They Who from the Heavens Came (The Wisdom, #1)

Itzy didn’t know what she’d expected. Maybe she’d been tainted by all those American films that showed bachelor pads strewn with video game paraphernalia and comic books; or by the images she took from English programmes, where the men were slobs who spent all their time trying to find a way to get women to shag them – it was always shag in those shows. But Oz and Seth’s house was nothing like any of that. It was immaculate and adult. Everything was white and pristine, as if it hadn’t been lived in.

The lounge was lined with bookshelves. Some of the titles jumped out at her, the ones with larger font heavily imprinted on oversized hardback spines. The Myths of the Andes. Primal Myths. The Egyptian Book of the Dead. The Gnostic Gospels. It was like travelling back in time. Itzy couldn’t help herself. She leapt to one of the shelves and fingered a book that stood out in particular. It was a collection of legends from the ancient Mayans.

‘This was his,’ Itzy whispered to no one in particular.

Oz stared at his sister like she was a rare animal he was contemplating shooting. ‘I have a lot of his things.’

She looked up at him sharply. She spun around to take in the entirety of the library that surrounded their incongruous looking grey sofa and flat-screen television. ‘These are all his?’ When she looked back at her brother, she knew the answer. ‘How is that even physically possible? It’s only been a week.’

Seth stepped into the room and cleared his throat. ‘I, er…I sort of….’

Something clicked in Itzy’s head. ‘You brought them here. Like the apple. But…that’s amazing.’

Seth smiled widely and made a deep bow.

‘For God’s sake,’ Oz muttered in disgust before going to the sofa and dropping onto it. He stretched out his legs so there was no room for anyone to join him, and looked at the TV, even though it was off.

Seth shook his head in disapproval. ‘Here,’ he said to Itzy, ‘come with me.’

Before she had time to reflect on how strange this was, she was whisked up the broad staircase and into what she presumed was his bedroom. He shut the door and examined her, like a doctor who just knew there was something to diagnose.

He strode over to a black chair tucked under a large mahogany desk that rested against a wall clothed in an enormous poster of M. C. Escher’s Angels and Demons. Seth sat down and stared at her like an inquisitor. His jeaned legs were crossed at the ankles and his arms over his chest. Even though he was seated and she stood above him, he still felt imposing. His presence filled the room and made her feel very small.

Then he was on his feet and offering her the chair.

‘You look pale,’ he noted as she sat down.

This didn’t fix anything, because now he was even more imposing, looking down at her. He seemed to sense this and he sat on the carpet. His muscles flexed as he wrapped his arms around his knees. For a moment, Itzy had the time to reflect that Seth was a little bit gorgeous.

‘So tell me about these trances of yours,’ he said.

Itzy blinked. ‘Um….’ What a great beginning. She tried again. ‘I don’t know what to say. It’s like…I guess it’s like an out of body experience?’

That was it, the words were coming now. They were taking shape in her mind.

‘I’ll be sitting there, just writing, right? Then something comes over me, without warning, and I’m no longer there. Except I am. I’m there, but I’m not there. Does that make any sense?’

Seth’s expression was difficult to interpret. He waited for her to go on.

‘I’m in there somewhere, watching myself write. It’s like I’m watching a film. Then later, I come back. I just…wake up, I guess. And I think, What just happened? Where am I? I look down at the paper and I’ve written something. Only I don’t remember writing it, and it doesn’t sound like me. It’s not words I use. Sometimes it’s not even words I know. But when I look them up in the dictionary, I find I’ve used them correctly.’

‘Does it scare you?’ Seth finally spoke.

Itzy considered this. ‘It used to. I guess I’ve got used to it, now. Sort of.’

‘Sort of.’

She wished his eyes wouldn’t bore into hers like that. Was he even aware he was doing it? ‘I’m not scared of the trances,’ she explained.

‘But you’re scared of what happens next,’ Seth finished for her.

She nodded.

He pursed his lips until they went white from the pressure. Then he jumped to his feet in a swift, fluid motion. ‘Right,’ he said. He clapped his hands together like he had a plan. ‘But you don’t know how to make it happen.’

Itzy shook her head. ‘So you believe me?’

He looked startled. ‘Of course.’

‘But why?’ she asked, thinking how her friends had never believed it.

The corners of Seth’s mouth curled up in amusement. ‘Because I used to have the same trances before I drew things out of the air.’

Itzy couldn’t take her eyes off the strange boy – young man – whatever. She couldn’t decide whether she liked him. But he was the first person to understand what she was going through. The first person in the whole world.

After years of having only Devon and Ash, while everyone else regarded her like there was something about her that unnerved them, but they couldn’t quite put their finger on what it was – well, Seth’s brazen interest in her counted for something.

She stood to face him. ‘I thought I was the only one, you know.’

Seth smiled sadly at her. ‘I did, too.’

‘Until today,’ she filled in. Something flickered in his glassy eyes, and she backed away from him. Seth looked like he was waiting for her to fill in the gaps herself. ‘Oz,’ she guessed.

He repeated what he’d said to Oz earlier: ‘Well, you are his sister.’

Itzy sat in the chair again. Her feet went numb. Soon, it was like they weren’t there. She fumbled for the right question. ‘What can he do?’

‘Oh no,’ Seth said. He laughed and shook his head. ‘That’s his business, if he wants to show you.’

He went to his bed and sat down. His back was against the wall and his knees up, an arm on each and his legs slightly apart. The bed, like everything else in their house, was a little too perfect. Above it was another art print, this time a Dali painting of clocks dripping over a dreamlike desert.

Itzy raked one of her hands through her black hair, accidentally coming away with a strand twisted around her fingers. She rubbed it into a ball and threw it on the floor in irritation. ‘How many of us are there?’ she asked.

Seth shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I think a lot, though I haven’t met many others. Yet.’

‘A lot?’ Itzy squeaked.

Seth leaned forward, as if to get a closer look at her, even though they were several feet apart. ‘You really don’t know, do you?’

She blinked. ‘Know what?’

Seth shook his head in amazement, and perhaps pity. ‘I can’t believe no one ever told you,’ he said softly.

Itzy felt herself losing patience. And it wasn’t good when she lost patience. For goodness’ sake, she’d once actually thrown a book at Ash, in a fit she still couldn’t explain.

She breathed deeply and counted to five, before saying, ‘Would you just tell me what’s going on, already?’

Seth sighed. ‘Alright. I guess someone has to. Your dad. Stephen.’

‘What about him?’ she demanded, struggling to keep back the emotions.

‘He was an alien.’

Itzy recoiled as if she’d been slapped. ‘Don’t make fun of me,’ she said. Her voice was cool and even, but the feeling bubbling through her veins was anything but.

‘Itz,’ he said, but she cut him off again.

‘And don’t call me that. You’re not my friend. You don’t know me. So do not speak to me like you do.’

‘Itzel,’ he tried again, but it was too late.

The rage boiled through her veins like hot oil, bursting into flames within her heart. It wasn’t just Seth; it was Oz, their father, her mother – everything. She could hardly see Seth anymore. Her head pounded and the air filled with blinding stars. She blinked and blinked but couldn’t get rid of the points of light devouring her sight. At the edges, thin black lines crept toward her like arms reaching out to grab her.

Then she was floating, up, up and away. She felt herself receding, giving way to something else, something powerful that would not be repressed. It rose to the surface and took control. A sentence formed in her mind, so solid she could see it. It almost glowed.

When she slammed back into her body, she was shaking all over, and she heard someone cry out. Someone male. Her brother.

Seth was already hurrying out of the room and down the stairs. She heard him swear, and there were banging noises. What was going on?

You mean: what have you done?

She was impelled toward the staircase. Below, in the lounge, Oz and Seth were dodging books that were flying off the shelves, like bats blindly darting around.

Seth shouted, ‘Make it stop!’

Itzy stared in wonder before she realised he meant her.

‘Stop it!’ he ordered again.

‘I – I can’t!’ she answered.

‘Oh, for f –’

His words were cut off by a bound copy of The Epic of Gilgamesh slamming into his face. He grabbed at it angrily and hurled it onto the floor. Then his hands danced through the air like an orchestra conductor, and every book immediately returned to its shelf. The sudden stillness was shocking.

Oz smoothed out his black hair and glared at his friend. ‘I told you not to bring her in.’

Seth rolled his eyes. ‘Uh-huh.’ He straightened his t-shirt over his jeans and returned his attention to Itzy. He was already grinning again. ‘I guess we’ve figured out what causes the trances.’

Itzy hurtled down the stairs and surveyed the room. It was amazing, the way everything was back in its place, as if she’d done nothing. Seth must have been responsible for how perfect everything in the house looked.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said, trying not to meet her brother’s fierce stare.

‘You have to get control of that anger,’ Seth told her. ‘We both had it, too. It’s part of what we are. But you can learn to control it.’

That was good to know. In fact, it was the first good thing she’d heard all day.

Oz returned to his place on the sofa. ‘What set her off?’

Seth shot him a smile, like he was about to share an inside joke. ‘I told her your dad was an alien.’

Oz sighed. ‘Seth, really. You couldn’t think of any other way to say it?’ Then something occurred to him and he looked at Itzy. ‘Wait. You didn’t know?’

Itzy nearly doubled over. ‘That he was an alien?’ she repeated, her anger resurfacing.

‘Whoa, whoa,’ said Seth. He stepped in front of her and placed a hand on each of her bare shoulders. She shrugged him off and he stepped back, that stupid grin planted on his face. ‘What are you going to do to me?’ he asked. It was a dare.

‘Did you think that was fun?’ she spluttered.

To her surprise, Oz laughed. It did him good. It softened all his features and reminded Itzy of Loving Stephen. The little girl in her wanted to cry for it.

‘Seth is damaged goods,’ he said. ‘He gets off on danger.’

He moved over and motioned to an empty space on the sofa – a resigned invitation. Itzy eyed the seat and then sat down, feeling deeply uncomfortable.

‘Saying he was an alien isn’t exactly accurate,’ Oz told her.

Seth took up residence on the floor in front of them, knees up and legs slightly apart the way he’d been on the bed. ‘It’s not exactly a lie, either,’ he commented.

‘Cheers for that helpful input,’ said Oz. ‘Anyway. If you don’t already know this stuff, it’s going to sound mad, but you need to keep an open mind.’

‘Sure,’ Itzy said. ‘My mind is open. I’m ready.’

Oz looked doubtful, but he told his story nonetheless. ‘Thousands of years ago, a race of aliens visited Earth.’

Seth gave them both a look like, See? but Oz ignored him.

‘They met the early humans and taught them things – agriculture, architecture, geology, astronomy, you name it. They gave them the Wisdom. They helped them build things no one had ever dreamt of before and changed society, influenced whole religions. It was only a matter of time before some of them fell in love with the humans, and they mated.’

Seth sniggered at the choice of word, but didn’t say anything.

‘And what?’ said Itzy, hardly able to believe she was actually having this conversation. ‘Created some sort of alien-human hybrid super-race?’

Seth laughed. ‘She sums it up well.’

Oz glared at him. ‘I guess you could put it that way,’ he acknowledged to his sister. ‘The point is they’ve been around for millennia. My dad – our dad,’ he amended with heavy reluctance, ‘was one of the Descendants. And that means….’

‘So are we,’ Itzy finished.

He nodded.

She tried to process what he’d just told her, but all it did was make her laugh. It was a loud, cackling sort of laugh she imagined a witch might make. It was embarrassing.

‘Look.’ Oz spoke with tremendous patience. ‘We’re not making it up. It’s why you can do what you can do.’

He sounded so matter-of-fact about it that Itzy sobered. ‘Could our father do anything…special?’ she asked.

Oz shook his head, making his dark hair touch his eyes. ‘Not that I know of.’

‘We think this is a new thing,’ Seth explained from the floor. ‘Like maybe it’s only younger people who can do these things.’

‘Do you know why?’ she asked.

‘No,’ they both said.

Itzy slumped back on the sofa so her lower back rested on the cushioned arm. Her head hurt. Seth jumped from the floor and darted out of the room.

When she was alone with her brother, Itzy asked, ‘Does Gwen know?’ She felt ill at the thought that everyone had been sharing a secret, some private joke that didn’t include her.

Oz gave her a quizzical look. ‘About our powers, or our lineage.’

Lineage. It was such a strange word to say like that, like it held meaning for them. It was a word she associated with royalty. But she was just Itzy.

Seth returned and held out a glass of water for her. ‘Did you conjure that up, too?’ she asked.

‘No,’ he said, his face serious as he resumed his place on the floor. ‘I ran the tap.’

She took the glass and drank the liquid, gratefully savouring the way it coated her throat and filled her stomach. What time was it? How long had it been since she’d eaten? What was her mother doing? Was she worried? Or was she still passed out on the sofa, unable to worry about a thing?

Itzy swallowed the last drip of water and cradled the empty glass in her lap.

Oz absently rubbed his thumb and his middle finger together, a nervous habit he must have picked up from their father. ‘You still don’t believe us, do you?’ he said.

‘Would you?’ she countered.

He tilted his head in consideration. ‘I guess not.’

‘When did you…?’ She was going to say find out, except that involved acknowledging he was telling the truth.

‘When I was twelve,’ Oz told her.

‘You mean, when he…?’

‘Yes. It was when he came to live with us.’

‘Does Evelyn know?’

He shook his head. ‘Our father liked his secrets.’

She snorted. ‘Tell me about it.’

On the floor, Seth remained respectfully quiet. When Itzy next spoke, she chose her words with care. Oz was starting to open up to her, and she didn’t want to move too quickly, for fear he might shut down again.

‘Did you know who he was? I mean…I guess you wouldn’t have. You were just a baby when…weren’t you?’

Oz pushed his fingers through his black hair. When he put his hands back down on his thighs, she noticed his nails were just as ragged as hers.

‘No, I knew,’ he admitted. ‘He sometimes came to visit us, usually on my birthday. He’d bring me presents. Then I wouldn’t see him again for the rest of the year.’

Itzy was knocked back by this revelation. How long had her father been leading two lives? Had all her life been a lie?

‘I can’t imagine….’

He almost smiled at her. ‘Care to finish a sentence, for a change?’

Itzy rolled her eyes at him, the way a little sister would.

‘Anyway,’ he went on, ‘things were different, when he lived with us. Though, if I’m honest, I don’t remember it clearly. I guess I blocked some things out.’

‘You would,’ Itzy said. ‘I’ve done it, too. There are a lot of…blank spots where I know things happened, but my mind won’t let me remember.’

Oz held her eyes thoughtfully. She wondered what was going on in his head, whether he was realising they were similar, after all, and perhaps he should give her a chance to show she was worth his time.

Then he said, ‘The first time he told me what we are…I didn’t believe it either.’

‘What changed your mind?’

‘I don’t know.’ He looked puzzled by it himself. ‘It just felt right, for some reason. Like I’d always known it, deep down, but I’d forgotten.’

Itzy blinked.

‘Believe me, I know how it sounds,’ he assured her.

Itzy glanced at Seth. ‘And you?’

He threw her an apologetic smile. ‘I’ve always known. My dad’s keen on the history lectures, especially if they concern the Ambrose dynasty.’ He spoke the latter two words with mock importance.

Oz shook his head at his friend.

Itzy licked her lips and took a breath. ‘There was a note,’ she said. ‘When our father…died. He wrote something. A message.’

Oz’s brow went up. It seemed she wasn’t the only one who hadn’t been told something. ‘What did it say?’ he asked, for the first time genuinely interested in her.

‘“Don’t let them get my children.”‘

Oz’s mouth fell open. Then it shut. Then Seth asked, ‘What the hell does that mean?’

‘Seth, it’s obvious she doesn’t know.’ Oz let his gaze wander back to his sister. ‘You don’t know, do you?’

There was an unexpected softness in his voice. It made Itzy sad, like perhaps in another lifetime they could have meant something to each other.

‘I really don’t,’ she said just as softly.

There was a long silence. Then oz said, ‘It’s getting late. Your mum’s probably worried about you.’

It was strange, hearing him say your mum and knowing she wasn’t his mother too.

‘I very much doubt that,’ Itzy said with a deep sigh. ‘She’s probably unconscious on the floor, about now.’

Oz lifted one of his dark brows. ‘Why don’t you sound worried about that?’

‘Years of experience.’ Her gazed roamed, settling on a corner of the room. ‘She’s an alcoholic,’ she said to the walls. She couldn’t bear to see the boys’ sympathetic faces.

Seth opened his mouth, but Oz cut him off before he could speak.

‘I’ll drive her home,’ Oz said. He shared a look with his friend, and Seth said, ‘I’m on it.’

They led Itzy to the front door. Seth gave her a brief hug like they were old friends and said, ‘I expect we’ll see you again.’

She didn’t know if they would or not. This was turning out to be the strangest day of her life. So she gave him a small smile and shrugged.

‘You coming?’ Oz interrupted from the doorway.

Itzy turned and saw him twirling a key ring around his forefinger. She looked back at Seth and gave him a shy wave, which he acknowledged with a nod. Then she followed her brother out of the house and noticed a black Ferrari sitting outside.

‘That wasn’t here before,’ Itzy stated the obvious. And then, ‘Seth.’

‘The one and only.’ Oz opened the door and climbed in. He leaned over the seats to push open the passenger side door.

Itzy climbed into the car beside him. ‘This is really weird. Isn’t it?’

‘Why is it weird?’ he asked as he put the key in the ignition and started the engine. ‘Put on your seatbelt.’

She did just that, and recited her address for him. Then she said, ‘I thought you hated me.’

He sighed as the car started rolling down the road. ‘I don’t hate you. I just don’t know you. At all. I didn’t even know I had a sister until I was twelve.’

‘And you resented me for having our father when you didn’t,’ she supposed. He didn’t deny it. ‘And tonight? Why are you suddenly being nice to me?’

Oz was silent a long, long time, his gaze fixed firmly on the road, which had finally fallen prey to darkness. ‘We just put our father’s body underground,’ he said at last. ‘Maybe it’s time to bury everything else, too.’

Itzy was quiet a moment, as she let this idea sink in. Then she said, ‘I’m sorry I threw up on you.’

Oz laughed lightly. ‘To be honest, I felt like throwing up, too.’

For the first time all day, Itzy smiled.

A few minutes later, Oz pulled over the car and stared at Itzy’s house. She wondered what was going through his mind.

‘Thank you for the ride,’ she said.

He nodded distantly.

‘Well...goodbye, then,’ she said, and she stepped out of the Ferrari.

‘Bye,’ he returned just as she was closing the door. He flashed her a lopsided smile before he turned the car around and drove back home.

It wasn’t much. But it was a start.