ actions; furthermore, the Order has no interest in non-Elementalists.) I will always question our decision to erase your memories, but even now I cannot think of another way to have ensured your safety.
Rowan, there’s so much more I want to tell you, but my time to write is drawing short. I wish I could say for sure that we’ll see you again; the Order does not take disloyalty lightly. I tell you this not to cause you distress, but to ensure you do not cling to false hope in the event that we do not come for you within a few months.
My darling, if your abilities have resurfaced, you must keep them hidden from the Order. Do not, under any circumstance, let them manipulate you into joining them. Seek the truth wherever you can find it – your place in this world is meant to be a great one, but you must achieve that without their influence.
I am so sorry we were not able to leave you more mementos, but I hope you’ll wear the necklace we left you every day, so a part of us can stay with you always. If we do not meet again in this world, please know that leaving you was the hardest decision your father and I have ever had to make. We love you more than life itself.
With all our hearts, forever and always,
Mom and Dad
February 21, 2019
Chapter 32
Aiden didn’t have time to react – but I did. Planting my feet firmly on the ground, my hands shot out in front of me as I willed the blazing cyclone away from him. It hovered in the air, flames spinning, pivoted at the center of the triangle between Aiden, Savannah and Tom. For a fleeting moment, my eyes locked onto Aiden’s; he nodded at me in understanding.
I abruptly halted the wind, momentarily leaving only a towering plume of fire, ripe for Aiden and me to draw from.
“Hey Savannah!” I called from the other side of the arena. “Catch!”
I flung a jet of fire straight towards her, just as Aiden did the same to Tom. Both flung themselves to the ground; I heard their screams but didn’t stop to survey the damage we had inflicted. Frankly, I didn’t really want to know. I raced toward Aiden, grabbing onto his arm as I got to him. On either side of us, long black scorch lines tore across the ground of the arena in opposite directions.
“Come on!” I cried, pulling his arm toward the exit.
Just then, the stone door on the back of the Hydromancy wall swung open, and a dozen men in black uniforms piled out. They looked like some sort of police SWAT team, except the backs of their dark jackets were printed with white five-pointed stars; the letters ‘S&C’ were printed inside the pentagon.
A man with a black ski mask and helmet stepped forward.
“Hands up! If you resist, we will use force!”
“No!” Savannah, yelled from the ground behind us. “Don’t hurt the girl!” She stumbled to her feet, holding her hand to the left side of her face. “Do whatever you need with him, but do not – I repeat, DO NOT – harm her.”
Two men roughly grabbed Aiden on either side while the rest watched me warily. In the scuffle, I watched the silver glint of his lighter drop to the ground next to him.
“Make sure he’s contained,” Savannah directed, her voice authoritative and hoarse. “And take this one,” she nodded towards me, “directly to my office. I’ll need six escorts. Mitch and Tom need to be taken to the medical center immediately.” She pointed to the two men lying on the ground. Strauss was moaning as he stirred.
Aiden’s eyes met mine. I nodded once. Deftly, he kicked the lighter to me, sending it clattering across the asphalt. Before anyone could react, I quickly scooped it up, flicked it alight, then coaxed the flame into a basketball-sized fireball. I held it over my head between two hands. It grew larger and brighter as I stood there menacingly, burning so hot the flames were nearly blue. The ball of fire levitated in the air my hands, high above my head, illuminating the entire cavern in light. Savannah made a quick motion to the black-clad men to hold their positions, using her free hand. Her other hand was still protectively cupping the left side of her face. The room fell completely silent.
“Let us go,” I threatened calmly, “Or I’ll burn this entire place to the ground.”
“I was right,” Savannah whispered hoarsely, her green eyes flashing from the white-hot ball of fire in my hands, “You are a Pentamancer.”
The room erupted in gasps and feverish, hushed whispers. I didn’t falter.
“I said, let us go. Now.”
“I’m so sorry, Rowan, but I just can’t let you do that,” she said, holding both hands in front of her apologetically. I could see that the entire left side of her face was badly charred. Before I could reply, the ground abruptly opened up below me, and I tumbled into a deep pit, smacking my head on the asphalt as I fell. I could vaguely hear Aiden yelling my name as everything faded to black.
***
I heard a woman’s voice. It sounded garbled and far-away, as though someone were talking underwater.
“How is she?”
“She’s stable,” came a man’s voice, slightly clearer. “She sustained a concussion and several bruises from the fall. She also has a fairly large second-degree burn across the right side of her shoulder and back. What exactly happened to her?”
“When will she be awake?”
A pause. “Sometime in the next hour or so. She’s on a lot of pain medicine,” he replied. “Because of that, I’ll have to insist you wait on the tattoo until tomorrow. Her blood will be too thin now.”
“Let me know the moment she wakes up – do not speak with her, do not engage in any capacity. Just call me immediately… As for her friend, keep all flames and any sources of heat away from him at all times.”
“Yes, about your face…”
“I’ll deal with it later. I’ve got Heads from Istanbul calling. Just give me more pills for now…”
I drifted back into a troubled sleep. Around me, dark figures were moving in and out of my dreams. A green-eyed cobra was coiling itself around my wrist, sinking its fangs into my forearm. Aiden was calling my name, but he was trapped in the center of a dark maze and I kept coming up on dead ends. Strauss was watching me with narrowed eyes over a steaming cup of blood.
My eyes shot open.
I was lying in a small white room, surrounded by stainless steel medical equipment. The room was dim. A steady beep, beep, beep was sounding on the monitor beside my bed. My head was throbbing dully. The back of my right shoulder ached. My left forearm was burning. I tried to sit up, but my shoulders were strapped to the gurney. I could feel my wrists and ankles were fastened as well.
I lifted my head to survey myself; my clothes had been replaced by a light blue hospital gown. An IV was stuck in my right wrist. My eyes followed the tube to a bag of clear liquid hanging from a metal stand beside the bed. My left forearm was covered in a square of white gauze, but I couldn’t reach it to pull it off.
An Asian man in his mid-forties entered then, holding a clipboard. He was wearing a white lab coat and scrub cap.
“Rowan, hello,” he greeted me softly. My entire body tensed. “My name is Dr. Steven Chen; I’m the Chief Medical Officer here.” He pulled up a chair to the bed, tossing his clipboard behind him on the counter.
“I was at your assessment, but I got called away before we could meet…I’ve been told you had an accident during initiation tonight,” he said, his voice lowered. “However, it seems clear to me that you’ve been through some kind of trauma.”
I glared at him openly, saying nothing.
Dr. Chen leaned back in his chair slightly, regarding the restraining straps on my chest and wrists. He looked… upset.
“I’d like to assure you that this isn’t how things are normally done in my hospital…”
I raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“I’m going to release you from these restraints now,” he continued, rising from his chair. “Savannah is expecting me to call her the moment you wake up, but I have some questions I’d like to ask you first. Can we have an agreement that you won’t do anything rash if I do that?”
“Where’s Aiden?” I asked then. My throat felt raw.
“He’s recovering in a room, much like this one, on the floor below us. He is in slightly better shape than you are, with only a hairline sternal fracture and some residual fluid in his lungs. He’s extremely lucky,” he added.
“I want to see him,” I said quickly. “I’ll answer any questions you have if you swear you’ll let me see him once we’re through.” Dr. Chen nodded, leaning forward to unclasp the leather straps on my shoulders and wrists. Immediately, I sat up, removing the ointment-covered gauze from my left forearm. There, etched deep into my skin, was the five-pointed star of the Pentamancer, encrusted by my own blood.
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Horrified, I traced a finger over the raised black skin on my arm. I let out a choked sob as my eyes filled with tears.
Dr. Chen was standing a few feet away, clenching his jaw in what appeared to be distress.
“I’m so sorry,” he said after a moment. “I told them not to do it, to wait until you were awake and the pain killers were out of your system. It must have been done when I was downstairs treating your friend.”
My shoulders shook as I tried to stifle another sob.
“I didn’t realize the tattoo was being given against your will,” he said quietly, taking a seat in the chair beside me again. I could see him eyeing the star, a peculiar expression on his face. I laid the gauze back over it, not wanting to have to look at it. “Would you please tell me what exactly transpired tonight?”
I don’t know why I chose to trust him just then, but something inexplicable made me feel that I could.
“I came here tonight to find answers about my parents,” I started, my voice shaking as I spoke. “I found out that they killed them, this chapter. It was in my father’s file.”
Dr. Chen’s eyes widened, but he let me continue speaking without interrupting.
“Savannah, Tom, and Strauss found us in the fourth floor and said that Aiden and I would be forced to join the Order. When we refused and tried to leave, they took us down to the arena. They… they almost drowned him,” I choked, my voice catching in my ragged throat. “The three of them, they attacked us. I tried to get them to let us go – I threatened them, I was desperate to help my – my friend. But they called in reinforcements. We were surrounded. It was Savannah who knocked me out.”
Dr. Chen’s jaw had dropped. He raised his hand to his face, fretfully obscuring his open mouth. His other hand was clenched in a fist.
“Can you take me to Aiden?” I pleaded, trying to blink back tears. “I just need to know that he’s okay. It’s my fault that he’s hurt. I brought him here.”
Dr. Chen glanced over his shoulder into the small, dark hospital outside my room.
“Savannah is waiting for you to wake up,” he said softly, leaning towards me. “She’ll be down here to check on you any minute.”
“Will you help me?” I whispered, leaning forward. “Will you help us leave?”
He paused for a fraction of an instant, then exhaled heavily. “I’ve had my misgivings about certain practices occurring throughout this place for some time; tonight, you’ve confirmed that those suspicions have been vastly underestimated on my part. I’m going to let you go, but for my own sake, if you’ll forgive me, I’ll have to make it look like I tried to stop you. If Savannah comes to check in the next few minutes, I’ll stall her as long as I can for you.”
I could only nod my thanks as hot tears spilled from my eyes.
“Take the stairs, three doors to your left, down one floor. Aiden is in a room directly across from the second-floor stairs. Don’t linger; I won’t be able to help you if you’re discovered. The stairs will exit outside on the ground floor, on the north side of the building.”
He rose to unclasp my ankle restraints, then came back around the bed to gently remove the IV in my wrist. He pointed to my clothes, which were piled on the table next to the hospital bed, then turned around to allow me some privacy.
Quickly, shakily, I pulled myself out of bed and began pulling on my black pants. Dr. Chen was rummaging through a drawer behind me. I pulled my shirt on over my head, wincing as the fabric dragged across my bandaged right shoulder. A huge hole had been burned into the cotton, but I couldn’t remember from what. When I carefully shrugged into my leather jacket, that too, to my profound dismay, had a gaping hole across the right shoulder and back.
The fireball, I quickly realized. It must have fallen on me when I fell into the pit.
“You were badly burned in the arena,” Dr. Chen said from behind me. I turned around and watched him place a tube of something atop a pile of fresh gauze. “Take this.” He handed me the gauze and the tube of burn cream. “Change the gauze twice a day. Keep the burns clean so they don’t become infected.”
I took the small pile of supplies from him, stuffing everything into my jacket pocket.
“It’s also imperative that you monitor your friend for pneumonia,” he cautioned. “It’s not atypical for it to develop within twenty-four hours of near-drowning.”
“Thank you,” I whispered softly. “For everything.”
He gently placed his hand on my left shoulder. I noticed his eyes were red-rimmed. Somewhere outside, we heard the elevator hum to life.
“Go! Now!” he hissed, gently pushing me to the door. I took one last grateful look at him before I ran.
Behind me, I heard the sound of medical supplies and furniture clattering to the ground in the hospital room. A few moments later, across the floor, I heard the elevator ding. I didn’t look back as I hurriedly bolted into the stairwell, clamoring down the steps two at a time until I got to the doorway that lead to the second level. I shoved through the heavy door and raced across the tiled floor to the small, dimly-lit room directly across from the stairwell.
Aiden’s eyes had been closed, but they immediately shot open when I entered.
“Aspen!” he cried out hoarsely. “You’re okay!” I quickly raised a finger to my lips as I hurried to unclasp his chest and wrist straps.
“Get your ankles,” I instructed, “We don’t have much time.”
He quickly did so as I gathered his clothes from across the room. I tossed them to him as he pulled the IV from his hand, then turned to keep an eye out from the doorway.
“How did you escape?” he asked, pulling his shirt over his head. He had layers of bandages wrapped around his chest – to inhibit excess movement, I presumed. I heard him groan from underneath the shirt.
“No time, we need to go,” I urged him as his head poked through the top. He nodded, pulling on his jacket.
Aiden took my hand as we ran across the hospital floor to the stairwell. As the door clicked shut behind us, I was fairly certain I heard the ding from the elevator sound from across the floor. We bolted down the stairs, stumbling here and there from the fog of the pain killers, until we got to the ground floor. Aiden shouldered the door open and we burst outside into the cool night air.
“They’ve probably disabled the security gate code,” Aiden whispered. “We’ll waste time if we stop to try it; I think we need to climb the fence.”
I warily surveyed the ten-foot high wrought-iron fence in front of us. The wind was blowing the stooped branches of old oak trees, making them sway and snap against the top of the fence. How are we supposed to get over that? I thought disparagingly. Suddenly I heard Jo’s thunderous voice in my head.
Ha! Show me any old Water-monger who can fly!
“I have an idea,” I said, motioning Aiden to the fence. “On my count, jump.”
He gave me a skeptical look but obligatorily poised his hands over his head as I did.
“One… two… three… jump!” I cried, drawing the wind beneath us. It gathered under our feet and lifted us up, bolstering our jumps into a vault. As my hair wildly whipped around my face, I felt my hands close around the cold metal railing at the top of the fence. The raw skin on my back and shoulder protested painfully as I hoisted myself up. Beside me, Aiden was grunting in pain.
Somehow, we managed to pull ourselves up and over the fence, then dropped to the sidewalk on the other side. My ankle stung as I landed on it awkwardly. Aiden fell on his knee, grimacing in pain. We helped each other up, then ran, limping, across the street to his car.
As I flung open the passenger side door, the side door to the building simultaneously flew open. I recognized Savannah’s curvy silhouette standing in the light of the doorway before she was flanked on either side by about a dozen more people. Aiden saw them, too.
He shoved the key in the ignition as the ground below us started shaking, hitting the gas pedal the instant the engine growled to life. The entire car jolted as the back tires abruptly dropped. I looked in the sideview mirror just in time to see the street behind the rear wheels of Aiden’s Jeep crumble away into a newly-formed abyss.
“I see it!” Aiden yelled, turning a knob on the dashboard and flooring the gas. We shot forward, flying down the street at a speed that made me sink into the back of the leather seat. My stomach lurched into my throat.
Aiden whooped. “Thank God I opted for the all-wheel drive!”
He started laughing. I stared at him dumbfounded, but a moment later I couldn’t help but laugh, myself. We devolved into hysterics as we sped away, slap-happy from having escaped the horrible events of the night. In hindsight, the residual pain medication may have also had something to do with it.
“Dr. Chen helped me escape,” I said breathlessly, once my maniacal giggles had finally subsided. “He told me where to find you. I guess that means not all the Chapter Heads are pure evil.”
Aiden nodded thoughtfully, his expression serious again. We got onto the highway, westbound, cruising about fifteen miles an hour over the posted speed limit.
“What do we do now?” I asked numbly, absentmindedly reaching for my necklace. Thank God I didn’t lose it back there, I thought, washed by momentary relief.
“I don’t know,” he replied grimly. “But I know we can’t go home.”
We were both quiet for a moment as we dismally considered the full weight of our present situation.
“What did you find back there, in those files?” I asked quietly.
He opened his mouth to answer; just then his cell phone started vibrating in the cupholder.
“It’s Robert,” he said, reaching for it. “Evelyn might be with him.” My stomach knotted. I looked at the clock. It was nearly one in the morning.
“Robert?” he asked, taking the phone, “Is that you?” He pressed a button on the steering wheel and I could hear Robert’s voice crackle through the car speakers.
“Aiden, yes, it’s me. Sorry for the late-night call. I have Evelyn here with me. We caught an early flight back to Colorado at her insistence. We’re outside Aspen’s house but she’s not answering. Any chance she’s with you?”
“I’m here,” I answered quickly. “Get away from my house, and from Evelyn’s. The Asterians will be looking for us. You can’t stay there.”
I heard Evelyn’s frantic, muffled voice in the background.
“Meet us at the University, Aiden,” Professor Borstein instructed. “At the place where we had that argument over Bacon – you know the place I’m talking about?”
“Yes, I remember,” Aiden answered. He glanced at me to make sure I was okay with meeting them. I nodded, giving him an accompanying quizzical look. “We’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
“Wait,” I remembered suddenly. “Robert, can you and Evelyn do me a very quick favor before you leave?”
“Yes, of course…?” His reply came more as a question.
“Evelyn knows where I hide a spare key near the front porch. Can you ask her to go inside and grab the envelope under the right side of my mattress? Please tell her not to put the key back when she’s done.”
Robert said something muffled to Evelyn, then a moment later he came back on the line.
“Okay, we’re doing that now, then coming straight to meet you both.”
“Listen, Robert,” Aiden said, “I need you to stay on the phone in the meantime. A lot has happened since last week…”
I looked out the window at the passing lights on the highway, tuning out the rest of their conversation. The events of the evening were coming back to me, flooding me with panic and about a dozen negative emotions. My head ached as I tried to block the unrelenting images flashing before my eyes… Aiden slumped motionlessly over the pool, Tom’s bloody face, filled with menace and ire, Savannah’s dark silhouette in the courtyard as she tried to prevent our escape… The words in my father’s file…
…their public resistance resulted in critical measures…
…unauthorized neuro-electrocution… wittingly administered by her mother…
…presumed deceased…
Those last words hit me like a punch in the gut. I tried to force it all away, not ready to deal with those emotions yet, but one haunting line from my father’s file stuck with me in that moment, refusing to be pushed aside: Rowan’s only other known surviving (non-biological) relative is her step-grandmother, Evelyn…
Why? I wondered, numbly, as the passing lights outside became hazy blurs. Why didn’t she tell me?
February 20, 2019
The second book is HERE!
Hi Everyone!
The second installment of THE LIGHTNING CONJURER series, aptly entitled THE ENLIGHTENING, is done! Both the paperback and the e-book will be available March 11, but you can reserve your Kindle version today!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NZRZPLV
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PS – Selene Regener, a.k.a. Selenada, made the cover art. Isn’t it incredible? 
February 11, 2019
THE AWAKENING just got a stunning new makeover!
Hi everyone, Rachel [R] here! I’m so happy that I can FINALLY share the amazing news! We’ve just published the stunning new book cover for THE LIGHTNING CONJURER: THE AWAKENING, custom designed by the incomparable Selene Regener:
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I never could have dreamed that Aspen could be brought to life so perfectly. This series is the single proudest achievement of my life and worth every painstaking moment of the hundreds of hours I – and others – have poured into it. Thank you to everyone who’s reached out in some way to support the series. It means more than you can imagine! 
If you or someone you know loves fantasy novels with plenty of magical realism and a dash of romance, I would be honored if you would help share the love – and the new design! (The e-book cover has been distributed; the paperback will only be a day or so behind). https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H9K3BF7
To check out more stunning work by Selene, check out her Deviant Art page: https://www.deviantart.com/selenada/gallery/
January 25, 2019
What Kind of Elementalist Are You?[QUIZ]
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE HAVE A HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT! You no longer have to wonder in angst and agony about what kind of Elementalist you are, because WE’VE MADE YOU A FAILPROOF, 100% ACCURATE ELEMENTALIST QUIZ! 
December 22, 2018
Special Treat – Hurry Hurry!
Rachel A. here! I have a special treat for you! The first 18 chapters of The Lightning Conjurer – The Awakening are available to you to read on the blog from now until New Year’s Eve. This is your chance to get caught up with the blog before we start posting new chapters – binge read away! Happy Holidays! 
December 3, 2018
November 27, 2018
#MinorSpoiler…. Shhhh!⚡
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