The Returning Read online

  At some point, as the sun began to fade, several CityWatch guards came for her. Again she was given the opportunity to practice returning to truth as the sight of them opened up a fresh blend of worry and fear. But it wasn’t as loud or violent as it should have been. The peace of truth covered it quickly, and she found herself watching the guards’ faces as they opened her cell door.

  She recognized their hesitation, the alarm working behind their eyes. They glanced back and forth between themselves until one of them eventually stepped into the cell. They are afraid of me, Elise realized. Afraid of the power that buzzed under her skin. She felt it even now as she stood in the tiny cell, stronger than ever before. She could use it against them, free herself, free the others.

  Confidence filled her chest; she should awaken them. But even as the thought crossed her mind, she felt the light still. It settled into a quiet hum instead of the usual raging storm. Elise noticed the guard was holding a syringe, which was clearly meant for her. More sedation so she couldn’t access her power. Another round of fear rose like a wave. They were trying to make her weak. She wouldn’t let them. She called forth the light in her system and waited for it to move with vengeance in her bones.

  But it stayed peaceful, and Arianna’s words echoed through her mind.

  Turn your eyes to the light and remember that it is greater than anything you will ever face.

  Just follow the light, and you will never face anything that you can’t overcome.

  The light is yours, and you are the light’s. So what can stand against you?

  Elise felt the pull of the light to see the soldiers differently than she had before. All who come from the light are in the light and are light. These men were not her enemy. They were the same as her: children of the Father. A truth she had known but never understood until she saw them with restored vision.

  Surrender.

  Always follow the light, Arianna had said, and right now the light was still, peaceful. So she would be too. Elise released her need to defend herself against these men and trusted that the light’s guidance would not fail her. In that moment, she fell into a place of surrender. Strength and certainty filled her like hot air, warming her to the insides of her bones and pulling her close. Her worry fell away, her anxiety capsized, and all that remained was security.

  She glanced at the closest soldier as he moved toward her and extended her arm. He stopped cold, concern filling his face.

  “Don’t worry,” Elise said. “I won’t fight you.”

  Hesitant at first, the guard looked back to his partner and then stepped forward and injected Elise. The toxins rushed into her bloodstream quickly, making the entry point tingle and burn.

  “This will only make you more compliant,” the guard said. “President Cropper has asked for you to join him for dinner.”

  Within moments, Elise could feel the numbing serum start to take effect. More compliant, she thought. Yes, it was difficult to sense the full power of the light through the fog taking over her mind, but she knew it was there, under the surface, still holding her close. She would rest in that truth no matter what.

  It took the soldiers only a couple of minutes to escort her from the prison section of the Capitol Building up onto the main level that she knew so well. Had it really been only a matter of days since she had lived here within these walls, her eyes blind to who she really was?

  Her thoughts faded in and out as the drug continued to spread through her. The touch of her power came and went as well, the numbing sensation working strongly against her. The guards came to a stop outside the Capitol dining room. Elise had eaten inside with Jesse on numerous occasions, always in awe of her surroundings and searching their conversations for clues as to who she was, why she was different. She imagined their conversation tonight would be very different from any they’d had previously.

  The guards opened the door and escorted her in, across the shiny marble floor and to the far end of the table, where Jesse stood as she approached. Their eyes connected and two things happened to her all at once. First, she felt her pride rise up in anger. This was the man who had taken her from her family and lied to her about their existence, the one who had locked her away and treated her like a prisoner. Now he stood before her, a cold expression on his face, surely with the intention of bringing an end to all the good she was doing, just so that he could have his false illusion of peace and security.

  The second thing that happened to her was that her heart broke. Jesse’s face was pale and sunken; dark circles crowded his eyes, draining the vibrant color they usually held. He looked as though he hadn’t slept in weeks. The once-strong man that she had sought as her only ally now appeared weak and small. Weariness lined his expression; he was driving himself mad because he was losing control.

  The second reaction began to outweigh the first as the Father’s words played again in her mind. Wasn’t there still light in Jesse just as there was in her? She recognized the desperation in him that she knew so well for herself. Underneath the poise he was barely maintaining, he was longing for clarity and direction. And she had it in her to give. Suddenly, being taken by the CityWatch, being thrown in a cell, being confronted by all the potentially harmful outcomes for her and the Seers made sense. Maybe she was here for more than just the end. Maybe she was here for him.

  Even though the numbing was strong, the power of the light inside her chest was stronger. She felt it expand as she switched her perspective toward the man she’d once looked to for comfort and saw him as something much more.

  The guards waited for Jesse’s cue and then placed Elise in the chair to his right as he took his seat at the table. They cut the wire that bound her hands and gave her another injection that stung with intensity. She scrunched her face in pain and rubbed the place where she’d been pricked.

  “Sorry; I know that one can be a real pill to take. I figured we should be able to speak plainly, so I wanted to make sure you were fully functional,” Jesse said.

  Elise felt the fog from the first injection start to lift and she understood. Jesse was a smart man; he knew that Elise was a danger to those who had been injected with Genesis. But Jesse was not one of those people, so the light would not affect him the way it did the others. She heard the rest of the room shift uncomfortably and she quickly took in her surroundings. Two guards in each corner and two at the door. Ten in all, each one looking at her nervously.

  “I am trying to show goodwill toward you, having you for dinner, letting your mind be clear. It would be nice to reassure my men that they are safe from you,” Jesse said, raising his eyebrows at her.

  Elise nodded in agreement. “Of course,” she responded. She wasn’t here for them.

  “Should we eat then?” As the words left Jesse’s mouth, kitchen staff entered the room through a nearby door to help serve the feast before them. They tried hard not to look nervous, but clearly Elise had worked up quite the reputation for herself.

  “I assume my kitchen staff is safe as well?” Jesse asked, leaning back in his chair.

  “You really have nothing to worry about,” Elise replied. She tried to share a smile with the server closest to her but was ignored as he quickly got to work.

  “There wouldn’t be any need for all these precautions if I didn’t have anything to worry about,” Jesse said.

  “What are you so afraid of?” Elise asked.

  “Come now, Elise, there is no need for games between the two of us. You know exactly why all of these measures were taken.”

  “I know you believe that what I am doing is harming the city.”

  “No, that is not something I believe; that is something I know.”

  “And how do you know?”

  “Again with the wordplay.”

  “No, I am asking you honestly. How are you so certain that what we are doing is bringing harm and not good?”

  “Because with it comes the unraveling of what we’ve spent years to build.”

  “Sometimes un
raveling is good.”

  “Not when it destroys peace and harmony.”

  “A false, forced sense of peace. A peace that is controlled by chemicals and manufactured in a laboratory. That isn’t real peace. That’s simply control.”

  “Control that has saved this broken world from its own destruction,” Jesse said, grabbing his glass of red wine.

  Elise sighed softly. The lies falling from Jesse’s mouth sounded just like the Scientist’s. She could see the evidence of the old man’s work in Jesse now. He was brainwashed like the rest, but not by a serum. His was a blindness by choice, his path one of willful resistance. But Elise knew that the light was in all; it was only a matter of calling it forth.

  “Destruction you are trying to unleash,” Jesse continued.

  “I would never do anything to harm the people in this city. This place is my home, and they are my family,” Elise said.

  “Then stop. Can’t you see the negative effects you are having on people’s minds?”

  “What you and I see is very different.”

  Jesse paused and took a swig from his glass. “Tell me what you see.”

  Elise considered her words carefully. “I see a forgotten truth, a lost sense of identity. I see the unity that binds us all being exposed. I see people returning to who they are supposed to be. I see light coming forth from everyone around me, and though that may be having negative effects on their compliance, it is opening up their hearts. And for the first time, many of the people I see are experiencing true peace.”

  “They are also experiencing pain, guilt, and shame. Restoring their memories brings back their burdens and sets them on a path of self-destruction. People are inherently selfish and spiteful. They may be filled with light now, but that will fade, and then they will experience suffering.”

  “That may be, but that too is okay. Choice gives people the opportunity to lovingly lead themselves to the truth, whether that be through triumph or failure. And yes, the mind can at times be selfish, but the soul, the true nature of a person, seeks truth. Filling them with light reminds them of that true nature.”

  Jesse ground his back molars and gave Elise an annoyed grin. “You sound like Aaron.”

  Elise drew back slightly in surprise. “You know Aaron?”

  “I knew him, once, a long time ago.”

  Elise searched the pondering expression working across Jesse’s face. “You’ve encountered the light, haven’t you?”

  Jesse didn’t look up at her, but something flashed in acknowledgment behind his eyes.

  “I can see it in your face,” Elise said. “You know the power it holds.”

  “What I know is that history tends to repeat itself. There isn’t a force on earth that can stop people from destroying each other and themselves.”

  Elise shook her head. “You’re wrong. I can show you.”

  Jesse raised his eyes from his plate, and Elise could see the curiosity turning inside his mind. She reached her hand out and placed it gently on his arm. “Let me show you the light.”

  27

  Jesse felt the darkness rise up in defense at Elise’s words. Yet his heart skipped a beat, and he sensed a familiar strand of curiosity rippling through him. He’d felt it years before, when he’d been with the Seer camp; he’d felt it again many times since while having conversations with Elise over the years; he’d even felt it recently as reports of what Elise was doing had started to come in. A question formed just long enough to prick at his mind before vanishing away.

  What if they were right?

  Elise’s eyes shimmered with confidence, her touch soft and comforting, causing the source of evil rummaging in his chest to squirm. He’d noticed the way it had quieted the moment she’d entered, the same reaction he’d often had around her as she’d grown. But her power, the light, was stronger within her now. It was undeniable. Jesse had hoped to find cracks in her beliefs, had hoped to find common ground and convince her to come back to his side.

  Always trying to save her. Even when she can’t be saved.

  “I won’t let you destroy the minds of my people,” Jesse said.

  “It doesn’t destroy their minds; it opens them,” Elise replied.

  “How does it work?” He felt the darkness trying to pull him back, but his curiosity was strong.

  “The light exists inside everyone already. I just search for it and bring it out.”

  “How can you know that?”

  “I can see it. The light is in everything—the air, the earth, every soul. I can feel it and sense it. Always. Even in you,” Elise said.

  Her words tugged at something beyond his rational thought and pierced through the flutters of doubt that had taken up residence in his stomach. They sent uneasy tension cascading down his back, and he straightened up further in his chair. “And what if I don’t believe?”

  “Your disbelief doesn’t make the light nonexistent; it only makes you unable to see it.” Elise leaned a bit closer, her smile full of wonder, her eyes dancing on waves of joy. “But I can help you see, if you want.”

  The tug of war started low in Jesse’s gut and rose up through his chest. His interest and wonder fought to outweigh his logic and sense. He was the leader of this city, a grown man who didn’t have time for her delusions of salvation. Yet he’d seen the evidence of what she was saying, the physical and mental changes in those who had been affected by her gift. And there was something in him that desperately wanted to know the truth that she offered.

  Part of him wanted her to be right; part of him wanted her to be wrong. Most of him just wanted to make her his. He couldn’t deny the urge to reach out and touch her. Even if she was blatantly acting out against him, even if she was rebuking everything he stood for, sitting here with her now made his yearning for her stronger than ever.

  Don’t be swayed by her manipulation. But his curiosity was just too great.

  “Show me, then, but not on one of my men,” Jesse said. “Do it to me.”

  Elise gave him a curious look, taken aback.

  “You said all have the light, even me,” he said.

  “Yes,” she said, eyes shining.

  “Then show me.”

  Elise let the shock of Jesse’s request fade. Show him. Bring out his light. She couldn’t fight off the nervous tingles moving through her fingers. She’d only ever pulled light from people who had been given Genesis. Those who had no choice but to forget who they really were. Jesse had turned a blind eye to the truth purposefully. That was something completely different.

  Doubts started to land inside her mind like stones. What if she couldn’t? What if she wasn’t strong enough? What if she failed and lost the one chance she had to show him the power of truth? Fear filled her chest, and she saw a smile pull at the corner of Jesse’s mouth. He recognized her fear, and embarrassment crept up her neck.

  Elise closed her eyes and pushed her doubts aside, meditating on the truth that was so easy to forget. Energy rushed through her and eased her uneasiness away. A soft breeze drifted across her face and shoulders, bringing the perfect love that resided inside her to life.

  She opened her eyes and saw the room clearly. Different colors bounced around, swirling with the light that filled the room and everything in it. What could stand against her? What did she have to fear?

  A smile filled her face, and this time it was in Jesse’s expression that she saw fear. The power, given to her by the light, swelled within her. She focused on it, calling it up and sending it forth. She felt it move and grow under her skin, wrapping itself around her bones and overtaking her wholly. Within moments, the light was seeping from her, reaching out toward the light of others, and she focused it toward Jesse.

  It crawled out from her fingers and stretched toward him. Soft at first, like a whisper, it called to the truth that lay dormant inside him. If she could only touch it, connect with it. A strand of light moved into his chest and she saw his body react. He shifted uncomfortably, trying to move away from her,
but the back of his chair kept him steady. She reached further, stepping deeper into his mind. As with all the others, she connected to his memories. Though they were not forgotten, they were still tied to the false truth about who he believed he was.

  The room faded slightly, as if caught behind a fogged glass panel. Elise let Jesse’s memories fill the space around her head. A small boy caught up in a violent outburst from a man stumbling around, thrashing out his anger on the child at his feet. A teenage boy being consoled by the man as he whispered lies to the boy about the world. The same boy being introduced to a younger version of the man Elise knew as the Scientist, the two of them discussing the change that the world was destined for. Back to the drunk man ridiculing the young boy, then tossing a bottle of liquor across the room at his head. The small child hiding up in his room, his door closed and blocked with a dresser as the vicious man pounded away on the outside.

  Moment after moment filled her mind, breaking her heart as she dug ever deeper into Jesse’s soul. Until it ended. A dark cloud thwarted her attempt to push deeper. It crushed the light that had risen up and turned all the warmth in the room to cold. Dark and heavy, like tar, it rolled across Jesse’s memories, kicking Elise out and sealing them off. It felt like hate, and she could taste the bitterness of it in her mouth. It pushed back angrily against Elise’s advances and rattled her confidence. She’d never encountered anything like it.

  She sank into the truth more deeply, searching for more light to combat the dark waves flowing from Jesse. The further she went, the harder the power was to contain, and she felt herself losing her grip. With a slip, it sprang from all of her cells. Across the marble floor and to the guards at their posts. It connected with their souls and without being able to stop it, the light began to dig up their pasts. Memories flashed in hurried images across her mind, tumbling over one another, dancing across the open air around her head.

  Her mind exploded with pain, but she pushed forward, Jesse’s eyes wide with fear, his face fixed in terror. The guards cried out and dropped to their knees around the room. One after the other, each one encountering the power that now encased the dining hall completely. She tried to pull it back, to honor her promise that she’d keep the guards out of it, but the power was too strong; it rippled from her uncontrollably.