Inferno : Elements Series Book One

Gwen

“I-I can’t,” I say. I’m shocked that he’d even ask. “I wouldn’t even know where to start! Jillian’s the one with the power to do that.”

“You’re wrong,” he says adamantly. “This is why they want you. There is nothing you can’t do; it’s why you find your training to be so easy, even though you won’t tell your friends that. You just have to think about what you want and it happens, right? You’re the only person strong enough to do this, the only person I’d even let try.”

He won’t listen to me, why won’t he listen to me? I turn to my friends; surely they’ll help me out here.

“Is there any way you’d reconsider?” asks Jasper. He’s the worst person to try and convince Andrew of anything.

“No,” he says firmly, just like I knew he would. “If you want what’s in my head then Gwen is the only one who is allowed to go in and get it.”

I try to say something, anything, but my mind is blank and I just keep opening and closing my mouth. I probably look like a fish.

“There’s no changing his mind, Gwen,” says Hank, pulling me out of my dumbfounded state. “Are you up to this?”

Am I up to this? I’ve never done anything like this. Honestly, does he even understand what he’s asking? This, I can feel it, will be seriously strong and complicated magic that’s been intricately woven throughout his entire mind. He wants me to go in there and undo it? Is he insane?! I could kill him! I could do worse than kill him. One wrong step and I could destroy his sanity and make him a prisoner within his own mind! How can they not see how shaken this whole conversation has left me? I must be a better actor than I know. So far, Andrew has told me that I’m being followed, not just today, but for ages now and that they’re watching me and reporting on me and now I’m being asked to enter someone’s mind and undo powerful magic that has been in place for years now! Plus, my group isn’t even trying to talk him out of making me do it!

“For what it’s worth,” says Andrew, correctly interpreting my silence. “I have every faith that you can do it. I’ve seen how powerful you are.”

He seriously wants me to do this. I suppose if I had to live like he has, I’d jump at the first opportunity to have this curse lifted from me too. And, with that one thought, my mind is made up. I can try. There is no harm in trying and, if something gets out of my control, I can always leave his mind and try and convince him to let Jillian handle it.

“Okay,” I say, nodding to him. “I will try, but on one condition.”

“Anything,” he agrees, hope colouring his voice and his expression.

“You don’t fight me while I’m in there. No matter where I go, no matter what I do. Especially if I’m trying to leave, I need you to just let me do what I have to.” He’s already nodding at me before I finish speaking.

“I won’t fight you or try and block you.”

“Okay then,” I say. “Everybody move back.”

I motion for everyone to stand and I return all the chairs back to the rock from which I created them. I sit cross-legged on the floor, telling Andrew to do the same, and move close enough to him that our knees are touching. Now that I’m here I have to take a moment to think about how to actually do this. When he fell to the floor he immediately gripped his temples, maybe that’s where I should start. I turn to the rest of my group.

“No matter what mine or Andrew’s bodies start doing out here; I need you to just let it happen. Don’t touch us, don’t try to separate us. I have to maintain physical contact with him at all times. This is very important, do you understand?”

To my surprise, my voice remains steady. I sound so much more confident than I feel. They all nod and give me their word that they won’t interrupt.

“Okay,” I take a deep breath to steady myself. Honestly this whole thing is still just so ridiculous. “Okay, Andrew, are you ready for this?”

“Definitely,” he says with a confident smile.

I place my index and middle fingers against his temples and try my best to relax.

“Remember, try to stay calm and relaxed and do your best not fight me,” I remind him.

He nods and I concentrate. I see my fingertips light up with a soft white glow and catch his gaze. I see the reflection of my glowing eyes in his pupils just before his eyes light up, matching mine, and feel my mind getting drawn down through my neck, down my shoulders and finally into my hands and fingertips. It only takes one small nudge to push my consciousness through Andrew’s defences and I let the darkness take me.

I wake up in a place that’s alien to me and it takes me a moment to remember that I’m inside Andrew’s mind. His mind is a desolate place. If I could describe it I’d say it was the driest and most barren of deserts, the only flashes of Andrew’s former self showing through in scarce desert shrubs. That’s if it was an image; in reality being in someone’s mind is more like floating around in space. I’m floating around in darkness, just drifting towards small points of light that continuously flicker and disappear. These small flashes contain everything that makes up who Andrew is. They contain all of his memories and all of his will power. His mind is an incredibly sad place to see, everything has been rearranged. There’s nothing left of Andrew’s own making. In a normal mind, at least in Derek and Anya and Oliver’s minds, everything is in HD technicolour glory. In another’s mind, you appear in a place of their choosing, the place that makes them feel most comfortable. You appear in a place where they find peace and beauty. I’ve arrived in darkness, a testament to just how damaging the Recruiters are to their captives. They’ve corrupted even his mind, and I’m terrified that just by being here I’m giving them the opportunity to get inside my mind too. I shake it off. There is no point in standing in here and making up stories like this. Pull yourself together Gwen! You have a job to do, now get on with it. I take my first steps through Andrew’s mind and head towards the closest light. I walk into it and emerge in a park. There is a playground in the centre, monkey bars and a wooden pirate ship, and children running and laughing.

“Andy!” calls a little girl and I turn to see more clearly. I recognise Andrew, he’s much younger, no older than 12, and he’s pushing a little girl on the swings. She has big brown eyes and curly brown hair, just like Andrew’s. She’s absolutely adorable; she must be his younger sister.

“Higher Andy, higher!” she calls, squealing in delight as Andrew pushes her swing harder and she sails through the air. He’s laughing too. It’s obvious that he adores his little sister.

I emerge on the other side, back in the darkness, and feel a renewed wave of sadness for Andrew. It was only a few years after this memory that he was taken, and he was so happy in his old life. I move onto the next orb. This one is larger and looks different to the first. There is a ring of darker material around the outside, almost like smoke. I step through and I know this isn’t going to be a happy memory.

Andrew is running and terrified. He’s running for his life. A group rounds the corner, clearly chasing after him and he screams. I follow, running to keep up with his memory. He turns right and tries to climb a fire escape but the ladder is incredibly old and rusted through. The lower rungs of the ladder disintegrate and Andrew falls to ground, landing hard on his back. The people follow him into the alley and stop, laughing at him as he sobs on the floor. I recognise them now, they’re Recruiters. I’ve found my way into the memory of his abduction. Andrew is crawling away, trying to get as far away from them as he can, but there is only so far that he can move before his back hits the alley wall.

“Please,” he pleads. “Just take my wallet, take whatever you want, just let me go. Please!”

They laugh at him again and a woman steps forward.

“Take whatever we want, huh? That’s very considerate and I think I’ll take you up on that offer. Just one small problem though sweetheart, we came here for you.”

Andrew screams as water begins to creep up his legs, freezing as it travels towards his chest. I want to help him, I try to, but this is just a memory and I’m just a spectator. The ice has crept up to his chest and he’s almost done for when the ice shatters and explodes outward, the shards flying at the woman and cutting her face. She jerks away and I watch as Andrew’s face changes. He calms and raises his palm towards the Recruiters. An incredibly strong wind blows, throwing the Recruiter’s out of the alley and into the deserted street. I was wrong. This isn’t the memory of his abduction, this is the day he discovered his magic. He freezes and stares down at his hands and I’m not surprised to see how shocked he is. I remember the feeling. He’s still frozen in shock when the Recruiter’s regroup and come back into the alley.

“Now that’s what I wanted to see from you Little Man,” she says and I’ve never heard anyone sound more condescending. “It’s time to go kid.”

Quick as a flash a jet of water shoots from her fingertip and she uses it like a whip, bringing it down across his chest. Blood drips through his shirt and he yells in surprise. The others join in and within moments he is completely immobilised. The woman covers his face with water and smothers him with it until he is unconscious. The scene goes dark and I emerge on the other side of the light.

This is going to take me forever if I have to walk through every memory in here. Maybe Andrew can help.

“Andrew?” I call out into the darkness. I’m in his mind after all; I shouldn’t have to speak out with my own mind. “Andrew, can you hear me?”

A bright flash lights up the darkness for a second before Andrew’s voice calls to me. He sounds like he’s standing at the end of a tunnel calling out to me, his voice echoing off the walls.

“I can hear you.”

Hopefully I can make this easier.

“I need you to lead me to the memories they’ve locked away. If I have to wade through all this information myself then we’re going to be here for a very long time.”

I can feel his hesitation as he tries to figure out what to say.

“I can’t, you’ll have to do it yourself. If I try to access those memories they’ll fry my brain.”

“No it won’t. You said it would only do that if you told someone the information, hopefully you’re still perfectly capable of just thinking about it. Just try it, the sooner I get there the sooner you’re free from their control.”

That’s part of it anyway. I’ve been in Andrew’s mind for nearly an hour now and the longer I stay in here the harder it’s going to be for me to get back out again. I hear a scream and I know it came from the outside. Back in the physical world, Andrew is screaming. Lights flash across the empty space like lightning and I know that this is Andrew’s punishment for searching for things that he isn’t supposed to see. It’s taking forever for the screaming to stop; at least it feels like it takes forever, but eventually the room changes. The lightning stops, a dark cloud descends from the sky and Andrew’s screaming finally stops.

“Good job Andrew!”

He’s managed to fight through the pain and he’s taken me exactly where he needs me to go. It took strength to do that. Now I just need to figure out how to get inside this damn thing. I try to force my way through and Andrew immediately starts screaming again.

“I’m sorry! Andrew, I’m so sorry!”

“Please don’t do that again,” he’s panting again, like he’s run a marathon. This is going to take some time.