Ray of Light (The Incandescent Series Book 1) Read online

  ‘RUN!’ Xander screams and pushes me forward. My hip immediately hits the edge of Miles’ desk and I cry out in pain. Ross squirms past us and doesn't wait, he clambers out the door.

  I look up to Xander and whimper, I'm expecting an apology but instead he manoeuvres me around the desk and chair and steers me out the door. The vibration is louder in the hallway, it rumbles its way from the orb room. That's when I realise why we are running.

  I've heard stories about what the Red Orb can do and I don't want to stick around to experience it first-hand. Xander stays behind me, even though I know he can run faster than I ever could.

  ‘Go, go, go, go,’ he repeats it like it will make any difference to my speed, like there's any way we can go faster than we already are. Oh my god, how dumb are we? Xander slams against me when I stop.

  ‘GO! KATE!’

  I turn and snatch the orb from under his arm. Glancing back, I see red shards of electricity crawl their way out of the orb room and for a split second I think I see someone, Nora, her face frozen in a scream. I've transported us outside before I can make sure. We tumble together through a sea of people who are looking back to the building, their faces ashen with fear.

  Xander leans his head against mine. ‘At least one of us is thinking!’

  The portal orb slips out of my hand and rolls over strands of grass, sliding and knocking against people's feet until I can't see it any more.

  ‘Xander!’ Jennifer calls as she pushes her way through to us, Marcus follows her wearing a Beatles t-shirt—I swear he never takes that thing off, I’m surprised it doesn’t reek.

  ‘Jen?’ Xander frowns.

  ‘I’m sorry—‘ she starts.

  ‘We’re sorry,’ Marcus cuts in. ‘We were wrong to side with the Uprising.’

  ‘Abner told us what has been happening. I feel so stupid.’ Jennifer turns to me and gives a soft smile.

  ‘Me too,’ I say back.

  ‘Have you seen Sam?’ Marcus asks.

  Xander and I search the grounds for any sign of him. Faint screams come from the Fort and I move my search from outside to inside. I see frantic faces through the massive window on the second floor. They are all trying to dodge the red sparks that tear up through the floor and claw its way through every wall and orifice it can. Some people bang on the glass windows, some repeatedly press on the elevator button, and some run in circles. They seem to all be doing something different yet they are all doing one thing the same, screaming for help. And I'm standing here, watching them in their last desperate minutes of life. I wonder if that is what my parents’ faces looked like before they died.

  A thunderous roar explodes from the building, the force feels like a gale wind on my face. Large red shards of light and electricity break through the building and then, like a container that can't hold its contents anymore, it tears apart the structure that surrounds it and all we can see is a shining red glow surrounded by a puff of thick dust; brown with parts of shining metal. The noise lingers on, crashing and trembling the ground beneath us. I fall back onto Xander, burying my head back into the safety of his hold.

  Once the noise and light dissipates, broken cement fights to be seen from all the dust that consumes the space. Most people around us run toward the trees while some, including me, drop to our knees.

  But not Xander. ‘NORA?’ He stands on his tip-toes, searching the crowd for any sign of those he cares about, ‘MILES? ELI?’

  Tears fall freely from my face. How will I tell him he won't find her out here?

  I don't know how long we've stayed here, looking on in shock. Are we all waiting for the cloud of dust to settle; hoping for some kind of miracle? Or do we know deep down that there won't be anything for us to run to? Nothing but two floors of building all folded and crushed together into one massive pile of debris. Nothing left of the girl who has kept Xander away from me.

  FORTY-SEVEN

  Nora

  The sound shatters around us but I feel no pain. Instead I feel rapid gusts of Ladlow’s breath hit my ear. I slowly open my eyes, nervous of what I might see. My eyes take a while to adjust. I see my hands first, stretched up as far as I can reach; the orb cupped inside my grasp, glowing brighter than I've seen it glow before. Past my hands, a dome of green and blue light swirls around us. Beyond the protective shield, broken cement, glass and metal lay motionless and heavy.

  I feel the weight in my arms, I bend my elbows to rest but with them the shield closes in on us, bringing with it the burden of the building. Ladlow groans beside me.

  ‘We're okay,’ I whisper. ‘We're okay!’

  The shield pulsates around us as I struggle to sit up, Ladlow helps by pushing on my back. I hold the orb in my lap, willing the protective glow to remain. I will it with every inch of my soul.

  ‘I'm so glad you received the orb well,’ Ladlow laughs to himself as we lean our backs against each other for support.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You did good, exactly as we had planned.’

  ‘I forgot one important orb… Hang on, you had planned?’ My breath becomes short and sharp.

  I look down at my thigh, blood has formed a small pool on the floor below it. I wince and the shield decreases in size again.

  ‘Are you hurt?’ Ladlow asks.

  I can't speak, so I make a noise that sounds like it could mean yes.

  Ladlow rolls himself around to assess the damage. ‘It wasn't Miles’ plan you know. But I thought that if I came to him with the idea he would run a million light years away from me.’ He rips at my pants where the blood seeps through. ‘I had to create an opportunity for him to do that while still doing what I needed him to. I had another scientist help me, I told them the plan and they took the orb to Miles.’

  ‘You used him?’

  ‘It was the only way, to get you both on side!’

  ‘Why me?’

  ‘Sometimes, my dear,’ Ladlow pauses for a moment. ‘You have to figure things out for yourself.’

  ‘Why does everyone say that?’

  Ladlow wipes my wound with his sleeve to reveal a cut in the shape of a star. It looks like the scar on Miles’ hand. Blood begins to ooze back out. Ladlow removes his jacket and I notice a patch of blood on his side.

  ‘You're hurt!’ I whisper.

  He nods, ‘I'll be fine, hold on!’ He then wraps his jacket tightly around my leg. I clench my teeth so as not to scream. The orb flickers in my hand and the shield closes even further in on us.

  He drags himself back to lean against me and we sit in silence for a while.

  After ten more minutes of breathing and bleeding and holding on, the orb dulls its glow. Around us, mounds of building remnants are stacked upon the shield urging to fill the space we clasp on to.

  ‘I'm not sure how long I can hold on for!’ My throat is dry and my words come out raspy.

  ‘Let me die Nora, save yourself! You've done good.’ It's hard to hear Ladlow's soft voice above my own panicked breaths.

  ‘When I was a child,’ I muse. ‘I was abandoned by the one person who should always be there for me. I made a promise to myself that I would not be like her. I won't be like her. I won't leave you, I won't leave my friends, I won't leave…’

  ‘I’m sorry about that. I deserve to die but you are needed.’ I feel Ladlow’s damp blood seep through my shirt.

  I use my energy reserves to shake my head. ‘You don't deserve to die,’ the words fall out. ‘Miles loves you, he trusts you—he would have listened if you were the one to bring Plan B to him.’

  ‘You don't see the look in his eyes when he speaks to me. I've done bad things to protect those orbs, he doesn't agree with my methods.’ The sound of his unassuming voice is alarming, like a jumbo jet that sounds like a paper plane.

  ‘You stayed here though, instead of running away from the Red Orb, you stayed here to try and contain it, to save those still in this building?’

  ‘I even failed…’ he stops to take a breath. ‘I eve
n failed at that,’ he adds.

  ‘Professor?’ I want to ask him about my orb, I want to ask him about the Corridors, I want to ask him if Nichols was always a little bit crazy. I especially want to ask him about his address at the first team meeting—he said we were all hand-picked, except I was the one who sought them out after an ad in a magazine.

  ‘The Incandescent,’ he mutters, quiet and groggy.

  ‘What?’

  ‘You,’ the sound in his voice is all but gone

  ‘Professor?’

  He is silent and still, if not for the stilted laboured breathing and momentary twitches, I would be worried he had died. I want to turn and heal him, I want to portal us out of here, but I'm weak, I'm tired, I'm aching. I rest my head back onto his shoulder and try to slow my breaths. I close my eyes, just for a bit. My head instantly feels lighter. Like it's floating, falling. I jolt my eyes awake and lift my head back up. The orb in my hands only faintly shines, the shield it is projecting has moved in and now hugs the outline of our bodies. I need to stay awake. Every part of my brain keeps yelling at me to hold on. Knife-edged pieces of rubble stare me in the eyes, threatening to fall on me at any moment I dare to relax. They look like pieces from the map screen, reflective and tinted blue through the shield. In their reflection, my own eyes stare down at me, I barely recognise them but I should. Those eyes. Her eyes.

  In some cruel twist of fate, I'm forced to stare right back at the woman I have tried to forget. She sings me lullabies when I'm one, before I go to sleep. She scolds me ruthless when I'm almost three, as I spill her make-up down the bathroom sink. She gives me cuddles when I'm four, and reads a book about Thumbelina. She pulls me across the water when I'm six, and saves me from the deep end. She leaves me motherless when I'm seven, and teaches me that I don't need anyone to find my own worth; that I have to find it for myself.

  I have to fight the urge to sleep, but each new blink I take is more laboured than the last. I've been hurt, rejected, abandoned and still achieved more than I ever thought I could; finding strength I never knew I had. Pull some more, Nora. I need to find it from somewhere. What gives me strength? When do I feel the strongest?

  I sigh, I know the answer before I finish asking myself the question. My team gives me strength; I’m strongest when I’m with them.

  I see Xander's face when he saw me for the first time since breaking up with me—his expression was pure joy and relief. I imagine him sitting next to his sister, his arm draped over her in stoic protection. Always the leader, always with care.

  I see Eli's face when we realised we weren't allowed to eat chocolate while we were in training. A cheeky knowing, that he would find a way we could sneak some into our rooms without Shannon knowing.

  I see Ross' face light up with excitement upon discovering each and every new orb. A sheer thirst for knowledge that fed our eagerness.

  I see Viv's face, so understanding and loyal as she listened to me hour after hour load onto her any worry or fear I possessed. Her ability to give me peace and comfort from a simple chat.

  I see Miles' face. His smile full of strength and adoration. And even if I turn my eyes from him, I know it's still there, that look he gives. He touches my soul without having to say a word. I swear I can feel him now; looking at me that way, touching my soul that way.

  But I can't do this. I can't continue to be the person they want me to be. I wonder if this is how my mother felt about being a parent. Maybe I've done enough? Giving birth was enough for my mum to do, that was her limit. What is mine?

  I realise it's not them that need me, it's me that needs them. I needed my mother when I was a child and I never had her. The only thing I wish this orb could do is send me back in time to when my mother left, and instead of me being seven, I'm the age I am now. I would stand in front of her and tell her how selfish she is, how much her actions have hurt not only me and Dad, but her. Look what you've missed out on, I'd say, you stupid, stupid woman! I wonder if she would change her mind about the need to leave me if she could see the person I am now. But then maybe I wouldn't be the person I am now, if she didn't leave. My heart aches at the thought. Maybe, maybe she knew I would be a better person without her.

  I've had this fear for so long that I will end up becoming like my mother, but the truth is I am nothing like my mother. I, Eleanor Ray, grew up motherless, but I am compassionate and kind. I lacked direction, but have set a clear path for myself. I have no female role models to show me love, but I still know how to love deeply. I face adversity and challenges but I laugh in their face. I will not run when things get rough, because I am a strong and resilient woman… And it's okay for me to leave.

  My hand drops beside me and the orb rolls free from my hold.

  FORTY-EIGHT

  Kate

  ‘NOOOOO!’ Miles' screams from behind me jump-start my legs, and before I know it, I'm running behind him. Beside me Xander, Eli and Ross keep up the pace beside me as we close the gap between ourselves and the wreckage. As we get closer however, we all begin to slow down. The dust starts to lift, I'm taken aback by what the space that once held a building now shows.

  ‘No one could have survived this!’ Ross states.

  Dirt. Just dirt. Aside from two caravan sized mounds of rubble in the back corner, nothing remains.

  ‘Where's Nora?’ Xander asks, although from looking at Miles’ face I'm sure he knows the answer.

  I know the answer.

  The mound on the right suddenly caves in a little. I look at Xander but he's already running towards it. He climbs onto the smaller mound and pulls at the broken pieces of walls and floors and ceilings. Eli and Miles join him. I'm not sure how much help I can be, but I try. Some parts are easy to collect and throw to the side, others are immovable. After we make some small progress through the outer walls, we begin to see remnants of the life that was once inside. Crushed doors, splinters of desks, metal rods of chairs.

  ‘Are you guys sure you want to keep going?’ Eli holds up a ripped photo of trees hanging from the corner of a black picture frame.

  The mound moves underneath our feet and we drop down about a metre. I lose my footing and my leg slides down against a torn sheet of metal. I grab the first object my hand can find to stop the fall, a broken desk leg sticking out—the least damaging piece of rubble. I sigh loud and thankful, until I realise the other half of the desk leg has caught on my shirt and jagged bits of wood have scraped the side of my ribs.

  ‘We have to keep digging!’ Xander enthuses, climbing on top of the larger mound as he rips at the broken building under his feet.

  Miles helps me and holds my arm until I'm stable. ‘You alright?’ It's only then that I see fear written on his face; there are no tears, only heart-stopping pain. I check the damage to my leg and side. There's blood, a lot of dark red blood running in lines down my shin, the skin around my ribs has only a small a scratch though, so that's one thing. I think for a moment before answering, this isn't about me right now, it's about something much, much bigger. I remember that run from Miles' office to the Corridor, and the numb strength I somehow acquired for the mission. I've been waiting for Xander to come, so I can pull down that locked box from around myself and take myself back to being thirteen—full of emotion and self-importance.

  ‘I'll be fine, let's keep going!’ And with those words I speak, I pull my heart from my sleeve and shove it deep down, back into the box.

  Miles turns towards the big mound Xander is on and pulls away a chunk of cement. A dull red glow radiates from where it was. It's barely visible but Miles recognises it immediately.

  ‘Xander!’ he shouts. ‘Wait! Don't move!’

  Xander freezes where he is once he realises where the light is emanating from, underneath him.

  ‘Move away slowly,’ Miles steps closer to him and reaches out his hand.

  Xander takes a few careful steps backwards in panic. His next step is more hapless and as he places his foot down onto a rugged piece of cement, it moves. H
e jumps from it as it glides down. It collapses upon itself, piece by piece like dominoes, until the Red Orb stands alone with debris circling it's base. It is dull and seems lifeless, like a molten rock that was once the free-flowing ebb of destructive lava. No sooner had Xander stepped down off the smaller mound that Miles and I stand on, when a few pieces of cement slide down towards us forcing us to run back a few steps. It stops before it can crumble in upon itself.

  ‘I told you, nothing survived this,’ Ross states again.

  ‘What, so we give up?’ Xander scoffs.

  ‘What is this pile here for though?’ I ask. ‘If the larger stack covered the Red Orb, what does this stack cover?’

  I don't quite say what everyone is hoping: that somehow Nora is there, safe. I look at the smaller mound, it started off as big as the other one and now it's waist-high. The rough edges have created jagged shadows, blue-green shadows. I step onto the fallen pieces and squint my eyes as I look over the top. I take another step onto the mound and lean forward to make sure my eyes aren't tricking me. I motion for them to join me but only Miles and Xander do.

  ‘Careful!’ Xander warns, grabbing my waist and pulling me off the mound. ‘You're hurt?’

  I ignore him and watch Miles as he pulls at a broken piece of metal casing, it looks like part of the computer motherboard, and it looks heavy.

  ‘Xander?’ he calls.

  ‘Stay here, please?’ Xander begs before kissing my forehead.

  I can only nod.

  Together they pull, they can only make it move an inch. But it's enough to let a stream of blue-green light bolt upwards and out of the crack.

  ‘AGAIN!’ Miles shouts.

  I creep forward, I am pulled by an unknown motivation, an invisible string that keeps whispering to me. Help them. Help her. She is important.

  Eli and Ross move up with me as we heave the board away. Once we've moved it enough gravity takes over and it crashes down past us to the ground. The blue-green protective transparent aura becomes visible from the space it creates. Through aching muscles and cut arms and legs, I crawl to touch it. It's smooth and marble like texture feels a little like polished clay to touch. It bends around the person inside like an extension of them. She leans up against a man. Both of them unconscious, both bleeding, both chests rising and falling.