The Man In The Midnight Blue Suit

Chapter Twenty-Eight

With the first step accomplished, the bond between our minds disintegrated. I opened my eyes to the living world once again, burning sensations of the bond having fled my body. Around us, the competition was no more. We were still in the crystal arena, but the illusions of the competition were gone. I could see where the crystal arena ended, and the skies above it. As I looked around us, I noticed the change that marked what we had done. Long, jagged cracks in the marble stone ran through the six-pointed star, splitting the symbol of power apart. Each crack began at a point in the star, meeting in the middle. There was a depression in the stone, like something created from an explosion. Tiny fissures ran out from the sides of the depression, each one ending a few centimetres from the start. It made it look like a carving of the sun, held in place by six ropes extending from its sides.

Above us, the Elites stand on their balcony. Some are shocked, not believing that we'd beaten their own competition. Their anger is like heat seeping out from their bodies. Lucian grips the railing of the balcony, his knuckles white. He stares at me: and in his eyes, I see nothing but venom.

The impregnable moment is broken with the sound of running feet and the clatter of doors being thrust open. I blink twice before I believe it's him. Jonathan bursts into the arena with frenzied energy.

"Casey!" He yells, voice booming through the cavernous space. "GO!"

The urgency is not wasted. I cast a fleeting glance up, finding the Elites have fled their balcony. Gin wastes no time, storming over to the crystal wall, wild hair flying behind her. I run to join her. A moment before I reach her, the wall around her shatters. Instinctively I bring my hands up to shield my face: but the shards split seconds before they reach me, flying around my body. The outside space through the gap in the wall is covered by a hazy glare, mixing the colours into murkiness. Gin runs through the gap, her body disappearing through the haze. The rest of us follow.

Out of the crystal arena and the competitions domain, the scene is unfamiliar. We find ourselves in a wide, open space of green grass and little else. Hills can be seen in the distance – perhaps not too far away. Behind us sits the Elite's crystal arena, its walls no longer mirroring our faces. There is a single tree in the eerily silent space, its twisting branches reaching up into the impenetrable blue of the sky. The branches are bare, but buds of green promise the growth of new leaves. Blood pumps through my veins: there is little time to adjust. But the scene is not all unfamiliar. The sight of the tree lodged a memory lose in my brain. It hits me: it's the tree from a dream I had once, although when I can't remember. A thought tugs at the back of mind – but I push it back, focusing on the present.

Jonathan arrives next to me. I'm flooded with relief: without knowing where he was, I hadn't known how to make sure he was safe while our overthrow began.

"You're ok?" I ask.
"You've got more important things to worry about at the moment," he replies, his tone solemn. But he smiles, a bright light in the hurried anticipation of mere seconds.

Scot runs through the shattered break in the wall, his face bewildered.
"What the hell was that?" He exclaimed. "What –"
"I know what you think you're doing, and you better know how to follow through on it." Hale cuts in as he stalks out of the crystal arena.
"Hale," Tobias warns, "You either stay out of our way or find a way to help us."
"To help you would be a death wish. They're stronger than you, so I'm going to look after myself."
Gin stalks over to him, eyes blazing. Hale is pushed to the ground by an invisible force. He groans as he rolls over. She grasps his neck, holding him still.
"We don't have time for your self-righteous complaining. Stay out of the way." She threatens.
Hale spits at her face as she releases him. He stumbles to his feet and speeds away from us, in the opposite direction of the tree.
"Gin!" Katelyn warns, "Get ready!"