exclaims, but a loud noise outside the door to our room sounds off, and we all jump from the sudden noise.
Vudu shoots to his feet, worry and anger etched in his features as his muscles bulge beneath his uniform. “I’ll check it out. Keep working on your chains. We’ll be getting out of here. Just hang on,” he orders, his red eyes demanding as they fix on Toreon.
A deep sigh slips out of Toreon’s lips, but he nods instead of arguing. Vudu turns and stalks toward the door. He stops and listens for a beat and then opens it before slipping out. We all watch the door shut behind him and listen for signs that something has gone wrong. Not that we’d be able to do anything about it even if we did hear a fight or something break out.
Tension radiates off of Toreon, and I can only imagine how hard it is to watch someone you love and share such a deep bond with walk out into a situation that could kill them at any second. The stakes are so high for what Vudu is trying to do, and it has to be maddening to be stuck in a cage with no choice but to simply watch and wait.
I really do understand Toreon’s pessimistic ways. If I’d have been down here as long as I suspect he has, I could see why there’d be hesitation in getting any hopes up. Better to think the worst than to hope for the best, just to watch it all crumble around you. In a lot of ways, that’s how I lived in the asylum.
Our group goes quiet for a while, listening carefully, lost to thoughts and worry. After what feels like forever, Medley scoots closer to the bars between us, and I mirror her actions, scooting back from the front of my cell, needing her presence to help calm my frayed nerves.
“We need to get out of here,” she whispers, and I nod at the obvious statement as I look around the dreary space and the shadows of flames that dance all over the weapons on the walls like they’re eagerly anticipating the next time they’ll be used to torture one of us.
“We need to make ourselves Morax-proof, and then we need to figure out how to kill him.”
“Well, if you can help me with the Morax-proofin’ part, I think I just might know how we can go about doin’ the killin’ part,” Medley says, her sweet twang making her murderous confession amusing.
We both turn to face each other, crisscrossing our legs in front of us like we’re going to meditate our way through figuring out how to control our Annulus abilities. We both take a deep breath, and then I offer my sister a confident smile. “Let’s get to work then.”
I stand in an endless space filled with blackness. I don’t know how I can see, since there’s no detectable light source, and yet I can take in everything as the darkness that resides in me moves around my soul like I’m floating in a smack of jellyfish.
Unlike the gelatinous sea-beings they resemble, I’m not afraid to reach out and play with the darkness. I know there won’t be any stinging or pain. It’ll be the opposite, and I’ll feel protected and powerful as I guide the black blobs where I need them.
This mind-space is just the same as when I saw Ire, and I’ve learned how to get to it with concentration. Medley and I have been working for a couple of days on accessing this part of ourselves and figuring out how to use it. There’ve been a lot of oopsie moments where we go too far and freeze up, stuck in paralysis until the darkness wears off, but we’ve been figuring out how to come out of pause mode faster too, so there’s that.
Focusing, I reach out and scoop up two handfuls of blackness and picture taking those handfuls and pressing them against my eyes. I imagine my gaze deadening and going lifeless, and then moving the darkness down my face so that my features freeze up and are incapable of offering any kind of reaction.
I’ve been working all day on this, and I’m so close to perfecting it. This is key to me being aware and able to move, while ignoring Morax’s commands, but making it seem like I’m under his control. This compliant, expressionless look is the mask I’m hoping will convince him that he’s won,