The Fifth World

Bo: I gasp and I look back at Cynric expecting him to know what the hell just happened. What did just happen? All I saw was that the men had fallen, and that was it. I blink again and again as I stare at them. Neither look at me but they seem to be just staring ahead... taking their very few last breaths, they know death is upon them but I can tell that they are just as confused as me. There was no sound, nothing... they just fell. What the hell killed them?

I look over at Mum who I can see is about to have another mental breakdown. Her hair is a mess, there are tears streaming down her face and I can tell that her legs are to buckle any second. She has just witnessed a triple murder - at least, I think it was a murder.

"Bo," I hear Cynric whisper, look at him and then follow his gaze.

I then realise... the other figure in the house, standing just a couple of metres beside my mother... a man, both young and old, dressed in a dark grey suit with a dark hat on top of his head. I can tell, just by looking at him, that he is an Angelican. Who is he? With a deep sigh his hand gently removes the hat from his head to reveal his face. I have never seen him before, at least, I don't think I have but something about him, something about his face and whatever the hell he just did tells me that he is safe. He is an ally.

I swallow and the curiosity almost takes over but I resist and I run over towards my mother and I take her in my arms. She almost falls into me and begins to sob... like a baby. I hold her, one hand around her holding her up on her feet whilst the other strokes her face and her head. I feel like the mother now. Her red hair spills across my face, her hands begin to shake uncontrollably and she mutters words that I can barely understand. The only thing I can really hear from her is when she asks about Adam, over and over. I assure her that Cynric is taking care of him. I begin to feel my body ache immensely - physically and emotionally. I really don't know about Adam. It is the truth. I don't. Guilt churns within me - look what I have done. If it weren't for me, I would know perfectly well that Adam would be alright right now and the pain my mother is feeling and has been feeling for a while now would not exist. I feel so much for my mother, you have no idea. After all of the pain she has been through... and now this. I look up at the house, it is destroyed. The police will be here any minute.

"You," I hear Cynric say in a strange voice. "You are the one I saw earlier today. I know your face."

I turn around and look at Cynric who has just put Adam down on the couch - the only one that seems to be in shape. I then stare at the man who has just saved us all. He slowly puts his Angelican dagger into an inside pocket of his jacket. I only get a glimpse of the thing... but from what I can tell, it is a very beautiful, older looking dagger, ancient looking. Who is this man? He has not said a word. He is youthful but I can tell that truly he is not. Obviously, he is an Angelican. His hair is black and silky, a lot like mine. His body is thin, his build tall and long, his cheekbones are high, his face narrow ... yet beautiful, in an odd way. If I saw him out in the real world, I would assume he would be a model.

His gaze leaves Cynric and then he looks at me. His stare scares me a little, his eyes too, the way he looks at me... it is so familiar yet so strangely different.

I breathe out nervously, "Do I know you?"

There is a whooshing sound, wind, or something and I quickly look over at Mum, who is sitting in a ball on the bottom stair, and then my eyes move over to Jasmine. My eyes widen when I see the tiniest amount of her blood on the floor but that is not what has surprised me... She is gone. Cynric, the strange man and I quickly turn around to the lounge and see Jasmine with Adam in her arms. I take a step forward but Cynric holds his arm out in front of me. He isn't being protective either, he is being smart.

"Jasmine, what are you doing?!" I yell at her.

She stares at me with red eyes, there is a thick syringe in her fingers and it is not even an inch from Adam's arm. I can tell what she is doing... I told her not to harm Cynric or Adam... this will barely hurt him. It is her last resort. If I had not manipulated her she would be threatening to simply take the life of Adam away by probably breaking his tiny, little neck - it is what a Thorne would do and it is simple and quick.
I see the satchel that one of the Thornes had on him earlier, it is open beside his lifeless body, a couple more syringes lie beside him as they have fallen across the floor.

"Put him down," Cynric says with gritted teeth.

Jasmine shakes her head very nervously, she is panicking, "I cannot do that. The girl must come with me."

"She is going no where with you, Jasmine, put the boy down," Cynric says to her as he walks closer.

All I can think about is Adam... and right there, in the back of my mind is the idea of something happening to him, anything at all, and the pain, or even more pain, Mum would feel as a result. Oh god. What the hell do I do? There is nothing that can change all of this! Nothing I can possibly do! This is exactly why I sent Adam and Mum to Australia! So they could avoid all of this! So no harm would come to them!

"Put him down, Thorne," I hear the man say - the Angelican who saved us.

I swear I know him from somewhere.

"Bo Abshire must come with me," Jasmine says, she seems so stressed, "come with me, Bo, or else this syringe penetrates this boys body and everything changes."

Think of the consequences! If she does something to Adam! What the hell is in that serum?! I can't let her do it. I can't! It could kill him! Or it could do something absolutely ghastly to him!

"It's not worth it, Thorne," the man says to Jasmine, "you inject that serum into his arm or not - either way, we kill you."

There is no way that I will even risk her doing that! I must save Adam!

I take a step forward and announce, "okay, fine I'll come with you-"

I am cut off. In the corner of my eye I see the man take out his Angelican dagger, murmur a few words and then a golden flash of light shoots out and runs straight through Jasmine sending a perfectly shaped circle directly through her heart. I notice how her fingers twitch just a tenth of a second before the light hits her, though, and at that moment I know everything is about to change. It all happens so quickly. She is a Thorne, she can move at wondrous speeds... therefore, her injecting Adam at that very last moment was all she could do, it was all she had left - and I let her do it.

The second her body hits the ground I jump and appear beside her, taking Adam in my arms and ripping the syringe away from his body as quickly as I can.
I inspect his flesh and find the tiniest red dot. It is fresh. A clear opening of where the syringe has made its mark. I am too late. Tears begin to roll down my cheeks as I stroke Adam's face begging him to wake up. Cynric is at my side in a second, a hand on my shoulder and the other on Adam's arm.

I then look over at my mother who I am staring at, so helplessly, as my unconscious little brother lies in my arms with some unknown, foreign serum running through his veins. Mum looks over at us and she begins to scream and yell. Her heart is breaking... all over again.

I look up at the man and he stares down at me with curiosity. It is as if he is barely noticing Adam. He just stares at me, realises the pain I am feeling and then finally he looks down at Adam.

"You must get him to the Fifth World," the man says, "they are the only people who can help you now."

"No," I cry, "he is staying here."

"Bo," Cynric says to me, "I will take Adam back with me."

"I have to be with him!" I say to Cynric, "You can't take him away from us!"

Cynric touches my cheek carefully with his fingers and then he looks over at the man, "the longer we wait the less chances we have of..." - he ends his sentence and begins a new one - "Stay with Johnson, Bo, and stay with your mother too."

What?

I stare at Cynric and he stares back at me as his hands take hold of Adam. My heart pounds even harder. My mouth drops a little. Adams tiny little body just slips through my fingers. I am too stunned to even begin to comprehend what is happening. Sweat mixes with tears on my face as I look up at this man... this stranger, who Cynric is saying is Johnson... Johnson the great Angelican, a member of parliament, a member of parliament who had had a scandalous, illegal affair with a Time Jumper named Evee and who had fled his people many years ago. My father.