HEART OF THE CHOSEN (CASTE BOOK 1)

Chapter 18

I received his revelation like a real slap in the face.

“Carmichael is what?!”

“A friend of Eve’s father?” wondered Eric, “but he can’t be more than thirty years old!”

“Indeed, Sam commented, “and that’s what makes him lord of this land. His powers were never truly revealed. Nathan was convinced that he possessed, among other things, the ability to regenerate himself or something like that. A unique power that would slow down his ageing. No one knows his exact age.”

“They were friends?” I repeated in a flat voice.

“Yes, Carmichael had sent one of his henchmen to recruit him, but Nathan wanted to speak with him in person. Carmichael accepted, although he never does, according to my sources, which makes his visit here even more unsettling.”

“But what was the relationship between him and my father?”

“I don’t know, he met him a little before your mother’s death. Nathan was then 23 years old and you were an infant. He hadn’t accepted to join the caste Order, because your mother was categorically against it. Carmichael never insisted on this point. I was even convinced that Nathan had made a compromise that allowed him, for a time, to lead the tranquillity of a normal family life. A few months after your mother died, Nathan disappeared for over six months. He had given your custody to Carmichael during that time.”

“What!” I said, completely stunned.

“He never told me where he had gone all those months, but when he came back he asked to see me. He seemed preoccupied with something. Carmichael had taken good care of his daughter but he would never have wanted her to grow up among the caste because he was convinced that Carmichael felt a kind of fascination for you. It worried him. From then on, he preferred to keep his distance from him. We went to see a notary to establish what would later be… his will. He entrusted me with your custody and his assets until your majority in case of misfortune. He died two years later.”

“I can’t believe my father could have been close to this man, didn’t he have any qualms about being around people who thought the human race was cockroaches?”

Sam hesitated. Obviously, he didn’t know if he should reveal more or keep quiet.

“Sam!” I cried, “you did everything so that I didn’t know who my parents were, and especially who I was! So tell us everything, you owe us that!”

“And Thomas’ life is at stake!” outbid Eric who was containing himself.

“You don’t understand,” Sam replied, looking down, “with Carmichael’s visit there’s a lot more at stake here than you seem to believe, and with what I learned about the owner of the Canary Tower, no, it’s too dangerous, Eve!”

I noticed that Sam was walled up in his silence. I was unable to understand his behaviour which was foreign to me until then.

“Enough, Eve, we’re leaving!” snapped Eric.

He grabbed my arm and pulled me up the stairs. He stopped abruptly and put his hands on my shoulders.

“Go get yourself some things. We’ll go to my house.”

I complied and climbed the steps, not without throwing a hateful look in the direction of my guardian. I stuffed my clothes into a suitcase and brooded over my anger as my thoughts clashed violently. Tears washed over me, I had to take a moment to control my sobbing gasps. I was tired of crying! This story was becoming unbearable. Finally out of the house, without a last look at Sam, I sat in the passenger seat of the Audi without a word. Eric drove off. My cell phone started to vibrate. In a sudden burst of optimism, I hoped that Sam had changed his mind and was asking me to come home right away and explain everything to me.

“Hello?”

“Everliegh?” asked a feminine, nasal voice.

“Yes.”

“It’s Anita Kaprisky. Is my daughter with you?”

“Not since around 10 p.m., why?”

“She hasn’t come back all night, and she usually warns me when she makes this kind of plan!”

“Oh! Sorry, but I don’t know where she is.”

“Sure!” she retorted, “You two make a good pair, dragging your buttocks all over the place! If you see her, tell her to come home quickly, she has to go shopping tomorrow!”

For a moment, I thought about shutting up and swallowing Olivia’s mother’s insanities like I used to. But with the evening I had just spent, Mrs Kaprisky wasn’t going to get away with it so easily.

“Listen to me, Anita, I don’t care that Olivia can’t do your shopping tomorrow! I don’t give a damn what you think of your daughter and me, because if you had the slightest sense, and you spent two minutes brooding, you’d be worried a little bit about your daughter rather than your slave!”

“Say, little s…”

“Shut up!” I cut her off, angry, “I’ll try to find her and I’ll let you know.”

I hung up and turned to Eric.

“You have to go see Johnny.”

“What’s happening, exactly?”

“Olivia didn’t go home and, given her state after Carmichael, I think she had to take refuge at Johnny’s.”

“So why do you look so worried?”

“I don’t know…,” I replied in a whisper, “might as well make sure she’s with him.”

We arrived at Brixton about ten minutes later. Already the darkness of the night made the atmosphere around us even more ominous, but having been in the area several times, I easily indicated the way to go to Johnny’s. Eric parked his car between a brand new BMW and a Twingo standing on cinder blocks. In front of the entrance to the building, figures were chatting on the porch. Yet it was three o’clock in the morning. The buildings deserved a thorough facelift, but the mayor had instead opted for pure and simple neglect in the years to come. Shops were almost non-existent and the f**k Police tagged on the walls and the satellite dishes were the only valid decoration in this world of sadly faded colours.

“Damn! Everliegh Burberry! How long have we not seen you in the area,” said the deep voice of a tall, shaved black man with a scarred right cheek, “a little courtesy call at 3 o’clock in the morning?”

Next to him stood Mohamed Belhak and Sebastian Bassot, a guy from high school too. There were two other boys I had never met and they were all staring at me, wondering what I was doing here in the middle of the night.

“Hi, Elvis,” I greeted him while nodding at the others, “I’m looking for Johnny.”

“Guys, this is Everliegh, a friend of Olivia and my bro. And you, Eve, won’t you introduce us to your friend?”

“Elvis, meet Eric. Eric is a friend who also knows your brother.”

“Eric? um…,” thought Elvis, “weren’t you the guy who planted Olivia?”

A heavy tension fell immediately. I had forgotten that Elvis had had a crush on Olivia since kindergarten and knew everything about her. I, therefore, preferred to break the silence before it degenerated.

“Listen, Elvis, Olivia’s mother contacted me, very concerned. She still hasn’t returned home.”

“I’d be surprised if her mother was concerned,” he retorted, his gaze returning to me.

“No, well,” I confessed, “it’s more the fact that her shopping won’t be done tomorrow that worries her. Anyway, Olivia always tells her mom, so I’d rather make sure she’s here.”

“I didn’t see her.”

“So can we see Johnny, please?”

Elvis seemed to think for a moment before declaring:

“Okay, come with me, but your friend, he stays here!”

“But…”

“I’ll wait in the car,” Eric cut me off, very calmly.

“Alright… so that’s okay.”

We took the only elevator in operation to reach the thirteenth floor of the building. Elvis and his two friends took up all the space, and I got out of this tin can relieved to draw air into my lungs. He walked past me, headed down the hall, and opened the door. I went through to the Forbe’s living room. A gigantic flat screen hung on the wall, a corner sofa faced it and the furniture was covered with cushions in red, green and yellow hues. Which went nicely with the Jamaican flag above the sideboard. Johnny was sleeping soundly across the couch.

“Hey! Wake up, you have visitors.”

“What!” muttered Johnny. “Elvis, let me sleep!”

“Eve’s here.”

“So what!”

“Johnny,” I whispered in his ear as I moved closer, “is Olivia here?”

“No,” he answered, his eyes still closed, before trying to sit up, “why?”

“She didn’t come home last night.”

“She must have gone out to the city!”

“Maybe, but… let’s say she left my house pissed off and I’m a little worried.”

“Were you still fighting?”

“Yeah.”

“About Eric?”

“About that guy down there?” said Elvis, “You’re kidding, I hope! If he creates problems for you, I can take care of it.”

“Oh, no!” retorted Johnny, “you don’t get involved in this and you won’t hurt that handsome kid, you never know.”

“Stop f*****g around, Johnny, I hate it!” scowled Elvis. “Eve, I’ll be down there if you’re looking for me…and I won’t touch your mate!”

Johnny knew how to deal with his brother, Elvis slammed the door. Despite Elvis’ somewhat boorish behaviour, I knew he cared a lot about Olivia. He didn’t seem worried because he had known my best friend longer than I had and certainly imagined her partying somewhere. But this ugly feeling lingered in the back of my mind. I turned back to Johnny.

“I have a lot of problems happening to me at the moment and I won’t be going back to class anytime soon.”

“What? But you’re crazy! The finals are in five f*****g months!”

“Yes, I know. But I don’t really have a choice, and anyway, it won’t change anything for me now.”

Johnny frowned and stared at me for a long moment.

“Are you knocked up?”

“No, not at all! Uh… I can’t tell you more, but to put it simply: I’m leaving school, I’m going to Thomas and Eric’s tonight to find out what we’re going to do. After, I don’t know. I’ll only be reachable on my cell phone, so if you see Olivia, tell her to reach me on it.”

“She’s gonna freak out when she learns you’re living under the same roof as Eric.”

“I don’t have a choice.”

“What have you gotten yourself into again?”

“Don’t ask me about it! I’m up to my neck! But promise me you’ll let me know the minute you run into Olivia.”

“I promise.”

“So see you soon.”

“Yeah, see you!” He said to me as he immediately resumed his horizontal position, “but next time, try to pass by during the day, that would be nice.”

“Sorry.”

I went back down in the elevator and then joined the group under the porch of the stairs.

“Phone me if you have any news from Olivia, please.”

“Sure,” replied the scarred one, “but tell your friend that here, redheads who look bad, they don’t make old bones.”

“What! Who? What redhead?”

“We need to talk, Everliegh,” came a deep, serious voice a few yards to my left.

My head spun around and my heart skipped a beat when I saw Gregory. The tall ponytailed redhead wore a scary grin as he beckoned me forward. My gaze shifted slightly to see that Eric was still in the Audi listening to music, which was very loud for the late hour. It was my luck! I absolutely must not scream, because Elvis and his clique were going to want to fight and would be massacred, that was certain. Also, I shouldn’t use my abilities in front of everyone, it was far too risky, and I didn’t even know if I was capable of it at the moment. I was certain that Gregory had no intention, at least for the now, of killing me. He just put on his worst smile and waited for me to join him. I suddenly had the idea of concentrating on Eric’s Audi as I had done with the candles in my room. The task was going to be difficult, but I was gripped with fear and my nerves were stretched to the limit after this horrible day. No sooner had I closed my eyes than, mentally, I managed to turn off the Audi’s radio and lifted the car a few centimetres. It took Eric a fraction of a second to put himself a metre behind Gregory, who hadn’t batted an eyelid. On the contrary, his smile widened.

“I didn’t come to fight,” he said.

“So, why?”

“I’m actually here to discuss Carmichael, I heard you saw him today?”

His tone was detached but didn’t hide a real curiosity.

“I didn’t know Carmichael was accountable to his lackeys,” I smirked.

“I am NOT Carmichael’s lackey!” Gregory shouted.

I hadn’t expected such a reaction, but I didn’t blink an inch. On the other hand, I felt nervous movements behind me. Instantly, I turned my head and saw Mohamed Belhak in the front line. With a spontaneous wave of my hand, I stopped them, creating a sort of invisible wall in front of them. I felt my muscles harden from the adrenaline that came from using this power. I nodded to my devoted protectors with a grateful smile, but they were staring at me wide-eyed.

“Guys, don’t get involved, please? Nothing’s going to happen, is it, Gregory?”

After the almost imperceptible surprise he showed when I mentioned his first name, he nodded as a promise. We moved away about thirty metres from the place, Eric on the redhead’s heels, Elvis and his gang still wondering what had just happened.

“If you’ve come as a caste recruiter, it’s not worth it. Carmichael has already done it twice, I think that’s enough for today.”

“So he’s come to see you a second time… that’s interesting.”

“Why?”

“Nothing.”

Silence. The tension between us three became palpable. I also knew that Elvis was watching us.

“Why are you here?”

“I’m taking you with me,” he declared with the firm intention of leaving me no choice.

Eric stirred. Now, the tall redhead’s clear eyes were glaring at me. I was beginning to understand the difference between Carmichael and this man.

“Carmichael hasn’t demanded anything yet, so why do you have to take me?” I asked, as calmly as possible.

“But I’m not taking you to Carmichael.”

A warning signal in my brain had just sounded. My gaze travelled to the right where a silhouette was already taking shape between two bushes and another behind Eric was advancing slowly, without me seeing any face. Eric remained motionless, his eyes, on the other hand, indicated in three places the individuals who were standing nearby behind me.

We were surrounded. I exchanged a worried look with Eric. His nervousness and concern for me could be seen in his eyes. Against all odds, I smile at him as if it should be the last act to reassure him. Not having lost all hope, I gave him directions with a shake of my head. He immediately threw himself to the left and, in the space of a second, knocked out two opponents before stopping abruptly in front of the third. Without turning around for a moment to analyse what was going on behind him, Gregory gave a dreadful smile that creased his emaciated face. Eric seemed to be fighting against himself, motionless and agitated with nervous spasms, he was unable to use his powers. The man holding him was huge and almost platinum blond. He looked like a Scandinavian. His mouth twisted in excitement inches from his writhing victim. For my part, I had not anticipated the speed of the assault behind me. No sooner had I lifted a finger than a guy encircled my neck in the steel vice of his right arm. At the time, I had no reaction because I heard Elvis and his clique running in our direction, they were going to be killed and the Scandinavian compromised my first plan. The guy behind me, whose arm was squeezing me tighter and tighter, sniffed my hair before addressing Gregory:

“If it’s her, we’re going to have problems, does he know?”

“Of course,” assured Gregory disdainfully, “and beware whoever touches her.”

“YOU RELEASE THEM IMMEDIATELY!” yelled Elvis from a few feet away.

While I was looking for air to breathe, I noticed Gregory’s nod to another of his henchmen still available. His morbid grin said a lot about his intentions. The anguish that harm will come to them through my fault made me scream in terror despite the pressure exerted by the horrible guy behind me. These convulsions, however, released the pressure exerted by my assailant on my throat and I immediately trained all my concentration on his arm. With my eyes closed, I imagined myself moving it as if I were doing it with my own hands. Raising my eyelids, I saw that it was. I broke his ulna in the process. The man screamed.

Now, I was gaining more confidence in these powers, these abilities that I saw, not long ago, as a curse. Looking determined, I ejected him violently, as well as the individual who was to take care of the Elvis gang. Mohamed Belhak was waiting for him resolutely, the excitement of the fight to come could be read on his face, just like that of Seb Bassot. They were almost disappointed to see the poor guy in front of them hit head-on the second floor of a building. Their eyes snapped in my direction and it took them a moment to react before running away. I was relieved, but no sooner had I made a new gesture than Gregory encircled my neck with his long fingers, strong and skeletal at the same time. I easily guessed that a single movement of his hand could break my neck.

“You’ll go, whether you like it or not, now it’s up to you to decide if your friend should live. He’s invited to accompany us if he wishes.”

“That’s not going to happen,” I mouthed, choking on the pressure of his fingers.

I tried to concentrate again to get him to loosen his grip, but the pain around my neck and my burning lungs prevented me from moving him an inch. Gregory took an object from his pocket that I couldn’t make out. Behind him, Eric still hadn’t freed himself from the mental and painful embrace of the Scandinavian. I tried in vain to find a solution, but I suffered too much to think of an effective plan. Then came a flash of thought. Since I couldn’t get this damned caste ability to work, I had to use old methods. And for once, he hadn’t seen it coming, my knee in the testicles. He immediately let go of his grip but had enough lucidity to jab me in the arm with his hidden syringe. The violent sting made me sway, a whitish veil was already taking shape before my eyes. Gregory was on the ground writhing in pain while Eric was still suffering from his torments. With a superhuman effort, I managed to throw the Scandinavian several metres and was strong enough to knock him out in the fall. But the others, the ones Eric had knocked down, were already getting up, and it was only a matter of seconds before Gregory did the same. But as I glimpsed the solution to the problem, my legs gave out. My every move seemed to happen in slow motion. Behind me, I thought I heard screams and people running toward us. I turned around, lights were coming towards me, then nothing. A total blur blinded me to events. My head felt heavier and heavier and I collapsed on the concrete ground. Someone picked me up.

Eric dropped me off in a dark place. I could barely hear the dislocated sounds of police sirens as he grabbed my arms and shook me like a plum tree.

“Eve! What’s wrong?”

“He has...syringe...I don’t know…”

“He drugged you,” he realised suddenly as I forced myself to stare at his lips.

For a few moments, he remained frozen. Before carrying me in his powerful arms and sharing his whirlwind of speed with me.

I was lying on a couch, slumped full length. I tried to open my eyes but the light kept them closed. I still managed to c***k them open to see Eric gesticulating in all directions and suddenly stuffing clothes into two large duffel bags.

“What are you doing?”

“We need to find this Carmichael.”

“Oh…,” I say only before going back to sleep.

When I woke up, a headache was compressing my brain. I didn’t recognize the place but I would have bet on a hotel room. My mouth was pasty, and I felt an urgent need to wash myself. I had somehow lifted my stony body to walk, my vision hazy, towards what appeared to be a bathroom. Once in the room, I found that all of my things were there. From my suitcase, to my toothbrush, to the paracetamol and the glass of water on the shelf. I smile at this touching attention coming from such a withdrawn man. I stepped into the shower and adjusted the temperature so that cool water lashed my face. I reinvigorated myself and enjoyed the feeling after this dreadful evening. Little by little, the memories of the day before came back to me, including the last: that of Eric considering contacting Carmichael. At that thought, my stomach tightened. This man scared the hell out of me, and that was without counting the chain reactions he was causing in me. I heard a door close.

“Eric?”

“Yes.”

“I’m coming in two minutes!” I shouted while putting on a bathrobe.

After a quick but effective brushing of my teeth and combing my hair, I rushed into the bedroom.

“What happened last night?”

“Gregory drugged you, but I don’t think he had time to inject you with all his dope. Your fearsome knee will have prevented it,” he ended with a smile.

“How did we get away?”

“Elvis and his pals made a diversion. They stirred up the whole neighbourhood, there were no less than a hundred guys from the city who came back. I even thought I saw Johnny in the lot. Anyway, I took the opportunity to get us out of there. The police arrived, and then once Gregory’s gang left, things didn’t go too badly.

“How do you know?”

“I went back there this morning to pick up the Audi,” he continued while sitting down in the chair facing me, “I ran into Elvis with a dozen of his friends. He told me that my car had nothing to fear in the city. I thanked him for the night before and handed him the keys.”

“Why?”

“It’s too showy. If the police get involved in this story and cross-check certain elements, we’ll stupidly get caught. And then, I owe him that. Thanks to him, we got out of it last night. In exchange, he didn’t ask any questions and will ask the others to keep the events of the evening a secret, I especially believe that he prefers not to know more.”

I had already forgotten Inspector Carrere and hoped that, in the dark night, no one had really noticed our presence. I already knew that Elvis and his gang would be silent, but if the police were to have me in their sights, and Carrere to boot, then I was doomed to hide for the rest of my life. Eric noticed my concern.

“We need to contact Carmichael and I found a way to do it.”

A nervous spasm ran through my chest. Fear immobilised me. It was less about Carmichael than about everything he meant to me. I had a curious feeling that a page would be turned forever if I joined him.

“Joining them is out of the question, Eric!”

“But that’s not what we’re going to do!” he replied immediately, “think for a moment, if we go there, we have a chance to find Thomas. If Carmichael wanted to hurt us, he would have done it already. Same for Gregory, except that he resorts to much more drastic methods. Of the two evils, I prefer the one who doesn’t carry a syringe in his hand, and even if all these years I tried to escape them, I’m now convinced that only in this way will we learn more. As soon as we have what we want, we’ll leave this Order and its followers.”

“But Carmichael… he freaks me out, this guy.”

“He won’t do anything to you. According to Sam, he was a bit of help to your father and never hurt you in the slightest, why do you think he would now?”

I remained silent. How to make Eric understand the discomfort I felt as soon as I thought of this man. Besides, I had no desire to bring up Carmichael and what had happened with him. The invisible bond that bound me to this man was as clear to me as his touch.

“Maybe,” I finally answer, “but we don’t know who’ll be there or which other caste besides Conway will be in his pay. It’s dangerous!”

“Yes, but what do we have to lose? Judging by what happened last night, they seem well organised, well resourced, and in my opinion outnumber us by a lot more than we thought. Conway still spent two years as a high school teacher just to keep an eye on you.”

“Hmm... I don’t know if…”

“Eve!” Eric cut me off, “we have no choice.”

Could I really ignore Eric’s arguments? Suddenly I thought of Thomas. With all these events, it seemed like several years had passed since his disappearance only the day before. Like a revelation, my conscience was breaking down little by little the wall of anguish that held me prisoner. I had to find Thomas at all costs.

“How are you going to contact him?” I asked now, determined to see that possibility.

“I already contacted Conway this morning.”

“You did it without telling me!”

“Sorry, Eve, but I’ve made up my mind on this, so yes, I did. I contacted the school then I pretended there was a family emergency to get her on the phone. She asked me for a number where we could be reached. I gave her that of a telephone booth a hundred metres from here. She called me back a few minutes later.”

“So what?”

“They ask us to hide for a while. Yesterday’s event made waves and best to lay low for now. The time also that they settle some internal affairs, she said. Conway nevertheless seemed curious to know all the details about Gregory.”

“So we’re staying here after all?”

“Yes,” he answered, “for the moment.”