The Clinic: Test Eight (mild language, sexual conduct)
Test Eight
Feiral led me down the main stairwell and out of the Clinic’s doors. No one was around and I understood why when I cleared the doors.
It was nighttime which meant everyone was in bed. Or, well, was supposed to be.
But…if it was nighttime, why was Byren in my room checking on me? Shouldn’t he have been in bed?
Feiral stopped in front of a black car that looked expensive. I’d never really seen cars before so the price was only a guess. I hadn’t ever bothered with cars before, though. They seemed unimportant to me.
The windows were almost as black as the car and I couldn’t see if anyone was inside.
Feiral opened the door and half threw me in before sliding into what I took to be the passanger’s seat. That meant she wasn’t the one driving, then.
Jate sat in the driver’s seat and looked at Feiral as she slammed her door shut. When she nodded to him he slammed on the gas pedal and the car lurched forward.
I slammed back into the seat, my teeth slamming together, before I finally caught up with the car. Something moved beside me and I immediately looked for the source of the movement.
Byren sat, reclining, in the seat beside of me. His arm rested on the car door’s arm rest and his legs were crossed at the knees while his right arm was in his lap.
I couldn’t find words as I looked at him indisbelief.
What was going on?!
The car took a sharp turn and I wound up slamming into Byren. His gaze on me made me cringe and I slid back to the other side of the car.
What was Byren doing here? Why was he so cold? Was this even Byren? Had they drugged him?
Question flooded through my mind at rapid fire before the car stopped and I slammed into the seat in front of me. Feiral’s growl in front of me told me she wasn’t happy.
The car door opened and Feiral ripped me out of the seat and began dragging me again.
Where we had stopped looked desolate with no one for miles. Dense overgrowth was caked on buildings that had now fallen into a state of disrepair.
Something about this place looked familiar but I wasn’t sure how or why. All I knew was that I knew this place.
And it didn’t hold a very good feeling.
I walked in silence into the ruins and tried to calm the sense of sickness that swam through my stomach.
When we stopped we were in a room that looked restored compared to the outside of the building. Something inside of me told me to run but I ignored it as Feiral let go of my wrist and joined Jate across the room.
On the floor was a star inside of a circle that spanned the entire room. I recognized the design as a pentagram but I didn’t know why because I had never seen the shape before.
I stood at the top-most point of the star. To my left was Byren then Feiral and then Jate. The spot to my right was empty and I knew that something was missing.
“Come,” I heard Jate call out. “Take your place.”
I saw pale—almost white—blue hair before anything else and I felt my blood run cold as I recognized the person as they filled the remaining spot.
The entire design burned and deep, prussion blue before erupting in electric blue that started from my position.
My eyes darted to the fourth person as I looked him over.
He wore blue jeans and tight-ish, black t-shirt. His skin was a pale ivory and while his eyes were a liquid indigo.
“Kren?” I whispered in disbelief.
The center of the pentegram stared glowing a mix of reds before slamming into the ceiling.
No one spoke but I knew without them saying what I was supposed to do. It was what I had heard Jate and Feiral talking about the night I’d slipped into the Guard Quarter.
The Rift. This was it. Just beyond it was Purgatory.
But wasn’t Kren supposed to be gone? Or was this a test? What did it mean?
I cursed mentally for not hearing more of their conversation. It would have helped at this moment.
Five figures stepped out of the red light and stared walking.
They followed the lines of the pentagram, stepping in perfect unsion, before they finally started towards me. I knew who they were automatically.
The Reapers.
When they were about two feet from me, they stopped and the only noise came from the humming of the lights around us.
All five of them stood at different heights but wore the same black cloaks. Their hood were pulled up and I couldn’t see their faces.
Simultaneously, they rose their hands and pulled back their hoods before allowing their hands to drop. Each movement was like liquid and placed together as if they weren’t even human.
Then again, what was happening around me was indescribible by human measures. I’d never heard of anything like this happening but I accepted it without hesitation.
“Claire,” one of them, a female, said in a liquid voice as she tugged down her hood. “Hello.”
The girl was about my height with dark, indigo hair that fell to about her shoulders. Her bangs were just as long and had no noticable part.
Her eyes were a oceanic blue that stood well against her pale, marble skin. Around her neck was a blue-black stretch of ribbon with a dew-drop hanging on it. It looked as if silver metal was wrapping around it twice but I wasn’t sure.
“Hello.”
I didn’t even realize I had replied until a male with dark, blood red hair that fell to mid-shoulder blade spoke while he pulled his hood back.
“Claire,” he said calmly. “Do you understand what’s happening?”
The man stood at about six-six or so with violent, blood-orange eyes that resembled fire. Around his neck was a thick, black cord that held, on it’s end, a diamond-shaped crystal. The lines where it bent or flecked off were outlines and it resembled a dark, red amber color.
“No,” I said as calmly as I could. I knew it couldn’t meet the standards that the male’s had. “I do know that I turned sixteen yesterday and when people turn sixteen where I’m from, they disappear.”
The male rose one eyebrow and looked at the woman who had spoke. She gave a same look of surprise.
“You’re not afraid of us?” a smaller girl asked curiously in a high-pitched voice, pulling her hood down like the others.
The girl had pixe hair with an obvious right part, though her bangs fell in front of her left eye, hiding it from view. It was an almost silver blonde. She was about Aime’s height.
Her eyes were light blue that looked glazed over with white to lighten the color further. Around her neck were pear-like beads with a star dropping from the center. It looked like a clear diamond.
“No,” I replied, smiling slightly.
Both her eyesbrows shot up and she looked at the other two as the fourth spoke up, dropping his hood.
“Do you know what we are?”
The male was about six-eight and the tallest out of the four of them. His hair fell to his waist and was all one lenth save his bangs which fell in two, separate pieces from a middle part.
His eyes were a dark, almost black, brown. His skin was a smooth caramel that was half a shade lighter than the rich mahogony-caramel of his hair.
“You’re the Reapers,” I said hesitantly, looking at Feiral and Jate who didn’t look very happy. “And that’s the Rift. You’re going to take me to Purgatory.”
All but the fourth person stared at me in surprise. The fourth didn’t seem to show emotion to anything.
“Yes,” the first female said calmly. “We are the Reapers—collectors of Souls.
“I am Auqua—Reaper of Water.” She motioned to the first male who nodded his head. “This is Raze—Reaper of Fire.”
“I’m Aynegel—Reaper of Air,” the second female said with a smile. She pointed at the other male and replied for him. “And this is Trid—Reaper of Earth.”
“Mage, it is time.”
I looked to Trid who held out his gloved hand expectantly. What was going to happen, I wasn’t sure, but I had a deep feeling that I should trust them.
I stepped forward and took his hand.
Aynegel took my free hand and led me to Auqua and Raze who were already back at the Rift.
Aynegel and Trid handed me off to them and stepped back. Raze and Auqua folded their own gloved hands around mine and I glanced at Byren.
“I’m sorry,” I managed to say.
And then I was pulled into the Rift.
***To my readers: Sorry about the confusion. It seems I've "jumped the gun" a little, so to speak. This was supposed to happen before Test Nine. I apologize for the confusion! --Katherynn***
