Read Online The Anathema by Zachary Rawlins - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Zachary Rawlins
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Xia’s mask, pulled tight around his mouth and nose, and the reflection of the city lights in the goggles he wore.
Margot continued forward, the only way she knew.
* * *
Sitting in Alice’s diary room, her legs folded neatly beneath her the way Mitsuru had taught her, Rebecca sat with her hands intertwined in Alice’s, and thought about stargazing.
Rebecca was sure that nobody else knew her secret, unless Alistair had done more digging around in her head than he would admit to. A sudden reminder of the question her first combat instructor had asked her, “What kind of idiot trusts a telepath not to read minds?” The impact of this statement was somewhat diminished by the fact that this same combat instructor was now sitting opposite her, Rebecca’s hands in her lap, with blank eyes and an equally vapid facial expression. The old Alice Gallow, the one Rebecca remembered from when she arrived at the Academy, had been a wolf just barely wedged into a woman’s clothing.
For most people, peace was a place, a physical location, and Rebecca was no exception. In moments like these, when she needed to generate a calm, a state of gentle fulfillment, she thought of a certain night, spent alone in the Swiss Alps, lying on wet grass in a meadow and staring at the stars. It was a private memory, a secret from everyone; she kept it sacrosanct, sharing only the way it made her feel , not the where and why of it. Rebecca had extended this feeling to Alice twenty minutes ago, and then nurtured it when she felt it take hold, like blowing on a coal to start a fire. She had the process going smoothly by the time Alistair arrived, cultivating peace into Alice and drawing strength from it herself, a feedback loop that Rebecca occasionally suspected could lead to Nirvana. She followed it so far and no farther (except once, accidentally, with the infinitely troublesome Alex Warner) because she was afraid she would not come back. As it was, Rebecca barely noticed when Alistair came in and sat down beside them, taking one of each of the women’s hands in his own.
Because they had agreed upon it, years ago, Alistair spoke with his voice instead of his mind. Alice claimed to trust his voice more, but Rebecca had mixed feelings.
“Hello, Alice. My name is Alistair, and I am a friend, an old friend and a student who is happy to see you. I am Rebecca’s friend as well, so you know you can trust me. Isn’t that right, Rebecca?”
Rebecca nodded and oozed trustworthiness. She had arrived two hours earlier and discreetly dyed Alice’s hair her usual matte black, and then washed her hair, amazed the entire time that Alice allowed the procedure without registering a protest. When she’d helped her shower, Alice’s body was as lovely and youthful as always, taut with perfect, unscarred skin, and Rebecca marveled over it, over the crisp black tattoos that crawled over her back and arms, as perfect as the day she’d gotten them. She couldn’t imagine Alice allowing anyone to touch her like this under normal circumstances, and while she felt an almost maternal satisfaction in caring for her, it was somehow troubling. Rebecca had clamp down on the emotion, to avoid infecting Alice with it. She hoped that Alistair wouldn’t notice the black dye that still stained parts of Alice’s scalp. Alice might have changed a lot since they first met, but she was still vain and sensitive about her age.
However old she actually was.
“Now, Alice, you probably won’t remember, but this has happened to you before. We made a plan to help you get better, in case it happened again,” Alistair continued softly, his voice as tender as Rebecca had ever heard it be. “You’ve lost part of your memory, but don’t worry – we made a copy, and we put it somewhere safe.”
Somewhere safe was inside Alistair’s head. Lacking his breathtaking telepathic abilities, Rebecca couldn’t explain how he had done it, she only knew that he had copied a chunk
Margot continued forward, the only way she knew.
* * *
Sitting in Alice’s diary room, her legs folded neatly beneath her the way Mitsuru had taught her, Rebecca sat with her hands intertwined in Alice’s, and thought about stargazing.
Rebecca was sure that nobody else knew her secret, unless Alistair had done more digging around in her head than he would admit to. A sudden reminder of the question her first combat instructor had asked her, “What kind of idiot trusts a telepath not to read minds?” The impact of this statement was somewhat diminished by the fact that this same combat instructor was now sitting opposite her, Rebecca’s hands in her lap, with blank eyes and an equally vapid facial expression. The old Alice Gallow, the one Rebecca remembered from when she arrived at the Academy, had been a wolf just barely wedged into a woman’s clothing.
For most people, peace was a place, a physical location, and Rebecca was no exception. In moments like these, when she needed to generate a calm, a state of gentle fulfillment, she thought of a certain night, spent alone in the Swiss Alps, lying on wet grass in a meadow and staring at the stars. It was a private memory, a secret from everyone; she kept it sacrosanct, sharing only the way it made her feel , not the where and why of it. Rebecca had extended this feeling to Alice twenty minutes ago, and then nurtured it when she felt it take hold, like blowing on a coal to start a fire. She had the process going smoothly by the time Alistair arrived, cultivating peace into Alice and drawing strength from it herself, a feedback loop that Rebecca occasionally suspected could lead to Nirvana. She followed it so far and no farther (except once, accidentally, with the infinitely troublesome Alex Warner) because she was afraid she would not come back. As it was, Rebecca barely noticed when Alistair came in and sat down beside them, taking one of each of the women’s hands in his own.
Because they had agreed upon it, years ago, Alistair spoke with his voice instead of his mind. Alice claimed to trust his voice more, but Rebecca had mixed feelings.
“Hello, Alice. My name is Alistair, and I am a friend, an old friend and a student who is happy to see you. I am Rebecca’s friend as well, so you know you can trust me. Isn’t that right, Rebecca?”
Rebecca nodded and oozed trustworthiness. She had arrived two hours earlier and discreetly dyed Alice’s hair her usual matte black, and then washed her hair, amazed the entire time that Alice allowed the procedure without registering a protest. When she’d helped her shower, Alice’s body was as lovely and youthful as always, taut with perfect, unscarred skin, and Rebecca marveled over it, over the crisp black tattoos that crawled over her back and arms, as perfect as the day she’d gotten them. She couldn’t imagine Alice allowing anyone to touch her like this under normal circumstances, and while she felt an almost maternal satisfaction in caring for her, it was somehow troubling. Rebecca had clamp down on the emotion, to avoid infecting Alice with it. She hoped that Alistair wouldn’t notice the black dye that still stained parts of Alice’s scalp. Alice might have changed a lot since they first met, but she was still vain and sensitive about her age.
However old she actually was.
“Now, Alice, you probably won’t remember, but this has happened to you before. We made a plan to help you get better, in case it happened again,” Alistair continued softly, his voice as tender as Rebecca had ever heard it be. “You’ve lost part of your memory, but don’t worry – we made a copy, and we put it somewhere safe.”
Somewhere safe was inside Alistair’s head. Lacking his breathtaking telepathic abilities, Rebecca couldn’t explain how he had done it, she only knew that he had copied a chunk
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