The Catalyst
Chapter Two
I gently opened my eyes and found a dark hard wood ceiling looking down at me. I quickly flung myself forward in shock, “What the…?” a small damp cloth fell from my head into my lap. I picked up the cloth and curiously looked around the area I found to be surrounding me. I was in a large room where everything was made entirely of wood and iron, several pieces of paper with strange archaic, and some kind of familiar writing covered two walls of the room. The sheets I sat upon appeared hand woven wool and silk spread out on a four-poster bed with a roofless canopy.
“Uh, this is weird.” I rubbed my head as I got up to have a better look around. I stood with a bit of a wobble and noticed I had many small bandages all over my body and my dress had been stitched perfectly where every rip and tear had been made. “That’s right, I fell through the ceiling…but where am I now?” As I headed for the large door, I continued to observe the room. There was a huge window on the wall opposite the door and it had the same balcony with warped iron railing I remembered seeing outside… so, it must be a real one then. Since I had been backing up while still observing the window I nearly bumped into the door, but my hand rubbed against the metal doorknob before I managed to. I spun around to turn the handle slowly, just in case it made any sudden noises.
I gradually peered out from the room I was in and, glancing in both directions, saw only vast empty hallways. The darkness enveloping the entire place seemed to give every corridor or room an eternal breadth of area. I cautiously crept down the left passage, mostly out of curiosity rather than self-preservation, and ran my hand along the smooth timber of the shadowed walls. It wasn’t terribly hard to see once you had been used to the murky atmosphere for a moment or so, but in a few select areas there seemed to be an unrelenting aura of not only black air but also a morbid rippling that made my skin crawl. I tried to ignore the uncomfortable feelings and continued on for an endless span of time until I felt my hand brush against the cool iron handle of a door. Through my trek, I had forgotten to pay attention to where I was going, “it’s good I kept my hand out,” I sighed, “otherwise I’m sure I would have rammed right into this door.” My voice echoed slightly despite my lowered tone, although thankfully the waves of sound didn’t vibrate as harshly in opposition to the thick wooden panels.
I opened the door and found it to be incredibly heavy, as though it were made of iron as well. With panted breathes and much thanks to my grandmother for pushing me into doing yoga, I managed to heave the door into a slightly ajar position, just enough for me to wedge through. On the other side there was only more of the abyss that appeared to be engulfing the entire building, all, however, except the entrance to the tower where the peculiar clear blue light emanated without origin.
Now that I had become lost within the belly of the beast, I found myself wishing that I could be back in that lobby where at least I was able to see my surroundings. I sighed with frustration at my never ending sojourn and ran my tired back along the passage wall, sitting in defeat and now combing through tangled hair from the impromptu brush against the confines of the corridor. “Crap, now I’ll never get out of this place.”
An abrupt squeak of floorboards came from my previous location, most likely from behind the large door I just realized I had left open. Quickly, my feet scrambled to stand and hurriedly moved me further away from the noises, since currently my brain decided to argue with itself over whether or not to see if anyone were there and basically risk the chance of tortured murder on a different world in another dimension…or something like that. I stumbled lightly, using my painstakingly enhanced balance to catch myself.
“Hello?”
I froze in place, neither brain nor feet working. The question fluttered out of existence after running itself over my sensitive ears and causing little nervous pricks to dance along my skin.
“Hello.”
The voice came closer and this time it seemed as if the sound crashed into me like an ocean wave, flowing around every curve of my body.
A large hand gently placed on my shoulder appeared nearly two seconds after the sounds. “Found you.” The definitely male voice whispered behind me, however, instead of screaming, I tightly gripped the hand, forcefully twisted the wrist, and finally thrust my other palm in the area of his face. All I received for my self-defense was a quiet vocal expression of surprise and the fast gripping of both my wrists.
“That was uncalled for.” He spoke clearly.
I scoffed with irritation in my tone and attempted to pull myself free, but to no avail. “Let go!”
“You’re rather rude.”
“Rude!? HA, you’re the one sneaking up on young women in this abysmal rabbit’s hole!”
“Rabbit’s hole?” His voice sounded genuinely confused.
“It’s a literature reference.” I sighed and shook my head. “But that is not the point!”
“There is no point, therefore this conversation is pointless.”
“Pointless!? You’re the psychotic torturer kidnapping women!”
“Kidnapping? I never kidnapped you.”
“Me? Whoever said I was speaking of myself? I obviously meant the woman you had chained to a wall!”
“Her? I suppose I may have captured her, but I had my reasons; nothing for you to worry about.”
“Why not worry? Regardless of how I got here, I have been kept here, implying that I may be another victim. Not all murders require bait.”
“You are being stubborn.”
I growled at his remark and yet again tried for my freedom. “Just let go already!”
“Why? I came to get you, if you had simply stayed put I wouldn’t have needed to come and find you.”
The strangely matter-a-fact and actually sort of true way he said that only made me more annoyed and yet also kind of embarrassed by the current circumstances.
“Come on.” He released my arms, but I could still feel his presence in front of me. I felt a gentle brush of skin on skin and noticed that he was slipping his hand into mine, strangely I felt my face flare hot for a brief moment. He then easily began to make his way back to the door with me in tow.
After a moment of awkward silence, I opened my mouth to speak. “So…how did you find me?” My voice was relatively quiet, though somehow I knew he could hear me.
“It wasn’t difficult; I followed your heart actually.”
I laughed loudly, thinking his comment had been a cliché joke.
“What’s so funny?”
“What you said, you were joking, right?”
“Joking? No. I followed the pulse of your heart and minute sounds of breath as well.”
I cocked my head in the dark. “How could you follow something like that?”
“The dark is most beneficial, I use it to see and hear.”
“You’re blind?”
“No, but living in the dark helps one learn to use heightened senses.”
“Ah. That’s a useful skill. The most interesting thing about me is that my nose is hypersensitive.” I released a solemn giggle at my pointless fact muttering.
“That is very helpful. A powerful sense of smell can be invaluable.”
A shook my head and suddenly found my face colliding with a solid mass.
“Sorry.” He mumbled. “I needed to reopen the door.”
“Oh, no it’s fine…my fault really. Umm, do you need any help? I know the door is rather weighty.”
“Really? I always thought it a little too light.”
He steered me across the threshold and afterward I heard the quiet thud of iron against wood.
We continued at a calm pace the rest of the way to the room I had awoken in. He stopped me and I assumed we had reached the entrance, though he made no indications. I watched the black air I believed he occupied and a sudden red glow appeared, outlining the upper form of his body.
“He’s taller than I thought.” I swiftly thrust my hands over my mouth during which I thought I heard him elicit a quiet laugh.
When the blood aura decayed, I heard the turn of the handle bringing forth a crack of light from the room behind. Once the door was opened completely I found myself heading directly for the balcony windows, which I pulled wide open allowing me to gaze outside.
The timid breeze rustled my hair and I simply wanted to breathe in the sun’s warmth after my long trek through gloom. I turned around expecting to find the man right behind me, but I only managed to pinpoint his outline still behind the doorway in the darkened hall.
“Why are you still out there?” I tilt my head.
I walked across the floorboards and without even thinking I stretched out my hands and took hold of the man’s, pulling him into the room despite his peculiar hesitancy. Once I got him into the light I noticed his features more clearly than the fuzzy memory of when I first saw him though the ceiling. He did have black eyes, completely pure; I couldn’t see what was iris and what was pupil. He also had long black hair falling down past his hips, with two short pieces draped along his chest wrapped in blue colored ribbons. His skin was fair and smooth with no bits of pigment left darkening fragments of the surface, although he did have dark circles under his eyes.
I think I was staring slightly because his brow rose along one side with curiosity. “What are you looking at?”
“Hmm… oh, nothing. You just…you look exactly as I thought you might.”
“What are you talking about?”
I released his hands and shook my head in denial. “Nothing, don’t worry about it.”
He opened his mouth to question my reluctance, but I immediately spoke before he could. “So…why did you put me in here? Why am I still here, actually?” I casually looked around the room while waiting.
“You were injured because of me; it was only natural that I help you.”
“Well, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to become injured if your ceiling was stable.”
“The tower is stable; you merely became an easy target for Narre. That is entirely your fault.”
“My fault? Maybe you should take better care of where you leave obvious cracks so that curious trespassers don’t become interested!”
“That never existed until your presence triggered Narre’s attention.”
“Well, pardon me!” With my hand expressions gesturing wildly, I fell backward onto the bed and sighed. Though I was focusing my irritated gaze on the ceiling, I soon noticed the man’s head coming into my field of vision. “What?” I mumbled.
“It just occurred to me that I don’t know your name.”
I blinked several times as I also came to the realization that I didn’t know his name either. “No wait, I know you. You’re the Immortal.”
He didn’t seem at all phased at my knowledge of his title. Which, considering my grandmother said that’s what a few people called him, didn’t surprise me.
“I’m Jade.” I held my hand up in the air, expecting the general greeting of a handshake. However, he simply looked at me; for some bizarre reason I think I had been expecting some realization at who I was. I lowered my hand slowly and blinked a few times in confusion. “What? It’s just a handshake?”
“I don’t particularly enjoy physical contact.”
I sat up and furrowed my brow. “What are you talking about? You took my hand in the corridor and you allowed me to bring you into the room by grasping your wrists.”
“Different. One was merely to help you through the dark, the other I had not been anticipating and was not voluntary on my part.”
“Hmm. You certainly have issues.” I stood up off the bed and started to gracefully pace around the room, somewhat unintentionally encircling him. “Soooo, is there any food here? I feel like I haven’t eaten in days.”
“You’ve been asleep for over a day.”
“WHAT! What do you mean?”
“I mean what I said. Why else say it if I had not intended the meaning?”
I rubbed my temples in frustration. “Uhh, too many means…” I casually flopped down face first onto the floor and moaned into the wood. After a few moments of silence I felt the presence of the man next to me. “What?” My voice was muffled and sounded more like ‘uut’ in the confined space between the ground and my barely open mouth.
“I keep some vitals on the second floor kitchen.”
I pulled up onto my arms and raised my brow slightly. “Did you say vitals? You may be old but you don’t need to speak like you are. It’s the 21st century where I’m from and we say food.” I looked at him and noticed he had a much taken aback appearance.
“Who are you?”
I held my mouth open and drooped my eyes as though I couldn’t believe he was that inattentive or ignorant. “I told you, I’m Jade.”
“No, not your name; who are you? Where did you come from?”
This time I sat up, and nodded somewhat for my own benefit. “Oh yeah, err, yes, sorry. I had completely forgotten about that with all the chaos I seemed to fall into.”
“Of course.” He himself nodded to my explanation calmly.
I cleared my voice lightly. “I’m Jade Kannon. Daughter of Sonya and Derek, and granddaughter of Guinevere and Kalen.” I paused my incredibly formal, and honestly, somewhat sarcastic introduction to watch his face. When he made no show of recognition, I then opened my mouth. “Uhm, you do remember her, don’t you? Guinevere, Keeper of the Catalyst?” Still saying nothing in response, I continued with a little of my own confusion, “you know, brown wavy hair, grey blue eyes, a few dark freckles here and there.” I was pointing at my face as I spoke, when at last he did something.
Closing his eyes, his face briefly twisted in anger. “I knew it,” he whispered beneath his breath.
I moved my head to better see his face, which was downcast and turned away from me. He didn’t say anything, so I placed my hands on either side of his face and brought it around to look into my eyes. He looked stunned by my sudden contact and I was also a bit shocked that I simply did such an intimate gesture to a near stranger. I reactively pulled my hands away and held them together close to my chest. “Sorry, but don’t worry.” I paused and pondered what I was going to say next. “Um, grand-I mean, Guinevere didn’t leave you; she was taken back to my world…well, her world. She has never been able to come back to you. The Catalyst, the ring…” I held up my hand, “she gave it to me for my 18th birthday. It was that night that I came here.”
He straightened himself and walked out of the room. Unsure of where I even was, I quickly scrambled to my feet and followed him as best as I could into the darkness of the tower.
