Book of Joshua Read online

  ‘Hey, I would have worried if you hadn’t,’ Nemo replied now in a lighter tone. ‘With all that’s been happening, you’d have to be a wolfman or something to not feel anything at all. It’s alright, though, no harm done.’

  Daniel looked at him but did not say anything else. He felt guilt weigh heavy on his heart. This was the second time in so many days that he had been a right idiot with Nemo. His best friend deserved better than that.

  Nemo probably knew what he was thinking, so he turned to Sam again as a means of changing subject.

  ‘What do you think we can do for her? How do we wake her up?’

  They’d checked on her before, right after Hëna possessed by her new host had locked them in there. They had found, however, that there wasn’t anything they could do. Sam seemed to be breathing alright, and to anyone who wouldn’t know it, it looked as if she was asleep. But they knew better. The entity that had been living inside of her for apparently a long time, had wreaked havoc inside her brain and had left her in this vegetative state after moving on to Hëna. They had no idea how to bring her back from wherever she had gone, and Nemo knew this. But he had nothing else to suggest to Daniel, and he really needed him to stop torturing himself for at least a moment.

  They were both bending over her now, just staring at her pale face from above, when a voice from outside the cell startled them.

  ‘Get away from her.’

  They both turned at the same time, completely surprised to see a lone soldier on the other side of the gate. He was holding a hand just below his heart, where a huge gash seemed to be bleeding still. He held his sword in the other hand, but they could tell he was very weak and probably could not use it. The boys got up at once and went to the gate.

  ‘Oh, man are we glad to see you,’ said Nemo. ‘Let us out of here, please. The soldier there has the keys on him.’

  The standing soldier drew back a little and raised his sword towards them, mistrust evident on his face.

  ‘Is my queen alive?’ he asked.

  ‘What? Yeah, of course she’s still alive,’ Nemo answered. ‘She just won’t wake up, that’s all. Will you let us out of here, please?’

  ‘What did you do to her?’ the soldier continued.

  ‘We didn’t do anything to her; it wasn’t us. It’s complicated.’

  ‘It was that woman, wasn’t it?’ the soldier asked again. Daniel realised he was now talking about Hëna, and finally spoke.

  ‘You saw her? What happened out there? Where did she go?’

  ‘What happened was that she slid her sword inside the winged man and took him away riding that big two-headed Eagle. I don’t know where they were headed; they flew away towards the Mountains. Who was she? Was she with you? Did she do this to my queen?’

  His tone was accusatory, and Daniel realised that whatever they told him, the soldier would probably not believe it and would not let them out. Their initial hope of freedom after seeing him faded again, though was not entirely lost. They still had Sam with them in there, and the soldier was bound to do something about that. Plus, he was hurt; maybe they could convince him that they could help him.

  When they refused to answer, the soldier took it as a confirmation of their guilt.

  ‘She was with you, wasn’t she? You were all together in this. You did this to my queen.’

  ‘It’s not what you think,’ Nemo answered. He decided he would try and tell the soldier the truth; it wasn’t that farfetched after all, was it? ‘The woman you saw flying away with the Eagle is his wife,’ he nodded towards Daniel. ‘Some evil spirit or something had been living inside your queen for months now, controlling her and doing whatever it wanted. When Hëna came here, the spirit left your queen and went inside her. We were unable to stop it. After it locked us all in here, it then killed the two soldiers and left. The rest you’ve seen for yourself.’

  Nemo practically expected the soldier to impale him with his sword for telling tall tales, but to his surprise and relief that did not happen. Instead, the soldier drew back even farther and seemed to be thinking.

  ‘A spirit,’ he said thoughtfully after a while. ‘I guess that explains why she changed so much all of a sudden. It was soon after that, that the monsters appeared, and people began to die. Was it the spirit that brought them here?’

  ‘Yes,’ Daniel answered. ‘And I have a feeling they have followed it wherever it’s going to next.’

  ‘You mean; they’re gone? For good? No wonder it feels so warm out there today. The sun is shining like it hasn’t done in a very long time. Colour seems to have finally returned to the world.’ The soldier now seemed to be having a dialogue with himself. ‘But they’re all dead, everyone. I’m the only one left. What am I gonna do all alone in the entire kingdom?’

  ‘You’re not alone,’ Daniel reminded him. ‘Your queen is still alive. She’s in a coma or something, but still alive.’

  ‘A coma?’ the soldier asked, not sure what that meant.

  ‘Sleeping,’ Daniel explained. ‘We just don’t know how to wake her up.’

  The soldier finally dropped the sword and walked back to his dead comrade behind him and got the keys to the gate off his now cold corpse. He then found the right key, and after opening the gate, he walked inside the cell and towards the queen, ignoring the two men.

  ‘Why did you wait until now to come and check on us?’ Nemo couldn’t help but ask. Morning must have come hours ago.

  ‘I think I lost consciousness for a while up there. As soon as I woke up, I came down here to check. Sorry.’

  ‘That’s alright,’ said Daniel. ‘We’re just glad you’re here now.’ He watched as the soldier knelt before Sam, being careful not to touch her. ‘Can you lead us to her room? We should take her there to sleep; at least it will be much more comfortable.’ And dignifying, he thought to himself.

  The soldier looked up at him and then nodded.

  ‘Follow me.’

  Daniel picked Sam up with Nemo’s help and they carried her up too many flights of stairs through the castle, until they reached what appeared to be her bedroom on the top level. The soldier pushed the big double doors open but did not enter. He held them open for the men to walk in and place his queen on her bed.

  As Nemo walked in behind Daniel, he ran face first into his back when his best friend decided to freeze abruptly just in front of him. This caused him to drop Sam's feet on the hard floor.

  ‘Hey, what did you do that for?’

  Daniel did not answer. Instead, he kept looking dazed, his eyes fixed straight ahead of him.

  ‘Dan, what happened?’ Nemo asked. Daniel’s answer confused him even more.

  ‘Grab her, Nemo.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Do it. Take her hand and look over the bed.’

  ‘Why would I...? Oh my…’ he finally saw it. Hovering just above the royal bed, the translucent image of another room with white walls and furniture could be seen. It was like magic, like a mirage over the desert sands, another reality that transparently overlapped with this one; it wasn’t supposed to be there, but it was.

  ‘Is that...?’

  ‘Her portal,’ Daniel finished the sentence for him. ‘I think I have a way to go to the real world, Nemo. I can actually get to Serena.’

  The look on Daniel’s face was one of new hope. Only minutes ago, he had been desperate, without a way out of their current predicament or hope of ever making it to Serena and helping her. But now everything had changed; he felt closer to his daughter than he had felt in all the days since she had disappeared. He badly needed to believe that he could help at least her, especially after Hëna. Looking into his best friend’s eyes, however, he hesitated. Nemo clearly did not share his enthusiasm.

  The first thing she sensed as she came to, was the softness of the fine sheets she lay tucked between, and the velvety feel of the pyjamas she was wearing. The pillow was also amazing; not too high, but not too flat either; her head rested comfortably on it at just the right
angle. In fact, the entire bed was so comfortable that she felt like she did not want to wake up. She wandered at the edge of wakefulness, half sensing the world around her and half sleeping, wishing she could sink back into oblivion, at least just for a while longer. But it was already too late, the strong daylight inside the room and the sweet chirping of birds outside the window insisted on pulling her out of her slumber. She finally opened her eyes.

  It took her a while to actually wake up; it was like sleep just refused to retreat. When it finally did, however, Serena began to remember everything that had happened, and she began to panic. Was she dead? She clearly remembered being shot and losing consciousness right after Freddie had been killed in front of her.

  Freddie. No, don’t think of that right now, she commanded herself, already feeling the threat of her tears attacking.

  She immediately got up from the bed and checked herself for any injuries. There was nothing. She was perfectly fine, apart from a sore spot at the base of her neck that seemed to have turned blue. What did this mean? Was she alive? If so, where was she?

  She studied the room. It was bigger than any she’d ever been in, with some nice furniture and carpentry, a large wall sized wardrobe, but not much else. There wasn’t even a mirror. She turned around and went to the window, opening the curtains and peaking outside. The day seemed sunny and lovely, a big change from the gloomy weather she’d come to hate in this world, particularly in this city. She followed the sound of the bird song and spotted a small cage hanging outside on the patio, with three little canaries obliviously singing their time away. She loved canaries. She had learned that people in this world liked to keep all sorts of birds and animals in cages for their own amusement. She found that very cruel and did not like it one bit.

  Her room was on the ground floor, but even if she thought about escaping from the window, it would not have been possible. There were thick bars outside it, and she doubted she’d be able to do anything about that.

  She walked silently towards the door and very discretely tried turning the knob. It turned, but not all the way. The door was clearly locked from the outside. That meant she was a prisoner and apparently very much alive. She didn’t know what happened to people when they died, but she doubted they went to a place like this and were kept prisoners in a lovely and comfortable room.

  She slowly went back to her bed and sat down, trying really hard not to let her thoughts run where they desperately wanted to, Freddie and his untimely demise. She felt great pain hide behind those thoughts, like a tumultuous river behind a tall dam. So, she forced herself to think about her current predicament instead. What was this place? Why was she being kept under lock and key? It surely had something to do with her powers. This house must belong to the Order of the Guardians; they were the only ones who knew about her and had been chasing her. But why hadn’t they killed her? Freddie had told her that they wanted her dead.

  And then, it finally hit her, if she was alive, maybe so was he.

  She did not have time to rejoice over this new hope, however. The door to her room suddenly opened outward and in walked a middle-aged man, in his hands a pair of clothes that she recognised as hers. The man had a funny moustache over a thin lip and wore a warm, seemingly genuine smile on his face. That, at least, made Serena feel like he was not a threat to her. Still, she got up and retreated towards the window.

  ‘Good morning,’ the man said, stopping his approach when he noticed her retreating away from him. ‘Please, do not be afraid. My name is Lincoln,’ he said, ‘and this is my humble home.’ He stepped towards the bed and placed her clothes on it. They seemed clean and ironed. ‘I had them washed and cleaned for you,’ he smiled. ‘I know they’re not exactly outdoor clothes, but they’re better than those pyjamas you’re wearing now. I could loan you something from my youngest daughter, but I’m afraid she’s quite a bit rounder and shorter than you, and it wouldn’t flatter you much. I have, however, sent someone to buy you something more appropriate to wear outside, for later. Did you sleep well?’ he finally remembered to ask.

  Serena didn’t want to be rude and anger this man, who for all she knew might be very dangerous, so she replied in a shy voice. ‘Yes, thank you.’

  ‘Oh, wonderful,’ said Lincoln, putting his hands together as if overjoyed by the answer. ‘Well, we have breakfast ready in the kitchen, so why don’t I let you get dressed and washed up, and you can join us there. I’m not sure what you usually eat, but I hope a nice English breakfast will be satisfactory. And of course, there’s coffee; I hear you’ve developed quite the taste for it.’

  The mention of coffee actually made Serena feel much more optimistic about her current predicament, and she almost smiled at the man. Lincoln seemed to have noticed that and his own smile widened further.

  ‘The bathroom is right next door and the kitchen’s at the end of the hall. We’ll be waiting there for you.’

  He turned to leave and made to close the door behind him so as to offer Serena her privacy, when she finally remembered to ask.

  ‘Where am I?’

  Lincoln paused, smiled again and then answered.

  ‘Breakfast first, my dear; and then we talk. The conversation is always much more pleasant with a full stomach.’

  He shut the door behind him, leaving Serena to wonder what exactly was going on. It was clear the man did not want her dead, or she would have been by now. But he didn’t want her to leave, either; he must want something from her. And who else was with him out there? He kept saying “we” and “us” earlier. Well, she wasn’t going to find that out by just staying in this room; besides, she so badly wanted to visit the bathroom right now. And then, straight to this kitchen for a hot cup of coffee and the solving of the mystery.

  Five minutes later she found herself walking down the hall and turning out into the kitchen, where she saw Lincoln sitting at a big round table next to someone she recognised right away.

  ‘Freddie,’ she cried and ran straight into his arms. Freddie got up and enveloped her into his embrace, smiling jovially and appearing just as happy and relieved to have her in his arms again.

  ‘Freddie?’ Lincoln raised an eyebrow at the boy over his cup of tea but said nothing else. Freddie ignored him and proceeded to caress Serena's lovely long hair.

  ‘I thought you died,’ she looked up at him, her eyes watery. ‘I thought we both did.’

  ‘So did I,’ he answered, refusing to let her out of his embrace. Looking at her beautiful teary eyes and having her in his arms again, he felt such a longing to kiss her, but held back the urge.

  ‘Ah yes, my sincere apologies for that,’ Lincoln interjected. ‘It was unavoidable, I’m afraid. If my men hadn’t gotten you out of there when they did and in the manner they did, you would most definitely be dead by now. The assassin hired by the Order had the same information I had; I was just lucky to get to you first.’

  Serena finally detached herself from Freddie and turned to face the man.

  ‘But why? Who are you?’

  Freddie being beside her again made her feel bolder somehow.

  ‘But my dear, I have already introduced myself to you,’ said Lincoln, setting his teacup back on the table.

  ‘You’ve told me your name,’ she countered. ‘But I still don’t know who you are and what you want from us.’

  Lincoln’s trademark smile never left his lips.

  ‘It will all be revealed in due time,’ he said. ‘Won’t you please sit down and have something to eat? Young man,’ he now turned to Freddie, ‘would you be kind enough and pour the lady some coffee from the pot. There’s cream and sugar right next to it.’

  Serena looked at Freddie and then at Lincoln again, and decided to be patient. She sat down on the chair right next to Freddie and offered him an empty cup from the lovely china in front of her. He filled it up silently, while giving her what seemed like a sad smile. He was alive; she felt so happy and relieved to know that now, but there was something about him that ju
st did not feel right. It was like he was hiding some pain away and did not want to share it with her. But he was alive; and that was all that mattered. Everything else they could work out as long as they were together; she was sure of it.

  She let him add just a bit of cream and sugar to her coffee; she could not take it completely black, like he did. She then brought the cup to her lips and sipped the perfectly hot beverage. Best damn coffee she’d had in a long while.

  It figures, she thought, I bet even the air has premium quality in this place.

  The next few minutes were spent in total silence. Only the sound of the silverware against the plates and of the hot drinks being sipped through their lips could be heard. Once a bit of coffee got inside her belly, Serena discovered that she actually felt hungry and could not resist the wonderful smell of the fried bacon, eggs and toast in front of her. She dug in and ate her breakfast in silence, every now and again stealing glances at Freddie, who seemed to barely be eating next to her. Lincoln observed both of them from the other side of the table, saying nothing. He continued to sip on his tea and read the newspaper he had in front of him.

  When they were finally done with breakfast, Serena watched with horror as one of the two men who had entered their house, the one who’d shot both of them, entered the kitchen and cleared out the table without even acknowledging them. Serena flinched at the image he brought to her mind, the one of Freddie lying presumably dead at her feet. But she should have known better; there had been no blood. Still, she hated the man.

  Lincoln watched with interest everything that she was doing, while hardly paying attention to Freddie sitting silently next to her.

  Refilling her coffee cup herself this time, Serena clutched it in her hands and rested her back on the chair, now giving Lincoln her full attention.

  ‘Alright, then. We’ve had our breakfast and it was lovely; just like everything else in this wonderful place you call your “humble home”. But I’m sure you know that it won’t feel like that for long if you hold us here against our will, which I’m betting you intend to do. So, my question is, why? What do you want with us?’