21
Of The marked age
CHAPTER 1
*THE BEGINNING*
“Is this a...”
“Dream?” the voice responded. “No. But you knew that, didn’t you?”
Zooey Caine nodded for she knew it was true. This wasn’t a dream, and she moved steadily closer toward the large glass window.
“What am I doing here?” she asked, watching the finely crafted back of her father’s stately chair.
“I’ve brought you here.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s time.”
The chair began to move, slowly at first. And she held her breath, watching as it turned.
“Hello, Zooey,” the man stated with a slight glint in his cold, cruel eyes.
“I’m Aquas Tocque.”
She observed him. Sitting at her father’s desk, surrounded by papers, and maps, and old memories.
“I know who you are.”
“Of course, you do.” He smiled and gestured politely to the chair opposite him. “That was a formality. Sit.”
It was a command, not a suggestion. And Zooey studied him coldly.
“I don’t socialize with psychopaths.”
“How unfortunate,” he mused, looking at her calmly. “This will be more comfortable sitting down.”
Zooey looked around at the familiar setting. “What is ‘this’ exactly?”
Aquas Tocque turned his head to the side and smiled. “Why, it’s the beginning.”
She studied him cautiously. “The beginning of what?”
“Your sacrifice.”
A sharp twinge coursed down Zooey’s right arm, and she glanced down at the off-center two moons with the eight-point star that sat directly below them. The Mark of the Twin. Now emanating a faint glow on her right wrist.
She covered the mark instinctively and looked back up. “The Twin Connection?”
He gave her a knowing look. “One completes the other.”
“I’ve heard that before,” she stated with a slight smirk.
“Of course, you have. Why else would you take such a risk?”
He gestured again to the opposite chair. “Are you sure you don’t want to sit? After all, this is your home.”
She studied the chair before her cautiously. This was her home. And she began to look around the instantly recognizable room. Carefully, observing her surroundings, uncertain of what they would reveal.
This was no doubt the West Castle. She was standing in her father’s library surrounded by memories of the Caines. The books were there, untouched. The record player was standing in its familiar spot. The large glass window was still gleaming, intact. This scene had all the makings of her home, she knew that. But it was different, cold. And it sparked a vivid memory of another cold room—one in the East that she had visited in the past. With Holden, and Orson, and Aquas Tocque.
“You brought me here,” she stated firmly. “Why?”
“You brought yourself here,” Tocque answered. “I’m merely taking advantage of an opportune moment.”
He pried himself from the comfort of the King’s stately chair and walked over to the bookshelf. He studied the titles calmly. Running his hand across each of their spines as he examined them.
“Impressive collection your father had.”
He pulled a well-worn classic off the shelf and regarded the cover attentively. “Reminds me of my own.”
“Why are you here?” Zooey mused. “If this is my sacrifice?”
Tocque shrugged. “I dabble in mind control.”
“How convenient.”
“In a way.” Tocque placed the book back in its original location and turned to Zooey. “My gifts are a little more evolved than others.” He took a step toward her. “You should know, yours are too.”
She scoffed. “I don’t think so.”
Tocque studied her knowingly then replied, “I remember hearing about you—that a girl in the West had secured a Twin. Remarkable, really. I didn’t think there was a possibility of another. Not in this age at least.”
He gave her a pointed look. “You were the first of your kind, Zooey. We have that in common.”
The assertion was bold, and she studied him curiously. “What do you mean?”
Aquas Tocque did not break eye contact. “I have no doubt in what I am. Do you?”
His tone seemed almost confiding in nature, and she leaned in closer.
“What are you?”
He answered with a dark smile, “Now, that’s an entirely different story.”
Tocque changed his course, moving from the bookshelf over to the record player. Making sure to leave his mark on the Caines’ most prized possessions.
“Your father played these often?” he inquired.
“Always,” Zooey replied. “Not a day went by in the West Castle without them.”
Tocque smiled. “Your family is interesting, I must say.”
He picked up the album before him and observed the intricate, electric design. “All the loyal ones are dead. And the rest? Mutinous, homicidal, I’ve quite enjoyed getting to know them.”
Zooey felt her blood begin to boil. “You don’t know them.”
“All families are the same. They’re all disappointing.”
He put the record down and moved back to her father’s stately chair. “Yours is no different.”
She looked at him calmly. “You don’t know my family.”
“Really?” Tocque countered. “If I didn’t know them, if I couldn’t manipulate them, then how did I turn your brother and sister so easily? I obviously knew what they wanted. It was so simple.”
He gave her a pointed smirk and continued, “And if I didn’t know your family, how would I know that you would not be as easily swayed? Just like your brother Holden.”
Her body tensed. “Don’t mention Holden.”
“Ah,” he stated, realization in his cold, cruel eyes. “I understand. He was the moral center of your family. I spotted your brother’s integrity the instant we met. You have some of that, but not like him.”
Zooey remained silent, knowing it was beyond her physical power to rip his psychotic head clean off.
“I know this is complicated for you,” Tocque continued, gesturing flippantly in an attempt at being relatable. “The deceit was a necessity. I had to make you think he was alive. You understand that. I didn’t actually believe you could escape, but you seem to excel at that.”
She spoke evenly. “My gifts are a little more ‘evolved’ than others.”
“I do like you.” He smiled with a sense of camaraderie. “It’s a shame, really.”
“As much as I’m loving this dictatorial chit-chat, I think it’s time we moved on.”
“Moved on with what, exactly?”
“Killing me,” she stated decisively. “Right? That’s why you’re here?”
Tocque studied her curiously. “I’m not going to kill you.”
“Then what is this?”
“It’s your sacrifice,” he continued. “Don’t forget. You brought yourself here. You alone hold your fate. I’m just a facilitator. But I can, of course, help you make the decision.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
Tocque leaned in calmly. “I can give you a reason to stay.”
In one swift movement the room changed. The West Castle library was now filled with every member of Zooey’s family. All of the Caines placed throughout the room in seemingly perfect order.
Harrison stood leaning against the bookshelf, his judgmental gaze intact as he peered over his horn-rimmed glasses. Zelda was lounging on a nearby chair, her beautiful floor-length gown matching the fire that burned in her eyes. Beth and their mother, the Queen, stood side-by-side next to the record player. Peck the mourning dove perched gently on her sister’s shoulder. Aron was on the library floor, leaning against Bear, the great Bernese mountain dog, engrossed in some Old World adventure novel. Holden and Orson were standing together—so close Zooey could almost touch them. And lastly their father, the King. He replaced Tocque, sitting in his chair—surrounded by the legacy he had spent his lifetime building.
The Caines were together again.
“How?” Zooey whispered as she took a step toward Holden and Orson.
And with a single motion they all vanished.
“NO!”
Zooey reached for them, but all she grasped was air.
She turned purposefully back to Aquas Tocque, who was now standing right beside her.
“Bring them back!”
He took a step forward. “I can if you want.”
She looked at him frantically. “How?”
He put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Make the sacrifice, Zooey.”
She shook her head in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“Make the sacrifice. And you’ll have your family back.”
She turned to him purposefully. “How?”
He made another movement and her family returned. All of them standing exactly as they were in the West Castle library. Looking at Zooey expectantly.
“I can give you your family back,” Tocque assured. “You just have to stay here.”
She looked at him as realization began to hit. “You’re not saying...”
“It won’t feel like death,” Tocque explained. It will feel like everything is back in perfect order.”
He pointed to her eldest brother. “You’ll have Harrison, but he’ll be normal. He won’t get those terrible headaches we all fight so hard against.”
“You’ll have Zelda,” he continued casually. “But not the one you know now. No, she’ll be the old Zelda. The one that doesn’t view murder as a proper past-time.”
“Aron will be safe,” he continued. “You won’t have to worry about his safety. And you’ll have Beth, sweet Beth. And your kind, strong mother.”
He turned to Zooey pointedly. “Your father will be there, too. He’ll always be there to play his records for you, Zooey. I know you miss that.”
She knew it was manipulation, but she couldn’t speak. A part of her wanted his words to be true.
“And you’ll have Holden and Orson,” Tocque concluded, saving his most useful ammunition for last. “All three of you will be together again. Your promise will be revived.”
“I’ll have them back?” Zooey asked softly.
Tocque smiled wistfully. “You will.”
Zooey observed her family achingly. She wanted them. She wanted to be with them all again. Like this. It was easy, Tocque had assured her. She could just stay right here. And never feel the loss and torment of her broken family again.
But that familiar twinge returned to Zooey’s right wrist. That coursing twinge that was ingrained in her. It was the reason she would never be able to stay, no matter how badly she wanted her family back. It was the reason she would never be able to make this sacrifice.
“Where’s Ilya?”
Tocque’s once hopeful face turned back into its true, cruel form.
“I’m sorry?”
“Where’s Ilya?” she repeated.
He cleared his throat and considered her calmly. “Is that really what’s important, Zooey?” he asked, trying to maintain his even tone. “When you can have all of this.”
She looked into his eyes calmly, now knowing her true advantage against him.
“You made Harrison appear.” She gestured to the figments of her family still scattered across the room. “And Beth, and my father. But where’s Ilya, Tocque? Where’s my Twin?”
And the great Aquas Tocque remained silent.
This was the one thing that he would never understand—this enigmatic man of great power that had destroyed her world. He would never understand what it meant to be a Twin. For all his intellect he would never know what it felt like to be completely whole.
“Without Ilya...all of this means nothing.”
“But it’s your family,” Tocque countered. “You would just give that up. As if they never mattered?”
“They mattered,” she stated firmly. “They mattered. But they’re dead.”
She looked at the truly life-like figments of her family that were scattered around the room. She could see the potential in Tocque’s manipulation. Harrison’s caution came through in his eyes. Her parents’ loyalty was there—she could feel it. She sensed Beth’s kindness and Aron’s quick mind. She felt Zelda’s calculation and Orson’s cunning. And most of all she knew the strength and hope that existed in Holden’s calm.
But these feelings weren’t created by Tocque. She felt all of this because of her own memories. Because of the past.
And the past would never leave her.
“They’re dead,” she repeated. “They can’t come back. And I won’t follow them. Not on my own.”
He turned to her calmly, any hint of light completely gone from his eyes. “It seems you’ve made your choice.”
In an instant the Caines faded until none were left. Only three things remained in the West Castle library.
Zooey Caine.
Aquas Tocque.
And the fight that had not yet begun.
And Tocque’s cold, cruel face broke into one final, challenging smile.
“Be seeing you.”
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