06/19/14
Return to Scribbleworks Publications
Today we are releasing a teaser for Joan Darcy & the 27 Observer, In the Eye of the Beholder, Book two, Part one.
Salivate away...
Chapter
15
“I
don’t want to talk to you right now.” Miranda stated for the fifteenth time in
a row to Joan. Whenever Milton tried to ask what was going on between them he
was shouted down by both Joan and Miranda and was further told by his sister to
“Shut up”. They had just exited the limousine in the OBSVR facilities parking
lot, Miranda stormed into the atrium, Joan and Milton on her heels. Silently
they took the escalator down towards the tunnel.
Workers
were in the process of starting the next phase of construction, of the atrium
building, and replacing all the broken panes of glass at the same time. The
sound of construction blocked out all sounds on the escalator. When they
reached the bottom Miranda turned on her brother. “I need to talk to Joan alone
I want you to go to back to the apartment, we’ll be right behind you.”
Milton
eyed his sister then Joan wondering what was going on. He wanted to rejoice in
the total humiliation of the four seniors ganging up on him and his sister. Why
were they so unhappy? With hesitation he turned away to get some ice cream and
celebrate alone. They watched Milton walk, slouch shouldered, until he
disappeared into the tunnel towards the elevator to the apartment.
Joan
and Miranda began to circle each other as though they mimicked two big horned
sheep waiting for the right time to ram their horns together. Miranda dropped
her backpack onto the floor before she started in. She needed her hands
available to exaggerate what needed to be said.
“What
were you doing? How could you?” Miranda spat. “I just saved your butt.” Joan
spat back. “Not then, don’t even get me started on that! I’m talking about
Reed! You just stabbed me and Mill in the back. We trusted you!”
Joan
didn’t know what to say immediately. She was hurt, hurt down to her heart. Her
soul ached. Miranda shouted out “Why!”
“I’m
in love with Mill, you know that but I do like Reed. I would have never
initiated a kiss but when he pulled me in close I... I... I didn’t push him
away. It was romantic... It was like Ash.”
“What!”
Miranda shouted.
“No, I
didn’t kiss Ash.” Joan quickly corrected. “I still don’t know what he even
looks like. I meant that it was like you said. He pulled you in close and
before you kissed him. Well, I did almost the same thing. Reed pulled me in
close and I let him kiss me. I was getting so hot, I wanted it. There I said
it! I wanted him to kiss me.” Joan spat it out, she started to cry, her
feelings of betrayal stabbing deep inside her chest now.
Joan
understood the whole affair better now. The heat that built up inside made her
desire many things, like closeness, intimacy, and... She didn’t want to say it but she still felt
it inside. It made her want things outside her relationship with Milton. It
made her crazy in her head. “I’ve never had a boyfriend before and I don’t
remember what it’s like to have boys want me. It makes me feel good. But I need
to remember Milton and his feelings, I need to remember you. I can’t believe I
let him kiss me, I’m sorry! I didn’t know what I was thinking.”
Miranda
threw her hands in the air. “You! You! You think I’m any different! But I
didn’t kiss another boy! You had tons of opportunities to be with boys for more
than three hundred years but I’ve only had one. Don’t you compare yourself with
me! You’ve never been a normal person in the way the rest of us are. But
affairs of the heart bring us all together making you the same as the rest of
us. You have another obligation to remember and his name is Mill!” Joan sobbed
openly as though she were mortally wounded. She tried to defend herself. “But I
don’t remember any of those times and I only want Mill.”
Miranda
pressed forward not considering her plea. “Why did he come to the school
anyway? He had to skip a class or two to come here. What was so important, a
kiss?” Miranda asked snidely, still hot under the collar.
“Yes.
He said he was in love with me and he couldn’t live without me. He wanted me to
come back to Central high. He made this whole list of items that made him a
better candidate than Mill to be my boyfriend.” Joan revealed quickly still
fighting back tears.
“Really?”
Miranda’s tune suddenly changed. It did sound very romantic. She remembered
acutely what one kiss can do. “All this based on the one kiss you gave him in
the locker room two months ago?”
Joan
had Reed hold her backpack containing the artifacts of the telescope and
compact until after her basketball practice one afternoon, keeping it safe from
Cassandra and her gang. “But you should have of fought him off.” Miranda
reasserted.
“That
was the second kiss I gave him.” Joan corrected. “The first was on the cheek
after he gave me some of his spare clothes to keep warm.” Joan made an
involuntary chuckle when she recalled what transpired. Prior to that moment,
she remembered being dragged into the cold water of the showers after gym,
which included her gym clothes, by Cassandra and her goons. Reed felt bad for
her and offered a set of warm clothes he had tucked away in his locker. “After
I kissed him on the cheek he had a kind of spasm right there in the hall and
fell to the floor. It was funny to watch. I wasn’t with Mill then.”
Miranda
was able to see more clearly why Reed wanted to reach out to Joan. A beautiful
girl that kissed him twice when they weren’t even dating? If Reed let slip
information like that to all the nerds in the school the line to find Joan
would impress even the Guinness Book of World Records Miranda thought.
Miranda
considered everything that Joan had said. It was hard to hate her. Miranda
softened her grip on the moment. She could see that Joan was visibly hurt by
the whole affair. “Do you promise that you’ll never kiss Reed again?” Joan
wiped the streaks off her face before nodding. She never wanted this to ever
happen again. She was going to swear off any boy that didn’t have the name of
Milton Caldwell. “I promise.”
Miranda
approached Joan to give her a hug. Joan opened her arms to received Miranda,
she needed that hug. Miranda reminded Joan of something very important. “You
still have to tell Mill. He needs to know. It’s better to hear it from you then
someone else, because if he hears it from Reed, for example, you may never make
amends afterwards.” Joan nodded agreeing with her friend. “Yea, okay.”
Joan
followed with, “I’m so glad I got to you guys in time at the doors. That Terry
guy...” Anger flared in Miranda’s eyes all over again. When Miranda was inches
from embracing her friend she changed her hand posture and pushed Joan instead.
Joan fell over backwards not expecting to be off her footing. Miranda put her
pointer finger in Joan’s face. I can’t believe what you did. You almost killed
me with that cane! What were you thinking! You don’t go around swinging that
thing like you did...” Miranda turned on her heel, grabbed her bag and was off.
She stormed through the tunnel all the way back to the apartment. Joan
sputtered, “But...but...” She sobbed again. Could she do nothing right?
It was
clear that Miranda needed to be angry. If the Reed item was off the table then
the fight would be a good substitution. Miranda didn’t release anger easily,
she knew that. But it didn’t make Joan feel any better. She was a little hot
headed when she saw the seniors holding Milton down on the floor and Miranda
hostage when she attacked with her cane. Perhaps she should have approached the
situation a little differently. Her heart still ached. Normalcy was over rated
she thought.
Miranda
sat in the kitchen with Milton having a glass of milk when Joan stepped off the
lift. She gave Joan a contemptuous look before storming out of the kitchen to
her room slamming the door behind her.
“What
is going on?” Milton demanded. His head spinning back from his sister storming
away to staring towards a down trodden girlfriend. “Is there something wrong to
winning a fight against Terry and his thugs?” Milton added.
Joan
wanted to talk about the kiss and forget the fight. She wanted to get that one
problem off her chest. It was a heavy weight.
Milton
continued. “I have you two fighting, there was the fighting with the seniors,
which was a fantastic by the way, and there was a page for Joan Darcy at the
school today. I want to talk to you guys about what I heard...”
Miranda
stormed back into the kitchen, Milton went quiet to watch what his sister would
do. She unexpectedly grabbed his hand then dragged him away. “We’re going to be
late if we don’t get going.”
“Wait!
I want to talk about this, it’s important!” Milton pleaded. “We’ll talk later.”
Miranda scowled. “Now come on!” Milton tried to break his sister’s grip on his
arm. It was like a vise and it started to hurt. “Let me go. What’s wrong with
you two?”
Joan
never said a word. She watched Milton go into the lift and disappear still able
to hear his disgruntled mutterings as the lift fell away. Joan threw herself
onto the couch. She ached for forgiveness, her heart was so sore. Miranda
succeeded in prolonging Joan’s pain. Perhaps that was her plan all along.
Two
minutes later the lift arrived. Miss Margrette stepped out. “Are you ready to
go?”
Joan
sat up. She pondered on the question. “Go where?”
“I’m
here to escort you to Mr. Burnelle’s office. Did you forget?” “Uh, yea.” Joan
said as she slid off the couch to follow. Together they entered the elevator.
Miss
Margrette turned to Joan to ask a question. “I passed Miranda pulling Milton to
the Resident Facilities under protest. He seemed pretty vocal. Is there a
problem?”
Joan
looked to the floor. “I did something to hurt several people including my
friends. Milton just doesn’t know it yet.”
“Do
you want to talk about it?” Miss Margrette asked.
Joan
shook her head lightly. Miss Margrette pushed further. “Does it have something
to do with the four boys at the emergency room right now?” Their eyes met for a
moment of surprise before Joan returned her gaze to the seam in the floor tile.
When the elevator doors opened revealing the titanium lined walls of the tunnel
Joan attempted to walk out but an arm held her back. “Or does it have to do
with Reed Alwaiss asking for Joan Darcy at school today?”
“Is
there anything you don’t know?” Joan asked harshly as she pulled her arm free,
remembering the lack of privacy in the family’s affairs.
“There
is much I am not informed about. For instance, I do not know why there are four
boys in the ER or the fact that you kissed Reed Alwaiss in the hallway with the
woman at the desk watching, not to mention Miranda. I have many ideas about
what you’re feeling. I was young once, and impetus. I broke a few hearts in my
time too. But beating on four boys? Come on... We talked about that. Invisible,
remember? With Reed though, what’s going on is kind of ‘A right of passage’.
You must go through it alone and I can’t tell you how you should feel or how to
deal with it, but I can provide some ground rules. First, I would not beat up
anymore boys at school.”
Joan
began to protest. “They were beating up Milton...”
“It
doesn’t matter what they did.” Miss Margrette said. “Invisible is the way to
be. If those bullies want money, give it to them. I need you to understand that
your friends need to finish out this school year. We have more money than the
bullies can handle if came to it. Remember, you will never be in need on money,
ever. Neither will your new family. Second, when it comes to other boys, look
into your heart. It will never fail you. It may get broken a few times but it
will never fail. Third, when it comes to Reed, you can never see him again. I’m
sure you understand the many reasons why you cannot see him anymore.”
Joan
began to protest again but Miss Margrette forestalled her. “Everyone in your
inner circle is in constant danger. Do you wish to grow this circle to include
people you cannot show feelings for?” Joan went silent knowing that she was
right.
Several
moments passed between them where their eyes were the only things being
searched. Miss Margrette started again. “In time you will understand what I’m
saying, not today, maybe not even next week, but one day. Now come, you have an
important session to attend.”
Miss
Margrette stood in the elevator watching Joan stand in front of the door to Mr.
Burnelle’s office. Joan looked at the large number 27 painted on the glass. In
her peripheral vision she could see Miss Margrette watching her but Joan did
not give her the satisfaction of knowing that. Miss Margrette held the elevator
until Number 27 invited Joan in before allowing the doors to close.
“Please
come in.” Mr. Burnelle said in his deep baritone voice. Joan entered. She took
in the office. The large desk held many lose papers and the globe was still
spinning feebly from a prior unknown use. The large comfortable chairs that
were usually in front of the desk were pushed back to their normal places
around his spacious office less two that were cloistered together with a coffee
table between them. Joan couldn’t help noticing that Number 27was busy before
her arrival.
Joan’s
eyes fell on the odd frame on the wall holding the partially oval glass near
the entrance. Number 27 noticed her gaze upon it but said nothing as he
approached. “Please come in, we have exciting things to talk about.” His vocal
tone bounded with excitement. The frown on Joan’s face deflated his energy. “Is
there something wrong?”
Joan
told a little white lie as to deflect another life lesson. “Boy problems.
That’s all.”
“Very
good then! It shows your integration into all forms of society to be moving
along rather well.” Joan tried to dispute his claim as to “Moving rather well”
but again she was forestalled. “You cannot move forward one step in life
without falling back three first. Life lessons, hard to come by, even harder to
live through. Now we move onward. I have an exciting plan of attack today. Are
you up to the challenge?”
With a
disgruntled nod she agreed to move on. Even if was only to move past the
uncomfortable position she felt cornered into. Number 27 led her to one of the
chairs around the coffee table. She noticed a tray of what looked like
applesauce cups and a single paper cup. At first it appeared to be empty but as
she approached she could see the vague form of a cut pill inside. Number 27
took the chair opposite of Joan. He sat quickly, his excitement still evident.
“Do you remember what we learned the last time?”
Joan
pondered a moment before answering. “I learned that the impending storm wasn’t
a traditional storm, it was an army marching on the castle.”
“Ahhhh,
yes! You see that first part has already changed into memory. When we departed
last, the dream only changed enough to recognize that the item seen at the
forests edge as being the tip of a lone standard, but now it has become the
leading edge of an encroaching army. Very good, very good indeed. Remember that
I explained your mind needed to absorb the changes we inflicted from the
hypnotization. What you will recall before we start today will reflect those
changes. Think a moment, the trees you remembered are now gone, am I correct?
They have been replaced by the members of the army you just mentioned.”
“Yea!”
Joan said in excitement. Dubious recollection filled her with surprise.
“What
else do remember about the changes?” Number 27 asked.
The
excitement over what was learned became infectious. Joan could feel the energy.
“I ran from the window to chase René. He was full of fun energy. The house
staff was full of fear though, some were crying. A woman told me to run as fast
as I could and hide.”
“There
we go! Another piece out. You last said that the woman said run child run. Hide
is the important addition here. Please continue. Number 27’s voice became
giddier, if that was possible.
“After
the woman finished speaking I run into the gentleman. He tells me to catch René
as fast as I can and hide, hide with him” Joan recited. Number 27 clapped his
hands. “‘Hide’ it is clear now. Danger is present, the staff is concerned about
yours and René’s safety. Then you run into your father and he said?”
Joan
opened her mouth to speak but no words formed. She could clearly see her father
taking hold of her arm. He shook her. He opened his mouth to speak but no words
come out this time. She remembered him asking where she had been. But now there
are no words. She could see René in the long hallway behind him. But he isn’t
laughing, he’s crying now, tears suddenly well up and run down Joan’s face at
the memory.
“What
do you see?” Number 27 asked with excitement thinking he was on the verge of
success.
“René
is crying, he’s really afraid and doesn’t know what to do. I don’t like the
expression on his face. I want to run to him, I want to protect him. But my
father still doesn’t say a word.” Joan sniffed and wiped her tears away.
“Very
well done indeed. You have made great strides since the last time we met. Now
to push on, I have the same drug here in my hand. I also have some apple sauce
here to mix in...” Joan cut him off.
“I had
another dream that is much closer to the current time. Maybe it’s more relevant
to finding the mirror.” Joan said.
Number
27 paused before shaking his head. “No, the dream we are currently working on
is where the crucial piece is hidden.
“But I
haven’t even told you the dream.” Joan replied. “How do you even know that the
dream with René is the correct one?”
The
color drained somewhat from Number 27’s face. He recomposed himself. “The
Observer Program knows many things and we know that this memory is the crucial
part of where the casket is hidden. We know that Sir Epheron is the one who
made the casket and how he orchestrated the original plans to hide it. We also
know that he is the one who hid the mirror. And finally we know that he died
trying to protect you and the mirror.”
“How
do you know?” Joan asked.
Number
27 took a deep breath. Clearly hoping this question would never arise for he
did not seem prepared to answer it.
“No
more lies.” Number 27 said out loud to no one but himself. Joan heard it but
she didn’t ask. She waited. He took a deep breath before he answered.
“I was
there.” Number 27 stated in a very defeated tone. He turned his gaze to the
floor.
Joan
stood out of her chair and backed away from him. Her chair fell over backwards
toppling to the floor. “What do you mean you were there? Did you watch them all
die?” Tears started to run down her face, the pain of the loss was too great to
hide.
Number
27 began to reveal the truth. “As you know, we can travel back in time with our
projectors. I went back to find out the truth of your dream. I knew the final
clue lay in the time just before the battle. But I cannot appear anywhere that
I choose. I could only enter at ground level where the villagers were
scrambling to get away from the invading army. I couldn’t rise through the
castle fast enough to gain the information nor could I help the family and
victims of the slaughter. I made many attempts.”
“The
slaughter?” Joan was openly sobbing now. The idea that Number 27 saw the deaths
of her only remembered family distressed her greatly. She backed further with a
mixture of fear and disgust on her face. “And you didn’t want to tell me?”
“I
feared that that if you knew some of the specifics about all their deaths you
wouldn’t be able to recall anything further from the dream. It would solidify
the dreams components and...”
Joan
was only able to focus of the word “Slaughter” then of her family. Images
flooded into her mind, bodies slain throughout the castle, blood everywhere.
Joan, who could barely speak over the distress of seeing these images in her
mind, choked on the next words she spoke. “You didn’t want to tell me because
it would upset your plans. I can see how the Observer’s plans override all
other concerns... Joan focused on the images in her mind again. “How did they
die? I only witnessed René’s death.”
“I
cannot put you through that. It would be too much to bear. Please remember that
they were only your foster family. Sir Epheron and René were not your real
father and brother.” Number 27 returned quickly, his tone pleading.
“They
were my family!” Joan spat out. “Who was the invading army?” Joan seethed her
last question with dangerous malice.
Number
27 paused. He didn’t want to reveal the army’s point of origin.
Joan
shouted again. “Who killed my family?”
The
sound of his own voice rang in Number 27’s ears. “No more lies.” With tears of
sorrow he finally uttered the truth. “The Catholic church.”
Joan
turned away to leave. Deadly intent evident on her face, and burning revenge
engulfed her heart. Joan knew what she had to do. Tears openly flowed down her
cheeks. Her hands were in fists. She had revenge on her mind and nothing was to
stop her, nothing. There would be no place on the planet to hide for those who
ran the church. Those who murdered, no, slaughtered her family had to die. Joan
made for the door.
Before
Joan reached the door however she heard the door lock. She turned to look at
Number 27. He held a small remote control device. It was pointed to the door.
Joan spat out, “You cannot stop me.”
“You
need to understand that your hatred of the church is based on its past, not the
current organization it is now.” Number 27 pleaded. “Those who gave the orders
to kill your first family are already gone.”
“I
don’t care. They will still pay... dearly.” Joan spat out again.
Joan
kicked the door splintering it into three pieces. The glass shattered. The
Brown’s outside the door didn’t know what to do. They watched her storm towards
the elevator, malicious intent written all over her face. Number 27 ran to the
broken portal. “We need to restrain her!” He pointed the remote to the
elevator. A small light came on under the word “Locked” before Joan could reach
the panel of buttons. Joan turned to the two Brown’s behind her. It was clear
that their mandate was to protect Joan not restrain or hurt her. They were at
odds as to what to do. The phone in the office started ringing. When Number 27
didn’t pick up immediately a voice shouted through the speaker. Miss St. Clair
shouted out, “Mr. Burnelle, are you alright?” Number 27 called back as loud as
he could. “Initiate code seventeen in the parking lot!”
A loud
speaker blared out Miss St. Clair’s voice across the compound. “Code seventeen.
Code seventeen in the parking lot.”
Joan
looked at the two Brown’s again then out the window. She spun quickly where she
stood using her elbow to smash out the window nearest her. A moment later she
dove from the second story to the pavement below landing squarely on her feet
ready for a fight. The two Brown’s left behind didn’t dare follow. They stared
out the window wondering about the daunting prospect of jumping from this
height. One ran off to the lift and fumbled with their key to unlock the
elevator doors.
In the
time it took Joan to consider her options to get off the second story, a
multitude of Brown’s poured out into the parking area. All of them wore brown
turtle necks with the customary brown and red checkered scarves. They attacked
Joan reluctantly, that much was clear. They didn’t want to hurt her. To Joan
however this was just a training session. She fought five and six at a time.
Raw energy of revenge drove her. Scarves flew around in their acrobatic
maneuvers just as Joan’s black hair did around her.
The
Brown’s fell quickly. Eventually, without either hurting or killing each other
Joan became buried by enough hands to hold her down. She cried out the pain she
felt in her heart. The Nurse made her way through the pig pile and injected
Joan with a hypodermic on the end of a long stick. Joan’s eyes closed. Tear
stains streaked her beautiful face, and she sobbed openly until she passed out.
“René!” was the only word she said before she slipped away. Miss St. Clair
shook her head at the sad moment.
Construction
workers watched from the atrium in amazement at the activities in the parking
lot. They could not believe that it took more women than they could count to
take down a single teenager, a girl to boot. “Isn’t this a place for autistic
children?” One asked openly to his coworkers.” Little did they know that this
was the last day they would work on that sight. They had already seen too much.
