The Man In The Midnight Blue Suit

Chapter Five

I froze and stared at the man. I could not tell if he was angry or amused; his face was blank, hiding any surprise or recognition underneath. But his expression was serious. He was still, his back slightly bent and one leg behind the other. His arm was extended slightly, hand reaching out. He looked like he had been frozen in the midst of urgency. He wore the same crisp midnight blue suit as when I first saw him.

We stayed like that for a few seconds. Then, without taking his eyes off me, the man straightened. His hands came to rest at his sides and the urgency disappeared from his pose. I didn't move. How the man had gotten in here without my hearing the door was a mystery. I stayed still, unsure of what to do. I wasn't going to trust anything.

The Man's expression changed. He threw me a familiar, lopsided grin. It now looked fake to me, after what I'd just seen. Something told me I'd caught the man off guard. I didn't move.

"Casey, dear, do relax. I promise I won't bite." His voice was even and words well spoken, tinted with an English accent. He had spoken. I didn't know what I had been expecting. Hearing such a casual statement from the man was unexpected. I allowed myself to straighten and my hands to drop. I kept my feet apart, poised and ready to run.
"And please, don't look at me like I've just made a monkey appear out of thin air. Didn't your mother tell you it's rude to stare?"

I blinked and shut my jaw. I hadn't realised my mouth had opened in surprise. Embarrassment heated my cheeks. I didn't want to look like a gaping fool in front of this man. I had to stand my ground.

The man crossed the room to stand behind his desk. I never took my eyes off him. He gently picked up the book and put it out of my reach, behind the desk. "That book is very... delicate. I can't have just anyone fingering through its pages." There was a pause, in which the man seemed to hesitate. "It is also, for the most part, a load of rubbish."

A mixture of relief and confusion flooded through me. My suspicions about Jonathan's story were right, or at least partly. But why had the man said it? Surely he would want me to believe the lies Jonathan had told me.

"No," said the Man, as if hearing my thoughts, "I do not want you to believe what Jonathan has told you. You, Casey, are not the same as him." I couldn't help but gape at him. What was he talking about?

He sighed and sat down behind the desk. He made no motion for me to find a seat somewhere, so I stayed where I was. "I had only hoped that Jonathan would be able to keep you occupied for a while longer. But you are already asking questions, are you not? I can already tell you are far more intelligent than your older brother, Casey. He just accepted this, with hardly any doubt in his mind. You, however, have questioned everything you have been told since arriving here. You have not placed trust in anything. Just as I would have done."

The comparison he made was new to me. Not once had anyone ever suggested I was better than Jonathan in any way. I felt a guilty pride at what the man had said. But, once again, confusion scattered my thoughts. The man had said he would have done the same thing as me. Why would he have said that?

My mind was still whirring from the book shutting of its own accord. My voice seemed to be stuck in my throat, unwilling to come out. Before I could gather my thoughts into something that made sense, the man spoke again.
"I apologize Casey. You must be very confused. That brother of yours... Let's just say that he is not as he seems. I never expected you to completely buy his story. But you have outdone yourself. You've proved that you could be very valuable to me."
At that last statement, my voice seemed to find its rhythm. "Valuable? To you? I don't know who you are. I won't be anything to you until I find out what is really going on here."
"Feisty, I see. But then again, it is to be expected from someone with so much potential."
"Potential? What are you talking about?" I could not help but be slightly curious at what this man thought I could be capable of.
"You have no idea, do you? Very well. You have a lot to learn, Casey, before you can be presented to the other Elites."
"I don't know who the 'Elites' are. I don't want to learn anything from a man who kidnapped me. I don't want anything to do with your cult, or whatever it is. Just let me out of here!"
"A cult?" The man looked shocked. His voice gained a colder, sinister tone. "The Elites are so much more than a cult. Cults are religious sects, blindly devoted, with no true purpose. We know so much more. Our intelligence stretches far beyond the short-sightedness of those who merely believe they are different from the rest. But, I cannot possibly expect you to understand. You've just been through the Awakening. Whether you like it or not, Casey, you are one of us. This is your life now."
"No! I won't – I can't. What about my mum, my friends?" I began to stumble backwards. This man is insane – he wants to keep me here forever. I have to get out of here. The man, however, just kept on talking, his voice at the same calm pace. "Don't worry Casey. You'll see them again, in good time. I wouldn't try to leave if I were you." I lunged toward the door. My fingertips only brushed the handle. Some unseen force grasped me, pulled me away from the door in a jerking motion. My neck snapped backwards and my feet flew out from under me. My lungs gasped for air. I was flung onto one of the blue couches. I felt all my strength dissipate, leak out onto the midnight blue cushions around me.
"It's not very pleasant, is it?" Said the man's even voice. "Don't fret. One of the first things you will learn will be how to detect and deflect attacks like that."
I rolled my head over to stare at the man in wonder. "Wh-" I swallowed. "Who are you?"
The man smiled knowingly. "That does not matter. Not now. But you shall refer to me as Lucian."

Lucian. What kind of name was Lucian? I could not connect the word to the man sitting in front of me in a midnight blue suit. Lucian leaned forward onto the desk, looking at me intently. He seemed excited. As if he was about to tell me something that would change my life forever. With a feeling of thick, heavy dread, I realised that my life was already forever changed. It was altered the moment I had decided to follow the man – Lucian – away from the party. That party seemed a world away. Lucian began speaking again, interrupting my thoughts.

"I will not tell you everything Casey. At least not now. You must have patience and faith. Everything will come in good time. I am glad you came to my study today. I can see now that Jonathan will not be able to sustain your curiosity. Therefore, I will explain to you part of what you will come to understand. Most of what Jonathan told you was a product of his own imagination. His Awakening in the tunnel was true, right up to where he entered my study. But the book... The book does something to weaker people, Casey. That is why I cannot let you touch it. It grasps your mind and fills you with a mixture of the truth and fantasy. It was a mistake, letting Jonathan see the book.
"There are Elites. I am one of them. We have an intellectual power that even we do not know the limits of. Only a very select few can ever harness this ability. We don't interfere with regular humans and their lives. They are a lesser race. Elites who insist on contact with humans don't stay Elites for long.
"You must be wondering why Jonathan did not tell you the whole truth. The reality is, he does not know the whole truth. The book ruined him, and his chances of ever attempting to prove his abilities. He has been rid of its power now, but the damage was already done. His power was buried so deep, covered by the fantasy that the book painted in his head. He will never be able to do the things we can. Such a pity. I always thought he had promise. Yet, he was so excited about your Awakening. So, I let him tend to you over the past week. Besides, you were not ready to know. Now I've had no choice but to tell you. We cannot do anything for people like Jonathan, you must understand. You, on the other hand... I have faith in you. I believe you could become my most powerful student."

Lucian smiled at me. He was excited, for what I didn't know. Right now, there were many things that didn't make sense. I didn't know what to believe. I felt pity for Jonathan. If what Lucian told me was true, then his potential was destroyed before he could even start. He could never harness this 'power'. It wasn't fair. It wasn't even Jonathans fault. Something told me that if these 'Elite' people did exist, then I wasn't going to like them.

Lucian stood up. "Think about what I have told you, Casey. Do not tell your brother too much... I fear that he will become jealous of you." He stopped suddenly, looking me dead in the eyes. "There is a lot coming, Casey. Be prepared."
With that, Lucian strode through the room, pulled open the midnight blue door and left. I ran into the corridor, not willing to let him leave me so confused. He had disappeared. I stood there. I was stuck between things I'd been told and things I had no proof were real. What did he mean by 'be prepared'? How could I prepare for something that I couldn't trust was real? I don't speak in ominous riddles. Nothing was making sense.