Hurricane Heart

Arjan

‘You can’t make me,’ I murmured, growing frantic, my worst nightmares coming to life in my mind. She was going to lock me up. I was never going to get out. The chains were big and strong and heavy and like something straight out of the torture museum, and there was no knowing how long I was going to be in here...I just couldn’t do it. Fear paralysed me and threatened to overwhelm my churning mind, and it took all that I was to keep hold of this insane reality.

‘Hurry up and get in there,’ she said from behind me, ‘or I will chain you to the wall.’

The faintest shred of hope entered my heart. Hope; the tool almost as dangerous as imagination, but something that no authority or government could ever truly outlaw. Hope was within us, and it was what made us human. Hope was sometimes everything.

‘You’re not going to chain me up?’ I whispered, turning to look at her, inches behind me, her deep eyes gazing into mine. They narrowed thoughtfully, and she almost half-smiled, clearly contemplating what to do.

‘Can I trust you?’ she asked.

What was I supposed to reply to that? I never lied; it was something considered illegal and greatly punishable, and so I’d never had any practice anyway, so I was going to be far from foolproof. But I couldn’t exactly say that, no, she couldn’t trust me, because I was going to escape at the first opportunity.

Thankfully, Hurricane did not wait for an answer.

‘Go in,’ she insisted. Without hesitation, I walked in, as much as it terrified me. Anything to get on her good side...anything to keep me out of those hideous chains.

‘Wait there,’ she said, her voice still cool. She left the room, shutting the door firmly behind her, leaving me in total darkness. Cautiously, I shuffled to the side until my outstretched hand brushed the wall beside the door; the room was so dark that I could not even see the extension of my arm; and began to feel around for a light switch.

I found it just as the door opened again. I pressed it, yet staggered back in shock as the door flung itself open and she strode in. The light above flickered on, just as dim as the rest of this strange place, and she glanced up at it but didn’t comment.

She was carrying a few things. The first, the largest, she threw onto the floor in the farthest corner from the door, and I realised quickly that it was a rolled up sleeping bag. The next, which she threw beside it, was a pillow.

‘Come here,’ she said, moving into the corner where she’d placed the sleeping gear. I moved slowly towards her as she undid the knot around the sleeping bag and laid it out, ready for someone to sleep on.

I moved to the bottom of the sleeping bag and, like a flash of lightning, she grabbed my wrist, far too tight and far too unexpected for me to pull away.

There was another metal chain attached to the wall that I had been a fool not to notice. Of course, it was not nearly as bad as being chained up on the wall, my arms and ankles all bound with no chance of even moving freely, but this still sent fear racing through my heart.
She clamped it around my left wrist, securing it before I could pull away.

‘I thought you said you weren’t going to chain me up!’ I said, beginning to panic.

She glanced up at the chains on the wall, smiling slyly. Right now, I really hated her.

‘Not up there,’ she said, ‘you don’t quite deserve that. But we must all take precautions, mustn’t we?’

I made a disgusted noise, not meeting her eyes and jerking my wrist away. Thankfully, the chain was long; long enough for me to lie on the sleeping bag, but it was still a chain all the same, and that made me afraid.

‘What is this place?’ I asked, my voice hushed in the silent building.

She smiled as though laughing at a private joke. ‘Now he’s talking,’ she murmured, turning away.

I waited, and she still returned no answer.

‘Well?’ I persisted impatiently. ‘What is it?’

‘Questions can come later,’ she said, her tone always business-like, giving nothing away, telling nothing of her emotions whatsoever.

‘Please?’ I asked, growing desperate. ‘Just answer something. You kidnapped me, and you brought me here, and I know absolutely nothing of what you’re doing or where we are. Please. I have a right to know.’

She rolled her eyes and turned away again.

‘We’ll be leaving in the morning. There; that’s me telling you something. And I’m sure you’ll find out what these places are soon enough.’

It was nothing like an answer that I’d hoped for, but I also hadn’t expected anything more. And at least she’d told me something; at least she’d told me that I was going to get out of this place.

She disappeared briefly, this time leaving the door to the room open, knowing that I could no longer escape, and returned with more packets of food. She left them all on the floor beside my makeshift bed; packets and boxes of cold food that she’d obviously picked up in the supermarket, perhaps in a hurry; bags of apples and bananas and bread and biscuits and other things.

‘You need to eat, and you need to sleep,’ she told me. ‘I’ll be back in the morning.’

She left without another word, closing the door but leaving the dim light on and, despite having spent the day lying in the back of a car, I was exhausted.

Hurricane

I locked the door to Arjan’s room and headed up the stairs, just to make sure I was well out of hearing distance from him, before dialling the number for the base.

The Master picked up on the second ring; clearly expecting me to call soon.

‘Hurricane,’ he said. Even though it was I who had called, he said it like a statement, not a question.

‘Master?’ I said. ‘We’re in Outbuilding Number 8. I’ve left Arjan in the Interrogation room for the night, and we’ll leave first thing in the morning. We’ll head towards Warsaw from there.’

‘Don’t go to Warsaw,’ the Master said, his tone definite.

‘What?’ I asked, suddenly concerned. ‘But I thought you said—‘

‘Don’t go to Warsaw,’ he repeated coolly. Had Warsaw been overtaken too?

‘Why?’ I asked. ‘Where should I go?’

‘You need to keep on the move,’ he said. ‘I don’t want you to stay in one place for too long. Travel north, travel east, I don’t care, just keep away from the Soulless. I know for a fact that one of them is tracking you now as we speak.’

‘What?’ I whispered, suddenly afraid. The Soulless rarely tracked anyone. They just wanted to kill Dreamers, regardless of exactly who we were.

‘Yes,’ he confirmed. ‘I have reason to believe he’s been following you since you left Hamburg, and he shows no sign of stopping.’

‘Why?’ I asked. ‘Is it something to do with the kid?’

‘Possibly,’ said the Master. ‘Probably. But you’ve got to keep away from him. And you’ve got to keep away from Berlin. In fact, don’t go to any bases, because he’ll follow you there, and we don’t know what connections he has.’

I took a deep breath. ‘What should I do?’

‘Hurricane, I have a mission for you,’ the Master said. ‘And it is more dangerous and much more exciting than you’ll be used to. There aren’t many that I could trust with this sort of thing, but it seems like fate has chosen you, and maybe a bit of a rogue like yourself could prove useful in this.’

I was confused, but intrigued. ‘What is it?’

‘Arjan knows something. At least, I think he does,’ the Master said. ‘The Soulless want him more than I’ve ever seen any of them want someone before, and that means he is important. I just don’t know why. So you’ve got to get close to him. I want you to find out everything about him; get to know him better than he knows himself. But don’t do it too quickly. First, you’ve got to earn his trust, and he yours. Then, you’ll become friends, though that may take a while after what you’ve done to him. Then, maybe even something more. Find out everything he knows; find out what’s special about him. But don’t go to any of the Dreamer bases, only to the deserted ones, because trouble is following you with every step.’

I was bewildered. I’d never had such a crazy sounding, dangerous or interesting task since I became a Dreamer.

‘Ok,’ I agreed, knowing that those two simple syllables bound me to this task; that I would now either succeed, or die in the attempt. ‘I’ll do my best.’

‘Don’t let them find him,’ the Master continued. ‘And don’t get yourself hurt. Stay away until I tell you to come back, which won’t be before the officials move away from Berlin and before the Soulless stop trailing you. When we get things around here back on track I’ll try and send a few people after them to destroy a few of them.’

‘Ok,’ I agreed. ‘Thank you. How long do I have?’

‘Probably two weeks minimum,’ he said. ‘Perhaps longer. But I can’t give much more information until I know what it is about this boy that the Soulless so desperately want. Just keep him safe. Don’t let them take him.’

‘Of course,’ I agreed. ‘I’ll protect him with my life.’

‘I knew you would, Hurricane,’ he said faithfully. ‘Whatever anyone says about you, I know that you are at least dedicated.’

I hesitated. ‘That doesn’t mean I have to like him though, does it?’

Even though I couldn’t see the Master, I could sense from his quiet chuckle and the tone of his voice that he was amused. ‘Of course not, Hurricane,’ he assured me. ‘It’s all pretend.’

‘Good,’ I murmured.

‘Anything else you wish to comment on?’ he asked.

‘No, nothing yet,’ I said. ‘We’ve just been travelling all day.’

‘Keep doing exactly that,’ he said. ‘I’ll talk to you tomorrow.’

‘Yeah. Talk to you tomorrow. Bye.’

‘Goodbye, Hurricane.’

He hung up, and I did the same, my mind churning and overflowing with thoughts and confusion. I’d been raised in this madness, but this task seemed insane in comparison to what I’d done before. All the fighting and all the work of the past few years had made me fearless and strong, if a little crazy and deluded, but maybe a person like that was what the Master needed.