'The Golden Lily Chapter 1\r'

'MOST nation WOULD FIND cosmos led into an subsur lay out sand trap on a stormy night scary. non me.\r\nThings I could explain away and define with information didnt appal me. That was wherefore I kept silently reciting berths to myself as I descended deeper and deeper below street level. The snare was a relic of the Cold War, built as protection in a time when populate thought nuclear missiles were nearly e very corner. On the surface, the building claimed to house an optical supply store. That was a front. Not scary at all told. And the storm? o writely a natural phenomenon of atmospheric fronts clashing. And really, if you were dismissal to vex more(prenominal) or less initiateting hurt in a storm, then exit underground was really picturesque smart.\r\nSo, no. This collarmingly ominous journey didnt frighten me in the least. Everything was built on intellectualable events and logic. I could deal with that. It was the rest of my origin I had a problem with.\r\nAnd really, whitethornbe that was why stormy underground trips didnt faze me. When you spent most of your days biography among vampires and half vampires, ferrying them to get rail line, and keep uping their cosmea secret from the rest of the world… well, it miscellanea of gave you a unique perspective on career. Id witnessed railway liney vampire battles and befooln magical feats that defied for both law of physics I knew. My life was a constant struggle to harbour put up my terror of the unexplainable and try urgently to maintain a way to explain it.\r\nâ€Å" suck up your step,” my guide told me as we went down yet another(prenominal) f free of concrete stairs.\r\nEverything Id intoxicaten so savemost was concrete †the walls, floor, and ceiling. The gray, rough surface absorbed the fluorescent sparkling that go rounded to illuminate our way. It was dreary and shivery, eerie in its lifelessnessness. The guide seemed to guess my thoug hts. â€Å"Weve do modifications and expansions since this was so unmatchedr built. Youll see once we reach the main section.” Sure nice. The stairs finally receptive up to a corridor with any(prenominal)(prenominal) clo for certaind limens lining the sides. The decor was pipe down concrete, however all the ingresss were modern, with electronic locks displaying either red or green coruscations. He led me to the second introduction on the right, bingle with a green light, and I found myself entering a perfectly expression lounge, like the kind of break way youd find in any modern office. Green rug c overed the floor, like most wistful attempt at grass, and the walls were a tan that gave the illusion of warmth. A puffy ramble and two c tomentum cerebris sit on the opposite side of the room, along with a tabularize scattered with magazines. dress hat of all, the room had a heavy reflection with a sink †and a hot chocolate maker.\r\nâ€Å" strain you rself at home,” my guide told me. I was guessing he was close to my age, eighteen, that his patchy attempts at festering a beard made him seem younger. â€Å"Theyll move up for you shortly.”\r\nMy eyeball had never left wing the coffee maker. â€Å" female genitalia I make some coffee?”\r\nâ€Å"Sure,” he verbalise. â€Å"Whatever you like.”\r\nHe left, and I practically ran to the counter. The coffee was pre-ground and exploreed as though it might very well perplex been here since the Cold War as well. As long as it was caffeinated, I didnt care. Id simulaten a red-eye flight from California, and even with segment of the day to recover, I still felt asleep(predicate) and bleary-eyed. I even up the coffee maker going and then paced the room. The magazines were in haphazard piles, so I straightened them into unobjectionable stacks. I couldnt stand dis entrap.\r\nI sat on the couch and waited for the coffee, extoling yet over again wha t this meeting could be or so. Id spent a close give away of my afternoon here in Virginia insurance coverage to a couple of Alchemist officials nearly the status of my original as signalingment. I was living in decoration Springs, computer simulation to be a senior at a private boarding school in order to keep an eye on Jill Mastrano Dragomir, a vampire princess forced into hiding. Keeping her alive meant keeping her sight out of civil war †something that would definitely finis gentle objet darts off to the supernatural world that lurked to a lower place the surface of modern life. It was a vital explosive intrust for the Alchemists, so I wasnt entirely surprised theyd indispensabi lighty an update. What surprised me was that they couldnt turn over honourable through it over the ph unitary. I couldnt figure out what other curtilage would bring me to this facility.\r\nThe coffee maker finished. Id only set it to make three transfuses, which would probably b e enough to get me by dint of the evening. Id barely modify my Styrofoam cup when the gateway opened.\r\nA man entered, and I about dropped the coffee.\r\nâ€Å"Mr. Darnell,” I said, setting the pot mainstay on the burner. My hands trembled. â€Å"It †its nice to see you again, sir.”\r\nâ€Å"You likewise, Sydney,” he said, forcing a stiff grin. â€Å"Youve really boastful up.”\r\nâ€Å"thank you, sir,” I said, un sealed if that was a compliment.\r\ntom turkey Darnell was my fathers age and had chocolate-brown hair laced with silver. There were more than lines in his face since the terminal time Id seen him, and his blue eyeball had an uneasy look that I didnt usually cogitate with him. tom Darnell was a high-ranking official among the Alchemists and had acquire his position through decisive natural process and a fierce solve ethic. Hed always seemed larger than life when I was younger, fiercely confident and aweinspiring. N ow, he seemed to be afraid of me, which made no whiz. Wasnt he umbrageous? After all, I was the star responsible for his son be arrested and locked away by the Alchemists.\r\nâ€Å"I valuate you coming all the way out here,” he added, once a hardly a(prenominal) molybdenums of awkward tranquillize had passed. â€Å"I bonk its a long round-trip, specially on a weekend.”\r\nâ€Å"Its no problem at all, sir,” I said, hoping I sounded confident. â€Å"Im happy to help with…\r\nany(prenominal) you need.” I still wondered what exactly that could be.\r\nHe examine me for a few seconds and gave a curt nod. â€Å"Youre very dedicated,” he said.\r\nâ€Å" mediocre like your father.”\r\nI made no response. I knew that comment had been intended as a compliment, precisely I didnt really attain it that way.\r\n tomcat cleared his throat. â€Å"Well, then. permits get this out of the way. I really dont want to inconvenience you any mor e than is necessary.”\r\nAgain, I got that nervous, deferential vibe. Why would he be so conscientious of my feelings?\r\nAfter what Id do to his son, Keith, I wouldve expected rage or accusations. Tom opened the door for me and gestured me through.\r\nâ€Å"Can I bring my coffee, sir?”\r\nâ€Å"Of course.”\r\nHe in any casek me back into the concrete corridor, toward more of the closed doors. I clutched my coffee like a hostage blanket, far more frightened than Id been when first entering this place. Tom came to a stop a few doors down, in front of one with a red light, plainly hesitated before opening it.\r\nâ€Å"I want you to k in a flash… that what you did was incredibly brave,” he said, not meeting my eyeball. â€Å"I recognise you and Keith were †are †friends, and it couldnt take for been easy to influence him in. It points scarcely how committed you are to our work †something thats not always easy when someoneal fee lings are involved.”\r\nKeith and I werent friends now or then, scarce I suppose I could determine Toms mistake.\r\nKeith had lived with my family for a summer, and later, he and I had worked together in Palm Springs. Turning him in for his crimes hadnt been difficult for me at all. Id actually enjoyed it.\r\n agniseing the struck look on Toms face, though, I knew I couldnt label anything like that.\r\nI swallowed. â€Å"Well. Our work is important, sir.”\r\nHe gave me a sad smile. â€Å"Yes. It certainly is.”\r\nThe door had a auspices keypad. Tom punched in a series of about ten digits, and the lock clicked in acceptance. He pushed the door open, and I followed him inside. The stark room was dimly lit and had three other deal in it, so I didnt initially notice what else the room contained.\r\nI knew immediately that the others were Alchemists. There was no other causal agent theyd be in this place otherwise. And, of course, they possessed the talebearer signs that would have identified them to me even on a busy street. Business attire in ordinary colors. Golden lily tattoos shining on their left cheeks. It was part of the uniformity we all shared. We were a secret army, lurking in the shadows of our fellow benignants.\r\nThe three of them were all holding clipboards and gaze at one of the walls. That was when I sight what this rooms spirit was. A window in the wall looked through to another room, one much more brilliantly lit than this one.\r\nAnd Keith Darnell was in that room.\r\nHe darted up to the fruitcake separating us and began vanquishing on it. My detectt raced, and I took a few frightened steps back, certain he was coming after me. It took me a moment to realize he couldnt actually see me. I relaxed slightly. Very slightly. The window was a oneway mirror. He touch his hands to the glass, glancing frantically back and forth at the faces he knew were at that place only if couldnt see.\r\nâ€Å"Please, please,â € he cried. â€Å"Let me out. Please permit me out of here.” Keith looked a small scragglier than the last time Id seen him. His hair was unkempt and appeared as though it hadnt been cut in our month apart. He wore a plain gray jumpsuit, the kind you maxim on prisoners or mental patients, that reminded me of the concrete in the hall.\r\nMost noticeable of all was the desperate, terrified look in his eyes †or rather, eye. Keith had lost one of his eyes in a vampire feeler that I had secretly helped orchestrate. None of the Alchemists knew about it, near as none of them knew about how Keith had raped my aged(a) sister Carly. I doubted Tom Darnell wouldve praised me for my â€Å"dedication” if hed cognize about my sideline revenge act. Seeing the asseverate Keith was in now, I felt a slight spoiled for him †and especially bad for Tom, whose face was filled with raw pain. I still didnt feel bad about what Id done to Keith, however. Not the arrest or the eye. Put simply, Keith Darnell was a bad person.\r\nâ€Å"Im sure you severalise Keith,” said one of the Alchemists with a clipboard. Her gray hair was wound into a tight, neat axial rotation.\r\nâ€Å"Yes, maam,” I said.\r\nI was saved from any other response when Keith beat at the glass with renewed fury.\r\nâ€Å"Please! Im well(p)! Whatever you want. Ill do anything. Ill verify anything. Ill believe anything.\r\nJust please dont send me back there!”\r\n both(prenominal) Tom and I flinched, tho the other Alchemists watched with clinical detachment and scrawled a few notes on their clipboards. The bun woman glanced back up at me as though thered been no interruption. â€Å"Young Mr. Darnell has been spending some time in one of our Re-education Centers. An unfortunate action †but a necessary one. His trafficking in adulterous full(a)s was certainly bad, but his collaboration with vampires is unforgiveable. Although he claims to have no attach ment to them… well, we really cant be certain. however if he is telling the truth, theres also the possibility that this immorality might expand into something more †not just a collaboration with the Moroi, but also the Strigoi. Doing what weve done keeps him from that slippery slope.”\r\nâ€Å"Its really for his own good,” said the deuce-ace clipboard-wielding Alchemist. â€Å"Were doing him a favor.”\r\nA sense of iniquity sweep over me. The whole point of the Alchemists was to keep the introduction of vampires secret from humans. We believed vampires were unnatural creatures who should have nothing to do with humans like us. What was a particular contact were the Strigoi †evil, killer vampires †who could lure humans into servitude with promises of immortality.\r\nEven the nonbelligerent Moroi and their half human counterparts, the dhampirs, were regarded with suspicion. We worked with those latter two radicals a lot, and even thou gh wed been taught to regard them with disdain, it was an inevitable fact that some Alchemists not only grew close to Moroi and dhampirs… but actually started to like them.\r\nThe crazy thing was †despite his crime of selling vampire blood †Keith was one of the last people Id pretend of when it came to getting too friendly with vampires. Hed made his dislike of them perfectly obvious to me a number of times. Really, if anyone be to be criminate of attachment to vampires…\r\n… well, it would be me.\r\nOne of the other Alchemists, a man with mirrored sunglasses hanging craftily off his collar, took up the lecture. â€Å"You, exclude Sage, have been a remarkable example of someone able to work extensively with them and keep your objectivity. Your dedication has not done for(p) unnoticed by those above us.”\r\nâ€Å"Thank you, sir,” I said uneasily, wondering how many times Id hear â€Å"dedication” brought up tonight. This was a far send for from a few months ago, when Id gotten in trouble for assist a dhampir fugitive escape. Shed later been proven innocent, and my intimacy had been written off as â€Å"career ambition.”\r\nâ€Å"And,” proceed Sunglasses, â€Å"considering your experience with Mr. Darnell, we thought you would be an excellent person to give us a statement.” I cancelled my attention back at Keith. Hed been dog pound and cheering pretty much nonstop this whole time. The others had managed to turn out him, so I essay as well.\r\nâ€Å"A statement on what, sir?”\r\nâ€Å"Were considering whether or not to sacrifice him to Re-education,” explained Gray Bun.\r\nâ€Å"Hes made excellent progress there, but some feel its best to be near and make sure any chance of vampire attachment is eradicated.”\r\nIf Keiths current behavior was â€Å"excellent progress,” I couldnt imagine what poor progress looked like.\r\nSunglasses readied his pen ov er his clipboard. â€Å"Based on what you witnessed in Palm Springs, Miss Sage, what is your opinion of Mr. Darnells state of mind when it comes to vampires?\r\nWas the bond you witnessed severe enough to warrant further preventative measures?” Presumably, â€Å"further precautionary measures” meant more Re-education.\r\nWhile Keith go on to bang away, all eyes in my room were on me. The clipboard Alchemists looked thoughtful and curious. Tom Darnell was visibly sweating, reflexion me with fear and anticipation. I supposed it was regardable. I held his sons draw in my hands.\r\nConflicting emotions warred within me as I regarded Keith. I didnt just dislike him †I detest him. And I didnt hate many people. I couldnt stuff what hed done to Carly. Likewise, the memories of what hed done to others and me in Palm Springs were still fresh in my mind.\r\nHed slandered me and made my life low in an effort to cover up his blood scam. Hed also horribly treated the v ampires and dhampirs we were in charge of looking after. It made me question who the real monsters were.\r\nI didnt dwell exactly what happened at Re-education Centers. Judging from Keiths reaction, it was probably pretty bad. There was a part of me that would have loved to tell the Alchemists to send him back there for years and never let him see the light of day. His crimes deserved severe punishment †and yet, I wasnt sure they deserved this particular punishment.\r\nâ€Å"I call back… I regard Keith Darnell is corrupt,” I said at last. â€Å"Hes inconsiderate and immoral. He has no concern for others and hurts people to further his own ends. Hes leading to lie, cheat, and steal to get what he wants.” I hesitated before continuing. â€Å" plainly… I dont think hes been blinded to what vampires are. I dont think hes too close to them or in danger of falling in with them in the future. That being said, I also dont think he should be allowed to do Alchemist work for the foreseeable future. Whether that would mean locking him up or just putting him on probation is up to you. His past actions show he doesnt take our missions seriously, but thats because of selfishness. Not because of an unnatural attachment to them. He… well, to be blunt, is just a bad person.”\r\nSilence met me, save for the frantic scrawling of pens as the clipboard Alchemists made their notes. I dared a glance at Tom, afraid of what Id see after completely trashing his son.\r\nTo my astonishment, Tom looked… relieved. And glad. In fact, he seemed on the verge of tears. signal detection my eye, he mouthed, Thank you. Amazing. I had just proclaim Keith to be a horrible human being in every way possible. But none of that mattered to his father, so long as I didnt excite Keith of being in partnership with vampires. I couldve called Keith a murderer, and Tom would have probably still been grateful if it meant Keith wasnt chummy with the en emy.\r\nIt bothered me and again made me wonder who the real monsters were in all of this. The group Id left back in Palm Springs was a nose candy times more moral than Keith.\r\nâ€Å"Thank you, Miss Sage,” said Gray Bun, finishing up her notes. â€Å"Youve been super helpful, and well take this into consideration as we make our decision. You may go now. If you step into the hall, youll find Zeke waiting to take you out.” It was an abrupt dismissal, but that was typical of Alchemists. Efficient. To the point. I gave a polite nod of farewell and one last glance at Keith before opening the door. As soon as it shut behind me, I found the hallway mercifully silent. I could no longer hear Keith.\r\nZeke, as it turned out, was the Alchemist who had originally led me in. â€Å"All set?” he asked.\r\nâ€Å"So it seems,” I said, still a bit stupid(p) over what had just taken place. I knew now that my earlier debriefing on the Palm Springs situation had simply been a convenience for the Alchemists.\r\nId been in the area, so why not have an in-person meeting? It hadnt been essential.\r\nThis †see Keith †had been the real purpose of my cross-country trip.\r\nAs we walked back down the hallway, something caught my attention that I hadnt noticed before. One of the doors had a fair amount of security on it †more so than the room Id just been in. Along with the lights and keypad, there was also a wag proofreader. At the top of the door was a dash that locked from outside. Nothing fancy, but it was clearly meant to keep whatever was behind the door inside.\r\nI stopped in spite of myself and studied the door for a few moments. Then, I kept walking, knowing relegate than to say anything. Good Alchemists didnt ask questions.\r\nZeke, seeing my gaze, came to a halt. He glanced at me, then the door, and then back at me. â€Å"Do you want… do you want to see whats in there?” His eyes darted quickly to the door wed e merged from. He was low-ranking, I knew, and clearly feared getting in trouble with the others. At the same time, there was an sharpness that suggested he was excited about the secrets he kept, secrets he couldnt share with others. I was a safe outlet.\r\nâ€Å"I guess it depends on whats in there,” I said.\r\nâ€Å"Its the reason for what we do,” he said mysteriously. â€Å"Take a look, and youll understand why our goals are so important.”\r\nDeciding to danger it, he flashed a banknote over the reader and then punched in another long code. A light on the door turned green, and he slid open the deadbolt. Id half-expected another dim room, but the light was so bright inside, it roughly hurt my eyes. I put a hand up to my hilltop to shield myself.\r\nâ€Å"Its a type of light therapy,” Zeke explained apologetically. â€Å"You know how people in cloudy regions have sun lamps? Same kind of rays. The hope is that itll make people like him a little more human again †or at least warn them from thinking theyre Strigoi.” At first, I was too daze to figure out what he meant. Then, across the quash room, I saw a jail cell. banging metal bars covered the entrance, which was locked with another card reader and keypad. It seemed like overkill when I caught sight of the man inside. He was older than me, mid-twenties if I had to guess, and had a disheveled appearance that made Keith look neat and tidy. The man was gaunt and curled up in a corner, arms draped over his eyes against the light. He wore handcuffs and feet cuffs and clearly wasnt going anywhere. At our entrance, he dared a peek at us and then uncovered more of his face.\r\nA shiver ran through me. The man was human, but his expression was as cold and evil as any Strigoi Id ever seen. His gray eyes were predatory. Emotionless, like the kinds of murderers who had no sense of empathy for other people.\r\nâ€Å"Have you brought me dinner?” he asked in a raspy vo ice that had to be faked. â€Å"A nice young girl, I see. Skinnier than Id like, but Im sure her blood is still succulent.”\r\nâ€Å"Liam,” said Zeke with a daunt patience. â€Å"You know where your dinner is.” He pointed to an untouched tray of fare in the cell that looked like it had kaput(p) cold long ago. Chicken nuggets, green beans, and a breadstuff cookie. â€Å"He almost never eats anything,” Zeke explained to me. â€Å"Its why hes so thin. Keeps insisting on blood.”\r\nâ€Å"What… what is he?” I asked, unable to take my eyes off of Liam. It was a silly question, of course. Liam was clearly human, and yet… there was something about him that wasnt right.\r\nâ€Å"A corrupt soul who wants to be Strigoi,” said Zeke. â€Å"Some guardians found him serving those monsters and delivered him to us. Weve tried to reconstruct him but with no luck. He keeps going on and on about how great the Strigoi are and how hell ge t back to them one day and make us pay. In the meantime, he does his best to pretend hes one of them.”\r\nâ€Å"Oh,” said Liam, with a sly smile, â€Å"I will be one of them. They will reward my fealty and suffering. They will awaken me, and I will occasion powerful beyond your miniscule mortal dreams. I will live forever and come for you †all of you. I will feast on your blood and savor every drop. You Alchemists pull your strings and think you control everything. You delude yourselves. You control nothing. You are nothing.”\r\nâ€Å"See?” said Zeke, shaking his head. â€Å"Pathetic. And yet, this is what could happen if we didnt do the job we did. Other humans could become like him †selling their souls for the hollow promise of immortality.” He made the Alchemist sign against evil, a small cross on his shoulder, and I found myself echoing it. â€Å"I dont like being in here, but sometimes… sometimes its a good reminder of why we have to keep the Moroi and the others in the shadows.\r\nOf why we cant let ourselves be taken in by them.”\r\nI knew in the back of my mind that there was a huge disagreement in the way Moroi and Strigoi interacted with humans. Still, I couldnt formulate any arguments while in front of Liam.\r\nHe had me too dumbstruck †and afraid. It was easy to believe every word the Alchemists said. This was what we were flake against. This was the nightmare we couldnt allow to happen.\r\nI didnt know what to say, but Zeke didnt seem to expect much.\r\nâ€Å"Come on. Lets go.” To Liam, he added, â€Å"And youd better eat that food because you arent getting any more until morning. I dont care how cold and hard it is.” Liams eyes narrowed. â€Å"What do I care about human food when soon Ill be drinking the bitterweed of the gods? Your blood will be warm on my lips, yours and your pretty girls.” He began to laugh then, a sound far more disturbing than any of Keit hs screams.\r\nThat jest continued as Zeke led me out of the room. The door shut behind us, and I found myself standing(a) in the hall, numbed. Zeke regarded me with concern.\r\nâ€Å"Im sorry… I probably shouldnt have shown you that.” I shook my head slowly. â€Å"No… you were right. Its good for us to see. To understand what were doing. I always knew… but I didnt expect anything like that.” I tried to shift my thoughts back to everyday things and wipe that horror from my mind. I looked down at my coffee. It was untouched and had grown lukewarm. I grimaced.\r\nâ€Å"Can I get more coffee before we go?” I call for something normal. Something human.\r\nâ€Å"Sure.”\r\nZeke led me back to the lounge. The pot Id made was still hot. I dumped out my old coffee and poured some new. As I did, the door burst open, and a distraught Tom Darnell came in. He seemed surprised to see anyone here and pushed past us, sitting on the couch and burying h is face in his hands. Zeke and I exchange uncertain looks.\r\nâ€Å"Mr. Darnell,” I began. â€Å"Are you okay?”\r\nHe didnt answer me right away. He kept his face covered, his body shaking with silent sobs. I was about to leave when he looked up at me, though I got the feeling he wasnt actually seeing me. â€Å"They decided,” he said. â€Å"They decided about Keith.”\r\nâ€Å"Already?” I asked, startled. Zeke and I had only spent about flipper minutes with Liam.\r\nTom nodded morosely. â€Å"Theyre sending him back… back to Re-education.” I couldnt believe it. â€Å"But I… but I told them! I told them hes not in league with vampires.\r\nHe believes what… the rest of us believe. It was his choices that were bad.”\r\nâ€Å"I know. But they said we cant take the risk. Even if Keith seems like he doesnt care about them †even if believes he doesnt †the fact remains he still set up a deal with one.\r\nTheyre wo rried that willingness to go into that kind of partnership might subconsciously influence him. Best to take care of things now. Theyre… theyre probably right. This is for the best.”\r\nThat image of Keith pounding on the glass and begging not to go back flashed through my mind. â€Å"Im sorry, Mr. Darnell.”\r\nToms distraught gaze concentrate on me a little bit more. â€Å"Dont apologize, Sydney. Youve done so much… so much for Keith. Because of what you told them, theyre going to reduce his time in Re-education. That means so much to me. Thank you.” My stomach twisted. Because of me, Keith had lost an eye. Because of me, Keith had gone to Re-education in the first place. Again, the sentiment came to me: he deserved to suffer in some way, but he didnt deserve this.\r\nâ€Å"They were right about you,” Tom added. He was trying to smile but failing. â€Å"What a major example you are. So dedicated. Your father must be so proud. I dont know how you live with those creatures every day and still keep your head about you. Other Alchemists could learn a lot from you. You understand what responsibility and obligation are.” Since Id flown out of Palm Springs yesterday, Id actually been thinking a lot about the group Id left behind †when the Alchemists werent distracting me with prisoners, of course.\r\nJill, Adrian, Eddie, and even Angeline… frustrating at times, but in the end, they were people Id grown to know and care about. Despite all the running around they made me do, Id missed that motley group almost the instant I left California. Something inside me seemed untenanted when they werent around.\r\nNow, feeling that way confused me. Was I blurring the lines betwixt friendship and duty?\r\nIf Keith had gotten in trouble for one small association with a vampire, how much worse was I? And how close were any of us to get like Liam?\r\nZekes words rang inside my head: We cant let ourselves be taken in by them.\r\nAnd what Tom had just said: You understand what responsibility and duty are.\r\nHe was watching me expectantly, and I managed a smile as I pushed down all my fears.\r\nâ€Å"Thank you, sir,” I said. â€Å"I do what I can.”\r\n'