Across The Universe Part 14

"I'm not responsible for the dead Watchers. Whoever's trying to destroy The House is still out there, and you'll see that soon enough."

The stairs drop off into a thin hallway. On one side a row of jail cells line the wall, all empty and cloaked in shadow. Dante steps over to the center chamber, pulls the key that dangles around his neck out from under his collar, and unlocks the door. As the metal creaks open he unbinds my hands and shoves me roughly inside so that I land hard on my knees. I grit my teeth against the pain and turn back to him, glaring up with defiance.

"Maybe you are innocent," he says. "Maybe you're nothing more than a deviant who wishes to cause me frustration. If that's the case, good luck proving it from inside this dungeon."

He slams the door shut, locks it, and heads back to the stairs. Before he continues on he halts, turning his head ever so slightly so that he looks back over his shoulder. "You'll be thrown into the void tomorrow. I'll be the one to push you out that door. I wonder how blinking out of existence feels. I imagine it's not very pleasant. You may want to spend this time bracing yourself for what's to come."

Then he ascends the stairs, the shadows curling around him until he disappears altogether. The last sound I hear is the marble wall of the Court Room above sliding closed as he exits the prison.

The cell is dark and dank, with rusted bars that cut me off from the rest of the world. There is no chair or bed or modic.u.m of comfort. I shuffle over to the corner and slide down until I'm huddled on the floor, setting my chin on my knees.

Down here there is no sense of time. The only way I have to count the seconds is by my own breaths, which come in ragged gasps as I bite back my tears. When I hear the wall slide to permit someone entry again, my blood runs cold. Has the time come for me to be cast into the void already? My heart doesn't stop racing until Nim steps out of the shadows.

"Amara!" she cries out, running over to my cage and reaching an arm through the bars.

I stand up, step across the cell, and take her hand in mine. In the glinting torchlight the raw marks the rope left on my wrists look angry and red.

"Why are you here, Nim? Did Dante allow you to visit?" I ask.

"Of course not! I snuck down here of my own accord. I need you to know I think Dante is wrong. You're not responsible for the terror ravaging The House, and I can't stand by and watch as Dante casts you into the void."

She pulls her key out from under her collar and fits it into the lock of my cell door. I gasp as the metal bars spring open. "How?"

"The House has many rules, all made to keep balance. Every key given to the Watchers opens these cells. It's been that way forever, so that one member cannot hold more power over another."

The urge to leave my cage behind is overwhelming, but I refuse to heed the temptation. "You'll get in trouble, Nim. Better one of us gets thrown into the void than both."

"Not if we can prove your innocence before they find out," she says. "I've talked to Elli and she's going to help us. You'll be hiding in the Archives Room while I search the universes for evidence. Perhaps the Harbingers have left something behind-a trace of their wrongdoing that can lead us to the real culprit."

"And you really think you'll find something?"

Nim's eyes swim with tears. "I have to. You must understand, Amara-I've trained many Watchers, but have cared for none like I do you. You're important to me."

Her pleading gaze is enough to make me follow her out of the dungeon and up the stairs. We slip out of the Court Room unnoticed, letting the crowd bustling through the halls beyond swallow us up. I keep my head down and trail behind Nim as she leads me to the Archives Room. My heart skips a beat when Dante walks past us. I'm sure he'll notice me-sure that he'll find out what Nim's done and lock us back up in the dungeon until the void can take us both-but he's too immersed in conversation with another Leader to pay us any attention.

When we reach the Archives Room Elli surges out from behind her desk and envelops me in a hug. Nim steps away, lingering by the door as my friend a.s.sesses me for b.u.mps and bruises. When she sees the red marks around my wrists she grumbles.

"I swear I'll get Dante back for hurting you if it's the last thing I do."

I pull out of Elli's embrace, though she insists on keeping a protective arm around my shoulder as I turn back to Nim.

"Thank you," I say. "Without you I would still be stuck in that cell, waiting to be cast into the void."

Nim smiles, leaning back into the door handle. "Don't thank me yet. We still have to find the proof I was talking about."

She turns the k.n.o.b and starts to leave, but I stop her with my words. "Be careful, Nim. I don't want to lose you."

Nim can't bring herself to reply so instead she just nods once and then slips across the threshold, disappearing into the hall as the door falls shut behind her.

Elli steers me toward the tunnels, leading me past shelves full of books and dust. The Archives Room seems empty except for us. We come to a familiar stretch of corridor where Elli tugs down on a crimson bound book tucked amongst the others. The wall of volumes instantly slides back and permits us entry into the secret room beyond.

"We'll be safe here for a while," Elli says as the entrance shuts behind her and she slides into a leather armchair. "In the meantime, why don't you tell me why you're not keeping an eye on Nim."

I blink out at her stupidly. "Why would I be?"

Elli examines her fingernails as she replies. "You don't know if she's really trying to find evidence. She could be flying off into your universe, s.n.a.t.c.hing that boy up to bring him back here." She rolls her eyes onto me now, her face a mask that I can't read. "If I were you, I'd hightail it back to Earth and pick Noah up yourself. Bring him back here; hide him in this room with you. It's the safest move."

I bite my lip, deep in thought. My universe is still in the Watch Room. It was abandoned there after Dante and his crew brought me back to The House. Elli's words make me doubt Nim, but only for a moment. Then I remember her heart-wrenching sobs as Dante sentenced me to the void. "Nim isn't behind all this. She cares for me too much. And even if she was, the last thing I'd do is bring Noah here. That's exactly what the enemy wants. I'd be playing right into his hands."

"Or her hands." Elli's gaze levels on mine. There's something cold about her expression that I haven't seen before. I step back a few paces, coming to stand behind the other chair.

"It can't be Dante either. You should've seen him around Noah. He was clueless."

Elli scoffs. "Dante could never pull something like this off. He's an idiot. Hasn't even been around The House that long. At least, not as long as I have. He deserves what's coming to him. After all he knows and he still pretends his cause is n.o.ble, that The House stands for purity and goodness."

I raise an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

Elli purses her lips and tilts her head to the side. "Have I ever told you about the origin of the Harbingers?" She waits for me to shake my head before continuing. "The House has lied to you, Amara. Your universe wasn't the first. There was another-one that bore the Harbingers into life. When The House saw how strong the life forms were-how they could destroy so much in the world with a mere glance-the Leaders decided they were a threat. They took over the universe and enslaved the Harbingers, forcing them to destroy their own home before taking the survivors back to The House. Then they made the poor things serve them for all eternity. It's no wonder they allowed The House's enemy to command them into the murder and destruction of Watchers and universes. They've wanted revenge since the beginning of time."

"How do you know all this?" I ask.

Elli stands, wandering over to the shelves and dancing her fingers across the spines of books as she answers. "I was there. I saw it all. As one of the first members of The House, I've been here through everything. The creation of all these silly rules. The enslavement of the Harbingers. The decision to hide the Key."

A queasy feeling builds in my gut. "I thought you said you didn't know about the Key-at least, not until we found that book." Elli turns to me, a devilish grin playing across her lips. The truth is clear to me now, but I can't-won't-believe it. Not until she admits it to me.

"You're the enemy of The House. You've been behind everything from day one," I say.

"You caught me!" Elli exclaims, throwing up her arms in mock surrender. When I don't laugh, the smile slides from her face and she drops her hands back to her sides. "Took you long enough to figure it out. I thought for sure you'd eventually grow to suspect me, but you never did. You even turned on Nim, but not me. Maybe it's because I'm so much like you: different. An outcast. Someone that cares about more than The House and its stupid halls and walls and doors."

"Why?" I ask, my head spinning. "If you're the one behind the killings-the one who's trying to take over The House-why don't you just go to Earth and get Noah now? You know who he is."

"Haven't put two and two together yet, I see," Elli says. She lets a pause go by, waiting for me to connect the dots, but grows impatient when I don't respond. "The prophecy, of course. I've been around long enough to know the sights of the Seers can't be defied. I'm not a Watcher, and the prophecy says a Watcher is the one who brings the Key to The House. It also mentions a Watcher will be connected to the Key and act as its protector."

Elli pulls a stack of folded papers from her pocket-the same papers I found slipped under my door. As she reads from them she glides her fingers across the back of the parchment, brushing them over the drawing of Noah's face.

"The prophecy of the first Seer regarding the Key speaks of the fate of The House. The Key will be brought into these walls by a Watcher, who will then unlock the mystical force that powers our inst.i.tution. With this power she will either destroy universes or save them, but either way, The House will suffer a terrible end. And then, from the next page: The Key and a Watcher will become connected, and for the rest of the Watcher's existence their lives will be intertwined. One will be unable to survive without the other, and each will have to forgo many trials to stamp out the evil that takes over The House."

Discarding the papers on a nearby shelf, she glares at me. "The prophecy mentions two Watchers, but it never crossed your mind that they're one in the same. You, Amara, are both. You're the Watcher that brings the Key into The House. You're also its protector. You're the reason The House will fall to me-the reason I'll become ruler over all the universes. Do you understand now?"

My legs go weak and I stumble back into the wall, clutching the edge of the shelves to support my weight. "I don't believe you. Why would you put me through all this if I'm the Watcher the prophecy talks about? The killings, the destruction. It's senseless."

"I had to guide you down your path," Elli says. "If I'd just asked you outright to bring Noah to me, you wouldn't have done it. You'd have fought against me. This way, I convinced you that you're the good guy. Let you get attached to the boy. You thought you were being n.o.ble. I let you fall victim to your own fate without you even knowing it."

"Then why tell me all this now? I still haven't brought the Key here. You haven't won."

"Dante got in the way of my plans. He went to Earth to retrieve you over some petty agenda, and in doing so he forced my hand. I had to convince Nim to rescue you. And now I have to convince you to bring the Key to me."

"Never."

Elli approaches me, grabbing my arms and digging her nails into my flesh. Her face is inches from mine as she spits her venom into my ear. "Oh, you will, dear girl. You will, or I'll kill Noah. I'll kill everyone. Your choice is simple. Fulfill the prophecy, or watch as I destroy every last member of The House."

Chapter Twenty-Two.

Elli follows me to the Watch Room, her eyes on my every move as I walk in front of her. She directs me along a path I'm unfamiliar with. The halls are empty and ominous.

"So what is it you plan to do with the Key once I bring him to you?" I ask, trying to buy time.

"I thought that part would be obvious. I plan to access the mystical power of The House and use it to take over this place," Elli replies.

"And then what? Destroy all the known universes? Sit up here alone with the Harbingers and your dusty old books for the rest of eternity?"

"Oh, I'm going to do something much better than that. I'll take the power and use it to create my own universes. I'll become judge, jury, and executioner for whole worlds. Guided evolution, I think the term is. It'll be so much better than what the idiot Leaders have us do now."

I glance over my shoulder. Her expression is one of greed and pride. "So you think you can do better than them. That you can undo billions of years of their work and start fresh with new laws and rules."

Elli's voice raises several octaves out of anger. "There will be no laws or rules. There will be only me. I won't have to deal with Dante or Nim or any of the others. The life forms I make will worship me as their maker. I'll get to be all of the things we previously had to choose from: Watcher, Archiver, Seer, Leader, Aider. My power will be limitless."

"And if you fail?"

"I won't," Elli snarls. "You'll bring me my Key like I told you to, because if you don't, I'll destroy everyone and everything you care about. I might not be able to bring Noah here on my own, but I can go to Earth and kill him with my bare hands."

"And then you'll never get what you want," I say.

Elli shrugs, acting completely unfazed by my reb.u.t.tal. "Let's say you can overlook the death of Noah. But what about Nim and all the other members of The House? Can you really live with the idea of causing all those deaths?" She points to a turn in the hall up ahead and adds, "Go left here."

I round the corner and find myself a few halls away from the Watch Room. The corridor is crowded again, full of bodies that jostle around me. I take one look back at Elli-at the ruthless sneer pasted onto her lips-and I know it doesn't matter what I do. She plans to destroy everything anyway, whether I act as she asks or not.

In a split second I make my move, maneuvering sideways so that a group of House members come between Elli and me. The crowd blocks off her line of sight and then I am running down the hall and around the corner, slipping through conversations and fl.u.s.tered shouts. Elli is close behind me; I hear people crashing to the ground as she plows through them in her effort to reach me.

A flurry of screams fill the air and I glance back long enough to see streaks of black smoke shoot through the air above me. House members throw their arms overhead and duck as the Harbingers careen toward me, drawing ever nearer.

The black clouds reach me and spin around my arms and legs, trying to trip me up. I flail and kick at the smoke, never allowing the mist to form a solid hold on my body. One of the Harbingers swirls in front of my eyes and I'm lost in a haze of darkness until I collide with something solid. I hear an OOPMH and I bounce back, falling to the ground and out of the smoke.

The person I ran into stands above me, screaming wildly and batting at the Harbingers as they flit around her. I'm back on my feet, ready to dart around them, when a pair of hands grabs my shoulders and spins me around.

Elli glowers at me, her tangled hair circling her head like a lion's mane as she claws her nails into my skin so hard they draw silver. My blood stains the collar of my dress as I fight against her grip.

"You can't get away from me that easy," she growls.

I wrench back, form a fist, and swing my arm at her right cheek. She goes down hard, releasing me and sliding backwards across the marble floor until a pair of feet halts her movement. The person bends down, helping her up, and points to me.

"She's escaped! Get her!" he yells.

Dante.

Elli shoves him off of her and barrels down the hall in my direction again. I am now being pursued by two foes instead of one and my heart hammers in my chest as my brain tries to wrap itself around my odds of survival. In my haste to escape I make a wrong turn and suddenly I am sprinting past a row of bedrooms. I'm dismayed until I see Nim standing up ahead in front of her chamber, making her way toward me.

"Amara! What are you doing out of the Archives Room? You were supposed to stay out of sight until I could go search for evidence," Nim says. I grab her arm and drag her back into her bedroom, slamming the door shut behind us. "What do you think you're doing?" she continues. "Dante could see you."

"He already has," I say, "but that's not the worst of our problems."

Nim raises her eyebrows. "Oh? And what could be worse than getting cast into the void?"

A shadow flickers across the crack in the bottom of the door and I put a finger to my lips, silencing her. I can hear Dante's m.u.f.fled shouting coming from the hall.

"Figure out how she escaped and where she disappeared to. And find Elli the Archiver, too. I want to know what her outburst was about."

His footsteps trail off into the distance, and I give a sigh of relief.

"It's been Elli all along, Nim," I say before she can ask any more questions. "She's the one trying to get to the Key, but she needs me to bring it to her. She's threatening to kill Noah and everyone else in The House if I don't do as she says."

"What's Noah got to do with any of this?" she asks.

"Noah is the Key. I'm connected to him. It's all part of some big prophecy and-oh, Nim! That's beside the point. I need to get to Noah. I need to warn him that Elli's coming to kill him before she gets there. I have to protect him from her, and while I'm gone you have to warn The House."

Nim pales, her expression haunted. "Are you sure it's Elli? I don't see how it could be. She's the one that encouraged me to help you in the first place."

"Exactly! She wanted you to let me out so I could bring Noah to her. Now please, Nim; focus. We've got to get to the Watch Room. The fate of all the universes depends on it."

"O-okay," she stammers. "But it won't be easy. We'll have to sneak past Dante and his helpers, and hope we don't run into Elli on the way."

"Not to mention the Harbingers. They're floating around out there, too."

Nim gulps, steps over to the door, and opens it a crack. Sticking her head out to make sure the hall is clear, she pulls me out after her. We pad down the corridor back the way I came on our way to the Watch Room. Nim jumps at every sound, her hand clenching around mine.

"It'll be okay," I tell her. "I promise I'll fix all of this, Nim. I won't let you down."

She eyes me carefully before replying. "You've never let me down, Amara. No matter what happens, you must know that I'm proud of you."

We're in front of the Watch Room now, and despite my desire to get to Noah, I throw my arms around Nim's neck. She blushes, her cheeks burning against my shoulder as she leans into the embrace and gently pats my back.

"How touching," a derisive voice says.

We leap away from each other and turn around. Elli stands across the hall, black smoke curling around her arms and legs. Slowly the clouds morph into hooded figures, flanking her on either side. House members inch away, forming a wide circle around the scene. They stare at Elli and the Harbingers with a mix of fear and curiosity.

"I won't let you get to Noah," I say, guarding the door to the Watch Room with my back.

Elli throws her head back and laughs. The sound is hoa.r.s.e and echoes around the hall like the shriek of a ghost. A purple welt blossoms on one her right cheek, the edges rimmed in yellow. "I don't need to get to Noah to hurt you," she says when she's done. "There are other options. Your dear mentor, for instance, would make a lovely sacrifice."

Nim steps in front of me, holding her arms out wide. Her hands tremble, as do her words. "L-le-leave her alone. Dante will throw you into the void for your treason."

"Dante doesn't even suspect me. He's too busy accusing Amara of my troublemaking. And even if these fools surrounding us tell him what they've seen, I can't be stopped. It's been foretold in the prophecy. The House will fall either way. As for you, Nim-the House member who can barely stand to bend the rules, let alone break them-your fate falls on Amara's shoulders. She should know that before I kill you."