Emotionless: (Prototype: Zero book 1) Page 29

  I ended up leaving quietly with Lawliet without going to the bell tower tonight. I snuck back into my room after a murmured ‘good night’ then went and sat on my bed. Touching the picture frame, the one with my brothers faded, and there was a picture of my grandfather. Greying brown hair, bright silver eyes and a half smile, cheeky, as he tugged the sleeve of my top upwards, so I wouldn’t keep leaning down to draw. He was the closest mage I have ever gotten to know because he understood me somehow. It aggravates me on how he could disappear suddenly without a word or warning and keep himself hidden, only to pop up now with instructions.

  “I don’t understand,” I mumbled, as I lifted the tips of my fingers away from the frame and puffed cheeks.

  The next morning, forgetting about days already, I realised that it was a weekend. My brothers woke up at the same time as I and stumbled in to have a shower while I went into the kitchen to Hopper who was making breakfast. Scrambled dragon eggs with buttered toast and crispy nearly burnt bacon. The way I enjoy it.

  Leaning forward, still groggy from last night, I picked the food up between fingers and stared at the grease that was slimming down the corner of the plate.

  Mornings do not go well with my family. We’re snappy, inhumane mages that, mainly the twins, act like savage beasts that have been woken up from hibernation. Even after their showers, Donte and Nixon came out half-asleep.

  Leaning against the countertop, they half-heartedly ate their food and spoke amongst themselves. Their words slurred but knowing them; they could understand each other clearly, while I believe they were talking a foreign language. I would sympathise with them, but they’re diabolical.

  “What are you getting up to today, my Masters?” Hopper asked casually as if nothing is wrong. As if witnessing yesterday’s conversation with my parents never happened. It was ironically smooth for him to do. “Would you like to do something as a family?”

  “What . . . with our parents?” Donte asked with disgust.

  “They will never say yes,” Nixon, yawned.

  “Aren’t the both of you in trouble?” Isilies flew his door open - the first on the right - dramatically and stepped out with his arms folded across his chest. “I have been waiting for this day. Seeing you both in trouble in school.”

  “Warning,” they said at the same time, and Isilies twitched an eyebrow. “Head Mage gave us a warning.”

  “I hate my life,” Isilies muttered, turned around and shut the door while he sulked, “Life is unfair. They never get into trouble.”

  With two snickering twins and a disapproving Hopper, I went to the bathroom to shower and dress for the day doing. I suppose nothing really if it is outside of the classroom. After showering, I walked to the bathroom, brushed teeth and cleaned surfaces while the brush touches my hair for me. When it was done, styling it finally, excited because I always run after brushed, I walked out with two braids that curl around ears.

  “Beloved sister,” Nixon raised arms above his head and grinned. “They have this weird underground place in Sorcerer City. Do you want to help us find it?”

  “Ok,” I responded because I knew I have to keep myself busy so I won’t cause unwanted attention.

  “You know, at first, Donte and I thought Lawliet would be a bad investment for the family. I think I was wrong to make that judgement.”

  “Guilty,” I said. “Can you make me a peanut butter sandwich for lunch, please?”

  “Shit, rule fifty-three. Don’t be guilty of a crime willingly. Fine, whatever, let me get my . . .”

  “No gloves,” I said as I averted eyes and lifted my hands. “Bare.”

  “Manipulative mage,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “Let me fire up Magtube!” Donte barked a laugh while Nixon stormed off towards the kitchen. “This should be good.”

  It was oddly comforting being around complete idiots sometimes. As loud as they are, my brothers are the only beings who don’t make me nauseated with the over the top noises they do. Being imbecilic creatures and all. Suppose growing up with them has made me used to the noise level, yet everyone else just as loud as they grate teeth.

  Once Nixon made me a sandwich, Donte looked down on his phone and looked at the weird red lines on the navigator that were pointing off in random directions. The thought process to this was sloppy, as he clicked on the little notes that are written, ‘Suspicious old lady in a red coat. Dressed to impress heels?’ which probably has remotely nothing to do with this place they want to go to. If anything, that old woman in the red coat and cute heels probably wanted to feel good about herself.

  Puffing cheeks, I figured out that this was possibly a simple day to waste time.

  I tried looking around when I noticed, ever since I cannot do anything with runes, they have heightened my sight a lot. On the cracks, between the walls that are broken, to large dominant ones that were constantly active before my eyes. The pleasure of going over there with my grandfather’s book to draw one was too overpowering. Twitching fingers, I took a step forward when the collar of my top dug in, and I stepped back to my brothers who were pointing in a random direction and were already marching towards it.

  Going into a back-alley way where the lingering smoke came from under some doors, I realised this is where potion places are. Because usually potion shops and stores stink horribly, Hopper was telling me on our little stroll last time I came in that they moved almost all of them besides popular ones through alleyways where mages couldn’t smell the lingering residue as bad as in a central plaza. Foreign stenches that probably are what I am supposed to smell when I walk into a room of potion making. Not what I have smelt for thirteen years.

  Finding the worst door possible that looked suspiciously like we were about to walk into a jail cell, Donte and Nixon tapped on it in a rhythmic pattern, and the door creaked open. The rustic metal hinges scraped across as the door clanked against the wall, and I was greeted with eerie green smoke.

  Raising my arm, I clung to Donte’s sleeve as we walked in. It smelt of cinnamon, and there was a hint of that musky smell of a man’s cologne. Within the thin layer of green smoke was something that would resemble a black-market laboratory. If I could remove the layer of green smoke, I would be presented with steel tables with hundreds of bottles, different shapes and sizes and some without lids that were simmering green smoke that was swirling around the room like unshakable fog. There was no order, like runes, that has distinct sections or crystal stores.

  I often find that with potions, mages who wield them are particularly lazier then crystals and runes. They don’t care if it doesn’t work out, or if they slip a little too much saliva from an elephant or skin from deceased o-d-h into the pot. Those small things drive rune and crystal workers insane. I enjoy the precision, so it bothers me when Donte throws things in a pot and wings it. What bothers me more is when Nixon throws things in on top of what Donte has thrown in and starts laughing dramatically. Almost a monotone evil laugh that gets higher in volume the longer the laughter lasts.

  Nixon picked bottles up, swirled the liquid inside until it sloshed up, placed it back down, and moved along to repeat the process. Donte on the other hand, negotiator, the tactful and evil mastermind who pulls strings, walked down the aisle of potions and to where a young mage was. He has a scraggly brown beard and top hat along with scuffed up clothes. The mage sat on an office chair and was reading a book. He didn’t look up when Donte leant forward and directly in front of the space he was reading. The shadow of Donte was covering the man’s book, and he seemed unable to read correctly. Donte went into his large overcoat and produced two small tubes with a strange darkened orange and a tinted clear one, with a hint of pink. He placed them down on the rack that the man had on the table. Donte stepped back, and that was when the mage looked up. His yellow eyes narrowed. He began to inspect what has been laid out before him.

  “Two questions. Simple,” he said. His eyes never left Donte as he closed his book and set it on the counter. With a br
oadened grin, he said, “I heard a lot about your family. Some say she is the black witch. I don’t want her to cast spells on me.”

  “What have you heard about her?” Nixon asked.

  “That the reason she won rune wars is because she sent a virus type rune to glitch Fiona’s screen. That is why she didn’t go into next round preliminary as well as something about her look. I do admit that she is quite beautiful but not as beautiful as everyone makes her out to be. An angel, her features so grotesque that she can hypnotise even women with a single sentence. I am very disappointed.” He looked at me. Thoroughly looked at me and soaked everything in and said, “You, the little girl is only that to me, a little girl. Now, that was one question down.”

  “Shit,” Nixon swore.

  “Idiot,” Donte hissed to Nixon and then turned back to the man. “Greg, we would like to know where the underground entrance is.”

  “I said simple,” the one now called Greg grimaced. “Alright, I will give you a section. It is not near the plaza nor where I am located. Don’t go past Conrat Bridge. You will have gone too far if you do.”

  “Nixon?” Donte asked.

  “Start of Conrat Bridge and end would be I suppose the only street lamp on the corner of Eso Street,” Nixon nodded, confirming.

  “Heh, you lot are a couple of freaks, but you bring good business to me. I won’t report you.”

  “Aye, and we won’t report you for counterfeit potions that came from the black market,” they both said with wicked grins.

  “Highborn’s,” he chuckled as he flipped open his book to read.

  Back outside, Donte fixed up the locations on the map, doing an extensive search on there while Nixon looked around. They aren’t just diabolic. Twins of mine are very knowledgeable even without potions. Not the best, but one I would say is a scanner while the other is a hacker. Nixon scans surrounding areas in real life while Donte goes online and checks. If they were in a fight or a particular war type thing they make me watch, I have no doubt they will have the upper hand.

  Ending up eating the sandwich, I trailed after them and felt pairs of eyes on me. I recollected what Greg said. To them, I am someone called the black witch. Always being in school, I haven’t known what I was being called from adult mages. Not until now. I suppose it would never have made me anxious because I was always at the school. Droid was bad enough, however, at least that name was based on how I portrayed myself outwardly and had dimmed down somewhat since Rebecca has been sitting with me.

  Black witch is a childish term used by adult mages who should know better but unfortunately still cannot get over the past.

  Standing near the bridge, the stress plain on their faces after they searched every inch of the place Greg said and still found nothing suspicious that would remotely lead to an underground entrance. Puffing cheeks, I walked over the bridge. The creaking wood squeaked under the soles of boots and the lapping water sloshed from underneath feet. Looking out to the large frozen lake, crackling with crumbled ice, I noticed something out of the ordinary. Maybe it was because I was surrounded by o-d-h. However, I sense that even here, mages shouldn’t be swimming. Well, not particularly in this cold weather. As he stepped into the centre, I glanced around and wondered if anyone else was seeing what I am. Mages casually walked past, oblivious to the man that was sloshing around in the cool water until he stood in the centre. With a slow blink, he disappeared. The shine of a rune in the water was what made me curious, not the man.

  The railing filled with snow flaked off when I touched it and fell into the water sluggishly. I jumped up only to have Donte and Nixon question what I was doing. However, I wasn’t bothered because even knowing mages walked by, they didn’t look nor seem to care. Rolling over, I activated one of my defences, level two, so that I floated a few inches off the lake before I deactivated them and landed in the reasonably shallow water. It is so shallow that it only covers my ankles. There is no water coming into my boots nor is it bitingly cold.

  When I started walking, noises from behind made me turn around to see my brothers. They looked at me, each other and then decided to take the plunge and jump into the lake part of the ocean only to realise that it wasn’t deep. Confused, they looked around while I looked down. The vibrant colour of a long crystal moved along and straight to the centre of where that man vanished through. Following along, I understood why he was going unnoticed. This crystal, the longest formed and shaped crystal that I have seen was meshing into a rainbow coloured road that makes anyone who wasn’t on it sees absolutely nothing.

  “Makes sense now,” Donte nodded. “Don’t go past the bridge. He never said anything about going over it. Sneaky.”

  “How did you know?” Nixon and Donte asked me at the same time.

  “The man was walking in the water. Didn’t you see?” I asked, and they both shook their heads.

  “Interesting. Maybe you can only see something if you are where the entrance to the Rainbow road is.”

  It makes sense as to why I wasn’t viewed strangely. That no one besides my brothers thought I was there or doing anything out of the ordinary.

  The road leads down, and I noticed now that the chill of ice water overlapped, soaked into jeans and spread like an unknown virus. I shuddered from the cold as I took another step forward where the man disappeared and slipped through. It felt as if I stepped on slime and instantly fell full in the ice-cold water. Before I went under, I sucked in a breath. There was a bite of ice that made joints stiffen when I fell from the water and onto a large soft cotton weaved netting that was activated by runes on either side of the walls. It cushioned my fall. Wiggling out of the way before Donte and Nixon land on me, I jumped down and noticed my soaking wet clothes were dry.

  One would think that if one were landing in unknown territory and not as emotionless as I, they would get scared and scream out, petrified of what is down below. Unfortunately, I have brothers who do not react to fear. Grins stretched on their faces as they landed on the netting with chuckled breathy laughter’s and all I could think of is that my brothers are diabolical.

  It often makes me wonder if I am the most normal one in the family. Isilies is usually depressed over Donte and Nixon and wants a lifetime holiday. Donte and Nixon don’t need explaining. Disappearing parents and a bunny who is too bubbly for his own good. Indeed, not an ordinary household. By far the strangest of them. Probably the most out their Highborn family alive.

  “Let’s do that again!” They said with happiness that was resonating over their faces.

  Puffing cheeks, I turned to walk to the only entrance tunnel there was under the surface with the giggling little school girls that were trailing behind me. Some crystals produced light as well as splashes of potions that glowed on the rocky wall. Water dripped down in shallow puddles and slipped between cracks along the rocky texture of the walls. After walking so much, the sounds of dripping water became nonexistent, and the sound of rhythmic thumping echoed and vibrated eardrums with their nauseating sound. It was almost similar to music. A sound I have never really been interested in because it was always a distraction.

  It was a pounding, and I heard Nixon murmur, “Aye, mage techno.”

  I have never heard of mage music. Being in the o-d-h world, they had a variety of types of music that was popular and they by far didn't sound anything like this. As the beat hit its high, it turned somewhat zapping, and at the end of the tunnel, there was only darkness until the annoying high beat zipping sound drowned down to a quiet tune and then back up for the high a beat later. Flashing lights sparked random blue and green, similar to my laser. The flashing is repeatedly going in and out of focus along with white smoke that lingered at our feet. I find that we have made a mistake. However, my brother’s thoughts differ, and they pushed forward and was pushing me forward and into the mostly squashed crowd of hypnotised dancers.

  Swallowing hard, I ducked under some mages arm that was pounding in the air and slipped through a tiny crack, losing Donte and Ni
xon instantly as I stumbled out the other side and at a bar that was serving a line of different characters. They shouted orders, and the two mages made the bottles of I assume alcohol, that levitated in the air and swirled around. Various colours glowed, and one mage close to me tipped his head back and downed one. Slight liquid, bright aqua colour slipped along the corner of his mouth. He wiped and it stained. A glowing neon in the dark as he ran off into the group of dancers near the large stage that vibrated with an earthquake of sound.

  Out of place, I tried looking for an exit. So far, my eyes seemed to have worsened. Fading into blaring random spotting colours from the flashes. Rubbing eyes, I took a step forward and bumped into someone accidentally. About to apologise, I was shoved back and into the ground. Sucking in a breath, I was hoping for the gears of time to work but the mage kept walking forward. Others around us stared for a moment, smirked and then kept dancing while he pulled out a knife. The blade is sharp as it gleamed in the flashing light. Heart pounding in my chest, I went to activate my defence when I noticed my veins are not throbbing or alert to sense a threat.

  I don’t understand.

  As the man grabbed me by the scruff of my neck, he lifted me high off the ground. There was anger that was plastered over his sweaty multi-coloured face.

  My last tactic was to remember the person's feature who was about to kill me. The scars on his face, old and white. There was the rubble of a short scraggly stubble along chin, cheeks and around ears. Bold head, shaved and was glowing. Strange bronze eyes, alight with anger, as brows knitted together with contempt. The look seemed to say that he did not care who I am or who will come after him to tear him apart. He was ready for the kill, as he moved the blade down to my throat.

  Suddenly blood sprayed before the knife hit me. Closing eyes, I felt the warmth of it splash on my face and the tight grip he had on my throat released. Dropping onto knees, I peered out of eyes. The flashing made it difficult to see, but there appears to be an arm cut off from the body and was lying in a pool of blood near my hands. If I hadn’t seen strange things that have happened before, this would have made me distraught and run. However, I looked up, first, at the man’s wailing cries that were drowned out by the music. No one cared. And then at a gleaming sword that was lowered in front of my face and sleek with blood. Wanting to find who saved me, I looked up. Pale ghost-like skin flashed to life as they clutched the hilt of the sword with one hand. Armour meshed with cloth embroider a shiny silver along with the cotton white that was tightening around arms into sleeves. There is steel along the outer arms as well as a chest piece that meshed. The white cotton swayed down to the feet and moved when they moved. I stopped at the bare feet that were twinkling in the blood before my eyes shot up to the face. Their eyes are pitch black and narrowed with anger. High cheekbones, undeniably beautiful, as her hair swayed silky black when she turned to me.