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

  ‘What's going on!’ I yell, panic sets in again.

  I'm being held tight, as one of them tries to count my pulse, another is strapping on a blood pressure band. A metre away, another looks like they are holding a syringe.

  ‘Let me go!’ I scream, trying to release myself from their clutches.

  I feel a cool breeze on my face as the entrance to this glass box opens.

  ‘What the hell are you doing?’ It is Viv. She pushes them out of the way and holds her hand out to me.

  ‘You were meant to wait for them to see us first, are you stupid?’ Miles is behind her.

  The Doctors step back and here we are—facing Viv and Miles. They look, different. And strangely older. That's weird to think though, right? Viv’s hair is gone, her waist length tendrils now a sophisticated bob.

  I reach my hand out to Xander, who pulls me close to his side.

  ‘How long were we in there?’ he asks.

  I look at him, we were in there five minutes!

  Miles takes a breath and looks at me with sympathy, he's never looked at me like that before—I don't like it.

  ‘Five years,’ Viv says.

  Come again?

  THIRTEEN

  Nora

  Xander nods.

  I pull away from Xander and take a step back, ‘Five… years?’

  There has to be some mistake.

  ‘Xander?’ I'm looking for someone to trust. Did he know about this?

  ‘Come on,’ Viv holds her hand out again, ‘we'll get you guys settled and let you know what's happened.’

  I look sideways at the doctors; they're itching to get their hands on me.

  Seeing my concern, Viv points them to the door. ‘It's fine. You can get your check up later.’

  We step out of the glass casing that surrounds the thing we just entered, the river flows to my right—the exact same river. It rushes and trickles, ebbs and flows, nourishes and bathes unperturbed, unaware, not caring about what's been happening around it.

  Everyone is silent as we walk through the columns of trees, along a gravel path which certainly wasn't there five minutes ago. That's not even funny.

  Expecting to see a helicopter in the clearing, I gasp at the sight of a two-storey building. It's white and clinical looking, almost like a hospital.

  I walk beside Viv as Miles leads us closer, Xander one step behind him. Miles looks back over his shoulder and gives me a small smile. It's still sympathetic but familiar and calming. I wonder how it must feel for them to not have seen us for so long.

  ‘This is the Secondary Palladium Research centre. We call it the Fort,’ Miles points to the building. ‘A small off shoot really, but it's something.’

  ‘I saw you minutes ago,’ I muse to Viv.

  ‘And I've missed you like crazy,’ she responds.

  ‘We all have,’ Miles adds.

  Xander stops for a second and waits for me to reach him, he grabs my hand.

  ‘Are you alright?’ he whispers.

  ‘I had a bit of a panic attack in that thing… but, yeah… fine, I'm totally fine!’ I half joke, half lie.

  ‘I'm so sorry,’ he says.

  Miles stops as we reach the entrance of the building, his mind seems like it's spinning a million paces a second. He opens his mouth to speak but no words come out. Instead he nervously looks beyond us. I turn and see the team of doctors near us.

  I hear Viv suck in a small breath of air, her stance is frozen, ‘Miles!’ she urges.

  Miles gives a small shake of his head to her, then smiles and says, ‘Well, here we are!’ And he leads us in.

  Everything is white in this building, it reminds me of our Base. The entrance is like a bare hotel lobby; the only furniture is a desk and a few waiting chairs. An elevator lift is on the left of the desk, and a doorway on the right. A large photo is all that brings colour to the area.

  I stop and look at it for a moment. It's an image of a tree-scaped mountain. I just took this photo!

  I'm conflicted. In my head, I had already named this image “Soldiers Ready for Battle”. It was supposed to remind me of togetherness, unity, our strength as a team. All I feel when I look at it now, is lost time. I'm eighteen, yet the date tells me I should be twenty-two!

  ‘It's a beautiful photo, Sparkles,’ Miles calls as he waits for me at the doorway beside the desk, ‘this way!’

  I follow him down the short and stark walk, the bare walls and lack of doors are unnerving. There isn't even a door at the end, it's just a wall that Xander and Viv stand by. I feel like I'm part of an elaborate prank. It's a hallway without any doors, one way in, one way out. Like a dead end of a maze.

  ‘Who designed this place?’ Xander laughs.

  Viv and Miles nod at each other as Miles gently places his hand on the wall. Three doorways appear. One at the end, and two more on either side of the Corridor.

  ‘Thanks to the orb technology, we've made a few slight advances in five years.’ Miles motions for us to enter the door on the right.

  I enter a room that fills me with warmth. It's cluttered yet simple, earthy and inviting. A wooden desk with scattered papers sits to the right, opposite it is an overflowing bookshelf. Beyond them, is a sitting area about five metres squared—a soft and welcoming sofa with two arm chairs surround a coffee table. They sit just inside a massive bay window, showcasing the glorious river views.

  ‘Sit down guys, we've got a bit to discuss!’ Miles offers us the sofa.

  He doesn't have to ask me twice. I throw myself on the sofa and melt into its comfort. Viv laughs as she sits opposite me.

  ‘I have been standing inside a metal box for five years you know?’ I joke.

  ‘Four years and three hundred and forty days to be exact!’ Viv responds.

  ‘How does that work out then?’ Xander questions as he sits himself as close to me as possible.

  ‘We didn't know this at first,’ Miles says. ‘There was an error with the coding when it was built. Every extra minute in there has a different calculation per second. It speeds up with every minute passing. It's hard to explain, but basically: for the first minute, it was a minute passed per second; then the second minute, every second equated to an hour; the third minute, every second was a day; the fourth, every second a week; the fifth minute, every second was a month.’

  ‘What?’ Xander says confused. ‘That's ridiculous.’

  Miles shrugs, ‘That's just how it was programmed,’ he stops and sighs. ‘There is so much to tell, where do I start?’

  ‘The beginning!’ Xander demands. ‘Everything Miles, the whole five years, don't leave a drop out!’

  Viv squirms unsettled in her seat, ‘So, you know—it's a lot to take in guys. I think we should take it one step at a time. Today, you found out you travelled almost five years into the future, so that's a lot to grasp. How about we take you both to your rooms and you can have a sleep or rest, and we'll elaborate over the next few days. We've got plenty of time to cram your brains with knowledge.’

  Miles looks at her annoyed, but she's right. I'm overwhelmed. As much as I would love to know more; to know what I have missed… my brain hurts like it has been squished in a vice, it's contracted so tight I can’t think.

  ‘I'll… uhh…’ Miles hesitates, ‘I'll keep Xander for a minute.’

  Viv nods sadly.

  I don't want to leave him. I hold onto his hand.

  He turns to me. ‘It's okay, I'm not going anywhere. I'll see you soon, alright?’

  Viv walks me out of the room. The door opposite this one opens to show a tennis court, Miles’ favourite sport. I look to the end of the hallway, the open doorway shows me a sort of laboratory—it's vacant, the only light it gives is from the left… I can't quite see from here. I move closer to peer around. It looks like a glass room full of orbs…

  Viv places her hand on the wall, right where Miles did earlier. The doorways vanish. I retract backwards in shock.

  ‘Sorry,’ she says. ‘That door i
sn't supposed to be open. Miles must have accidentally unlocked all the doors instead of just his.’

  ‘Okay.’ Obviously, I'm not to know about this either. I'm not even the right frame of mind to argue with the secrecy.

  We walk back up the hallway and into the lobby. Waiting for the lift, I look at my photo once more. Everything seems to have changed since we've been gone. Of course it has, it's been five years. New buildings, new ranks… new alliances.

  ‘How are Ross and Eli?’ I ask.

  She takes a while to answer, ‘I haven't seen them since… I haven't seen them for a long time,’ she sounds wistful.

  Am I being wrong to judge her? What has she been through this whole time? Her demeanour is so strange to me. She used to be so strong and defiant, sure in her every word. Now she seems reluctant, almost broken.

  ‘Are you alright, Viv?’

  ‘You haven't changed a bit,’ she says without smiling. ‘I mean, why would you… but… it's just nice to have you back.’

  She throws her arms around me and we hug. I wish I could say the same.

  The elevator doors open and we step inside. It's the little things that make so much impact. The elevator has no floor numbers, no buttons only one portal orb tucked in the wall. Viv puts one hand on the orb and within a second the door closes behind us, and in another second, a door opens in front of us.

  I am met by a massive hall, where six long dining tables take up the space in the middle and three short dining tables press against the windows on the right. The roof is high and two storeys of windows send the glaring sun rays streaming through. Aside from three people sitting around one table, the room is vacant. As we walk closer, I notice who they are. Team Beta. Jennifer, still so tall, still with her strawberry blond hair—the familiarity makes me smile. Sam sits with her; his thick brown curls replaced by a shaved head, his stick thin arms replaced with muscle. I only recognise it’s him because of his loud husky voice. Marcus is with them, the tallest of them all. He wears a loose t-shirt with The Beatles on it.

  ‘They also entered a vault—or sorry, they call it a Corridor here,’ Viv whispers. ‘The rest of Team Beta entered six minutes and they entered four.’

  ‘So, four minutes? How long is that?’ I whisper in return.

  ‘About one year and three months.’

  ‘And six minutes?’

  ‘They weren't expected to leave their vault for fifteen more years.’

  I'm so glad Miles entered five instead of six. One minute to make all the difference.

  ‘What do you mean weren't? Where is their vault?’

  ‘Nora!’ Marcus calls, waving me over. Sam spins around in his chair to look at me. Jennifer stands up and smiles her trademark flashy grin. Out of the corner of my eye I see Viv shake her head.

  ‘This way,’ Viv veers me to the right.

  I wave to apologise and follow Viv down a long hallway.

  ‘This is your room.’ She stops and points to the wall.

  I look at the wall, then look at her.

  ‘Oh right, well, it's been modified to open with your finger prints only now, so—place your hand there on that key-line.’

  I place my hand inside a faint yellow outline on the wall and it turns green. A doorway appears. Inside it looks exactly like my half of the room at Base. A transparent desk sits on the left, it looks large in comparison to the minimalistic contents on it—a laptop in the middle with five scattered photos beside it, exactly how I left it. Next to the desk along the wall, the boring bleached white sheets lay perfectly made on the bed—that's not how I left it. Beside the bed, a small side table holds my camera bag. The last time I saw it was before I entered “The Corridor.”

  ‘They relocated all your possessions from the Palladium main Base, so hopefully you feel a little bit at home,’ she offers.

  ‘Viv?’ I say without knowing what I want to ask. Where are we? Will we go back to Base? What happens next? How is my father?

  ‘I have to go,’ she interrupts, ‘I've got some business to attend to.’

  ‘What?’ She can't leave now, I have too many questions that need answers.

  She leans forward and clasps my hand; harsh crinkles of paper press against my palm. I open the scrunched-up note, I feel nervous.

  Trust no-one, we can't talk here. In time, you will know the truth.

  She whispers in my ear. ‘No one!’ And then she turns to walk away.

  ‘Viv!’ I shout after her.

  She pauses and turns back around, she stops a tear from falling down her face.

  ‘When will I see you?’ The only question I get to ask.

  ‘I'll be back in a few days,’ she says as she disappears around the corner.

  I rest my hand on the yellow key-line on the inside of my room. The door closes. The endless swirl of questions in my head fill the empty room. I read the note again. Trust no-one?

  FOURTEEN

  Nora

  It's almost midnight and I can't sleep. I can't get comfortable. I can't stop thinking about today. What does the word today even mean? Is it today, the day I entered the vault? Or today, the day I left the vault? How can so much time pass without me? I feel so insignificant. So useless. The world kept spinning without me. I'm so angry that it didn't wait for me. I feel the cold ache in my chest as tears start to form in my eyes.

  I didn't realise my one simple decision would change everything about my life. I think back to when we entered the Corridor earlier today, Viv knew something, Miles knew something, and now it seems Xander knew something. I think back to Viv arguing with Miles in the lead up to finding the Corridor, how she was desperate to talk to me about something. I think about Miles and his trustworthy eyes begging me to enter the Corridor, Xander too—he wanted me to go in. But why? And why now if Viv and Miles are working together still, did she say not to trust anyone, not even Xander? I think about Xander; his bright turquoise eyes, two gemstones perfectly aligned on his face; how he can command and comfort with only a crackle of his voice; his lips, forceful yet tentative against mine. How can I not trust any of them?

  As I make my way to my door, I realise my shoes are back on and I've pulled my hair into a neat pony tail. I turn left in the hallway, Viv said his room was next to mine. I slide my hand along the wall and find his key-line. Seeing the faint frame of his doorway, I knock on the wall. I suppose it doesn't really matter where you knock, as long as he can hear it on the inside.

  I think I can hear movement on the inside, so I wait for him to open the door. He doesn't though.

  ‘Xander?’ I say as loud as I can without waking anyone else.

  Nothing.

  I creep back to my bedroom, shift my body under the stiff sheets on the bed, and wait. I'm half expecting him to knock on my door. I hug my knees to my chest, roll over to face the wall, and close my eyes—I want to go to sleep, to say goodbye to this day. It seems like the most preposterous thing, to wish a day away, but sometimes—when being awake is too much, you just need to let it go and restore your energy for the next one.

  As I feel the cloud of a pre-sleep fog scatter my thoughts, my pillow disperses the fallen wet tears to the corners of its case, like a sponge that can't soak up any more spilled waste.

  ~~~

  My shoes are sitting beside me, waiting for my feet. I check the clock, it's half past one. I must have needed sleep. I thought a new day would bring me a better outlook but the only thing I feel is less tired and more hungry. Hungry for food, hungry for answers, hungry for the warmth of my dad's never-ending embrace.

  I woke up, and for a moment thought I had woken up at the Base. I remembered the massive Red Orb we found the day before and thought how amazing my job is. Then I remembered entering the 'Corridor' and the newest memories gathered themselves to the forefront of my mind. Then the heart pangs swept over me again.

  I'm sitting on the side of my bed, staring at my boots, my shoulders feeling heavy with questions. It's not the fact I just travelled in some kind of tim
e portal, or even that I've lost five years of my life… it's the words that Viv spoke. Not to trust anyone. I feel stupid for caring so much about people I've only known for not even a year of my life. But their five faces circle inside my mind, right alongside my dad's.

  I pull open my bottom drawer and look at my clothes folded nicely. That’s something they got wrong about my room, I know for a fact I left my drawers messy. I pull out dark blue jeans and a three-quarter sleeve black jumper. Normally I would wear prints or something with colour, but these match my mood.

  I lace my boots up and look in the mirror. My hairbrush strokes my scalp, priming and scratching, and once I'm done I twist strands into a long fish braid. I'm happy with the reflection, but I don't dare stare too long. Yesterday's panic attack shows scars I thought were already mended.

  I stand outside Xander's door wondering if he's awake yet, if he's even in there or if I should let him sleep. I tap. If he feels close to what I do now, we need each other. I tap again, ‘Xander? Are you awake?’

  Imagining the wall is his face, I drum my fingers, they barely stroke the surface before I drop my arm to my side.

  What’s next? Where do I go? Who can give me answers?

  In a decisive moment, I can't run to the elevator quick enough, there are so many things I need to know. I've waited long enough.

  I storm past the unmanned reception foyer and take my speeding legs down the long futile hallway. I slide my left hand along the wall as I run, I'm hoping to discover some secret key-line that accesses a room, any room.

  I reach the end of the stretch and knock on the wall I remember Miles’ office to be.

  Nothing.

  His key-line is lit up yellow and I look at my palm. It wouldn't hurt to try, would it? Technically, if it did work—it's not my fault but a problem with the system, right? And if I was caught, surely he could forgive me for wanting to know what is happening here. I'm not stupid, I see the way he looks at me. He'd give me his last marshmallow if it made me happy—and that's saying something because he loves marshmallows. What am I thinking? To take advantage of his care? What kind of person am I?