Chapter 77: Chapter 77
Nervous, I stepped onto the herringbone parquet floor, at the request of the masters of the house. I realised after a few minutes that they wanted me to speak, and I immediately cursed myself for having removed Carmichael, who usually did this. I hoped to mask my fear of speaking in public, and was encouraged by Eric, Thomas, and Johnny, who waved at me with thumbs up.
“Good evening,” I said, my voice slightly hoarse with stress. “Thank you all for coming tonight.”
I took a deep breath, before continuing.
“As you must have learned, we have inadvertently freed some very old castes. We have been manipulated by Blake Burton Race, whom you surely know by name, and because of this error, castes of incredible power are now seeking even greater power.”
I paused, the silence in the room wasn’t reassuring. The words I was going to choose had to hit the mark and the pressure on my shoulders was all the heavier. All the people present this evening supported us, it was a certainty, but were they going to fight? Nothing was less certain.
“I would like to sincerely apologise for being the cause of this danger that threatens you. I never wanted to, and I would lay down my life to redeem myself if necessary. If it hasn’t already been done, they will soon come to force you to serve them, to fight those who refuse years of servitude: our camp, that of Carmichael and me, the one who proposes that you preserve your freedom and, above all, your free will. So, as queen of our community, I will not order anyone to fight for me. I will ask you to fight for you, for us and our children to come. Those who remain behind will not be bothered by your King or by me, your Queen. But this is about survival: the survival of our way of life, the survival of our values. I met them, I know what they want and I know the danger they represent to this world. The future at their side will not be like the present, you know, tell yourself that. But there is hope. I killed Blake Burton Race, I killed their sister Egeria, and I killed one of them again a few days ago in New York. I’m not going to lie to you, they say a lot about my powers, but, alone against them and all their army, I’ll not prevail, while all together, we have a chance to win. A tiny chance perhaps, but a chance nonetheless. I don’t know when yet, but the day will come when the great battle will take place, and then we will be stationed on the side of good. And that’s all that matters to me. The question now is whether you’ll be by my side.”
I ended my speech, and the silence continued. I began to squirm, very uncomfortable, but the first applause came to reassure me, others followed. I then heaved a sigh of relief and found myself smiling. The guests came successively to shake my hand and declare their warm words of support. I knew then that the game was won and went to hug my friends standing not far from there.
“You were wonderful, Eve,” said Thomas.
“You convinced them,” added Eric.
Relieved by their words, I followed Adam and Amelia behind the main table, and settled into a black velvet armchair, set up for the occasion. The first courses were served, but as the minutes passed and despite Amelia’s regular conversation, I became bored. My face didn't let it show. My friends were seated a little further away, near the two entrance doors. All the guests were ecstatic, conversing, laughing or tasting their dishes, while paying generous attention to me, and for all that, I had never felt so alone. I became aware of Carmichael’s absence and was seized with a certain gloom. I wanted to give him some news, to tell him how our cause was progressing in Paris and how I had managed to convince ours in his absence. I was proud of it and wanted to share it with him. And above all, I missed him. Putting my anger aside for a moment, I couldn’t resist a furious urge to call him, so I left the table for a few minutes and moved away to the side of one of the windows to dial his number.
“Hello, is it you, sweetie?” he asked as soon as he answered.
Hearing him constricted my throat, for even though I resented him to death, it was always pleasant to hear the sound of his dark voice calling me sweetie, as he had cheekily done ever since our first meeting. And at that moment, he had said it in a way that showed surprise in his vulnerable intonation.
“I’m in Paris,” I declared without showing my confusion.
“I know,” he said. “How is it going?”
“Very well,” I replied, “you would be proud to…”
A terrible crash covered the end of my sentence and surprised me to the point that I dropped the phone. A huge hole formed in the wall facing the street, the windows shattered as the cut stones were expelled one by one into the street, by an invisible force. I whirled around towards the assembly, and before I had time to take a breath, all the window-side guests were screaming, their eyes weeping blood before life suddenly escaped from their bodies. As if their brains were compressed from the inside, none resisted, and they died in a few seconds, after excruciating psychic suffering. A very powerful force was the cause, and I suppressed a gag at such an abominable sight. Terrible screams reached my ears as my mind tried to repress these images. The bodies of about thirty castes fell like stones to the ground. Then silence. Dead silence. Heavy breathing and strangled cries punctuated the next few seconds, when at last I perceived, through the gaping hole in the building, Priam the usurper, levitating, contemplating his massacre, a satisfied smile on his lips. Two of his brothers, one of whom I had already met in New York, flew alongside him. My blood only boiled.
I levitated at top speed to the centre of the room, facing the huge hole in the wall. I erected my barrier, protecting the rest of the guests behind me. Priam, as soon as he discovered me, was seized with a morbid burst of laughter; so I ignored him and turned my head in Adam’s direction. He immediately understood my approach and telepathically sent my recommendations to flee to all the guests present. But the doors were closed, it was impossible for them to leave. Amelia tried, using other telekinetics, to open them, but Priam, or perhaps his brothers, blocked access. We were all trapped, and a wave of panic ran through the large room. It was then that I decided to measure my strength against that of my enemies, and focused all my attention on the double doors, each facing the other and at each end of the room. I felt the resistance of another power preventing me from quickly executing my plan. I strengthened my concentration to destroy them. A hole formed in the middle of the door, then grew larger as if someone were drilling into it. In thought I summoned the debris, and in a burst of fury I threw it out through the opening in the wall. Priam and his minions tried to return my attack, but I thwarted them by ejecting the stones, which had fallen on the pavement earlier, straight in their direction. They were expelled so quickly that one of the brothers didn’t have time to protect himself and received one in the face. The guests fled and I saw another brother of Priam’s try to enter the building to prevent them. I blocked him using my powers, while Eric, Thomas and Johnny came to stand behind me. Priam tried to take control of the stones, but, already subject to my will, he only succeeded in disposing of a few. I saw from his expression that it made him very angry. And this anger rose to a crescendo, since he levitated a car parked in front of the hotel and threw it straight towards the interior of the great hall. I blocked the vehicle in the air, using it to parry the projectiles our enemies were now launching in our direction, and took advantage of these few seconds of respite to think about how to get us out of this mess. When, suddenly, I felt the car being snatched from my control with incredible violence. It flew so far in the air that in a few seconds, it disappeared from sight. This time I got scared because it was Althea levitating towards us. The sound of police sirens was approaching. Panicking, I reinforced the telekinetic barrier and realised that the guests had already used the emergency exits. I studied the whole situation. My friends by my side were in danger and alone against Althea and Priam I had no chance. Had I been absolutely mad to part ways with Carmichael and a whole battalion of castes at a time like this?! I would have slapped myself thinking about it, but I didn’t have time for that. I had to think of a strategy. Thomas and Eric certainly couldn’t beat the two younger brothers, who would stop them as soon as they attempted an attack. I no longer had a choice. An idea came to me. A crazy idea, but necessary. An idea that would protect my friends and my community, at least for a while.
“Come, Everliegh!” shouted Priam, confirming again that they had come to attack us for me, and only me.
While maintaining my invisible shield, I turned to my friends.
“Trust me,” I tell them.
I looked up at the ceiling, which spat dust. A crashing noise startled my friends, the building was collapsing. As soon as the first blocks of stones reached us, I brought the shield back to a narrower perimeter, protecting us from the rubble of the building which was collapsing above our heads. A huge cloud of dust formed in place of Adam and Amelia’s old mansion, and I found myself hoping that they wouldn’t be too angry with me for destroying their home, while I rushed through the dust towards the back of the building, my friends protected by my side. I approached a gap in the wall and widened it using my powers, leaving a passage to the street adjacent to where our enemies were. A Volkswagen Passat was idling as the cloud of debris swept down the street. The occupant, intrigued, looked through his window, trying to understand the phenomenon. I stopped the car with a wave of my hand, my thoughts going to the door, which I opened violently, ejecting the driver in the process. Police vehicles came screeching as we got into the car. Johnny at the wheel, me at his side, Eric and Thomas in the back.
Johnny pressed the accelerator pedal, sped between two cop cars, and took the street opposite at full speed. In a skid, he spun the car whose tires squealed, and entered the rue Vaugirard.
“They’re behind us!” Thomas called.
Johnny sped off with a bang, while I turned in my seat and watched figures in the back standing on different vehicles, following us at high speed. I concentrated on the Passat and accelerated the car. A red light created a traffic jam a little further, about twenty cars blocked our passage. I established my centre there and pushed the vehicles aside, leaving just enough room for the Passat to rush between them. Johnny sped up again, one mirror smashing into another as I focused my attention on the road ahead, and helped him go faster with my powers. Behind us, suddenly, police cars burst alongside our pursuers. I then thought of a way to put my plan into execution without there being any other deaths than our enemies.
“Take the ring road towards the A13,” I said as calmly as possible to Johnny, who skidded and went to take the ring road fork.
My decision was made. The Passat was speeding along, slaloming between the cars on the road, the late hour of the night leaving us free to move around, which would have been impossible in the middle of the day. Our enemies didn’t relax their chase and followed us, when suddenly a black truck burst in behind us and hit the fender. We were propelled forwards and then backwards with incredible violence. The Passat’s fender now trailed behind, half detached from the car.
Johnny arrived at Porte d’Auteuil and rushed down the lane that led to the A13. We crossed the bridge, over the Seine, in the direction of Versailles; further on, the Eiffel Tower shone with its thousands of twinkling lights. We were about to enter a tunnel before long, when I decided to take action. I unbuckled my seatbelt, raised my hands, and tore the roof off the car with an effort of concentration. The sheet metal crashed into the road and twisted under the wheels of the huge black truck. Johnny let out a cry of surprise as I pushed my passenger seat back and stood up.
“What are you doing?!” yelled Thomas.
I remained silent and stood upright in my seat. I turned towards the back of the vehicle and met Thomas and Eric’s gaze. My hair whipped my face, Daz’s bun had already not survived our flight to rue Saint-Sulpice. Eric tried to pull away to grab my hands, followed by his brother, lest I do something stupid. One look from me let them know I knew what I was doing, and with a thought I kept their seat belts fastened. I looked up at the truck. Above the driver’s cabin stood Althea, palms open, commanding the machine, alongside the police cars and other vehicles pursuing us. And as Johnny approached the tunnel, I bent down to his level and whispered a few words in his ear. Johnny looked up at me, appalled by my words. I kissed him on the cheek. Thomas and Eric saw it as a bad omen and ripped off their seat belts. But it was too late, I knew what I was doing, and immobilised them in their seats.
Johnny rushed into the tunnel at top speed. Stabilising myself upright thanks to my telekinetic powers, I raised my hands. The din of speeding cars grew louder inside the tunnel. In an extra effort of concentration, I stopped the cars of night passers-by at the entrance and exit of the tunnel, to let only my enemies pass. The others, already in the tunnel, I expelled them towards the exits, trying to cause as little damage as possible. The huge black truck was coming dangerously close to us. I put my palms above my head and concentrated like I’d never done before. A rumble escaped from the walls of the tunnel and the first cracks formed. Althea made an impatient gesture and tried, by telekinesis, to eject the Passat against the walls. My shield stopped her. I felt her strength and struggled to keep us stable as I executed my plan. She accelerated the truck, but my energy was already multiplying and went to insinuate itself into each gap of the tunnel walls. The roar grew louder and the entrance to the tunnel began to collapse with a deafening crash. Then it struck me how quickly the walls gave way, and one by one the cars of our assailants were buried under the rubble. Althea, upright on her truck, and, further on, Priam, controlling a police car, slowed down and took position in order to save themselves from the collapse of the tunnel above their heads. As I ejected myself from the Passat and propelled it at breakneck speed towards the exit, huge blocks came crashing down on top of me.
The dust invaded the sky and, farther, much farther, the Passat rushed at full speed, Johnny at the wheel. My friends were safe.
The rubble surrounded me, the black dust clung to my skin and I couldn’t see more than two metres, so thick was the cloud. I heard them coming, and without a word they just stood there, levitating, waiting for me to speak. I faced Priam and Althea, and told them what I had come to tell them.
“I’ll follow you.”
Althea let out a satisfied grin. Priam claps with both hands. And that’s how I made the decision to join the Five.