Chapter two

A Silent Brother, dressed in his usual dank robed garb, cocked his head to the side as he peered at something through unseeing eyes. His mouth was forced forever into something of a frown, though I could feel the happiness coming from him as he and many other Silent Brothers crowded a stone table. I tried to peer in through the rectangular circle, desperate to see what they were so giddily transfixed on, but none of them would allow me in to have a look.

"It is not proper," one wheezed inside my head.

"You will not like it," another one croaked mentally.

"Please, stand back," a more civilized Silent Brother ordered.

But I refused. I wanted- no needed to see what they were hiding from me! I had to look. But they raised their arms up, causing their sleeves to fall limply down and reveal sickly looking limps, to block my every move. They reminded me of decaying corpses, and I shivered as my ghostly skin brushed one of them as I tried to thrust myself up and over. It almost worked; my stomach landed on top of their linked arms, and they tried to throw me off while echoing in my head like a million squawking birds:

"You will not like it!"

"You do not belong here!"

"Silly mundane!"

I shied away from their voices. Be strong Tessa, I had to remind myself, as their arms shoved my body backwards and I stumbled away from the circle and into a dark wall. Without hesitation, I prepared myself for another leap, pushing against the wall with my hands like the force could actually propel me faster. The desperate need to see what was on that stone table burned inside of me like a flame.

I started to run, aiming for just above their arms so that I could land on the other side. But midway a voice caused me to falter.

"You are simply a chess piece," A silent brother drawled in a deep, foreboding voice. "A king, in the midst of the Jokers plan." I stumbled over my feet, falling chest first into the bound hands.

"The dead, they are his pawns. And he will gain more than you can count. He has chosen his queen as well, a male. Which is bound to you with his rotten soul. Be prepared Tessa. The sun will not rise above the chessboard kindly, but with fire corrupting the white squares to red."

Confuse burst through my mind. But I didn't have time or breath to speak. The Silent Brothers' flailing limps pushed me back and forward until I was sure I was going to be thrashed against the wall again. But Instead, I tumbled straight into the circle. I flew a foot or two in the air, stunned, and then plopped right down on something soft that lay sprawled across the table. I had closed my eyes without realizing it, preparing for the rough landing that never happened. Their words branded me with the imaginary flame that had been mentioned.

"Corrupting the white square to red," I whispered to myself, as if the thought could fly away and never return.

"You do not belong here Tessa Grey." For a moment I laid there in a numbed state, feeling the thoughts being recited as if it were being written on my skin. "But you will." I will.

A sense of foreboding crept over me, as a chill swept over me in the same instant, causing the robes of the Silent Brothers to billow soundlessly. . . . "We are unable to offer you much assistance from here on. So it is your choice. Walk away, or play the part of king. But if you chose to walk away, the knights will roam the mortal Earth and Mortmain will control the queen."

No pressure, I thought dimly.

Slowly I opened my eyes. The queen. Who was this male queen they were talking about? I focused my sense on the feeling of my nose; face down, brushing something flaky. I focused on it because I would not dare think about the overwhelming facts the Silent Brothers had just bestowed on me, but it was too close to see. I could tell it was pale and fleshy looking, and as I carefully rose into a sitting position on the thing, my greatest suspicions were confirmed.

My chest welded up with air as I tried to hold in a scream; my eyes watered, and my heart thumped painfully against my chest. I stared at the sleeping face of my brother, decaying underneath me as I sat on his broken bloodied chest.

I couldn't look away from Nate's face; pale and browning, flaky, bloodied as if he were some soldier that died in war, his icy hands clasped on his stomach, his eyes staring up at the high ceiling vacantly, his lips almost pulled up into a wicked smile. Most people would say he looked peaceful, especially with that soft-lipped smile. But I couldn't shake off the feeling of regret and haunting that lingered within the tattered soul.

"Nate," I choked.

As if the sound of his name were a witch's resurrection spell, his eyes shot down to look at me and I nearly jumped out of my nickers. His neck made a sickening crunch as he attempted to sit up with me still perched on his chest. I almost fell to the ground in a panic as his lips actually curved up into a living, twisted grin.

No matter how much I wished I could be brave; I still screamed.

Nate's hollow eyes were turning red as blood seeped out of them like tears; his hand was tugging at my skirt, reaching for my soul, searching for my heart so that he could squeeze it until I di-

"Tessa!" A Silent Brother shouted over me, "Tessa it's only a dream! Please, stop screaming, wake-up!" I tore my eyes away from Nate, who was now reaching out his wilting hand towards my arm with a dry groan, in hope of locating the Silent Brother who was speaking. But to my dismay I couldn't see past any of their jeering faces. "Tessa, wake-up! Wake-up!" Though, the more I thought about it, the more I was convinced it sounded like-

I jolted awake, involuntarily gasping in the process. My comforter dragged itself off of the bed in a heap as I watched little stars of light sparkle in the middle of my blurry vision. Shadows danced around the corners of the room, my room, and I tried to blink away the sudden nausea I felt as my eyes tried to dilate.

My room; the twin bed, the standard mahogany dresser, the washbasin, the window, the fire place- I was in the institute! I rubbed at my suddenly aching throat as I realized I had been dreaming the whole time. But it felt so real. . .

I remembered Nate's soft, moist hand creeping toward me, and the way the voices echoed so clearly in my head. I was sure they were real even if they were in my dreams. Was I having a premonition? But that was obscured. Well, I rethought that statement. Battling with metal beasts and being cheated by my brother would have seemed obscured as well not too long ago.

A warm hand rested on shoulder and I nearly jumped out of bed when I realized there was a tall stiff figure looming over me and my thoughts. I swear his hand felt flaky and moist at first, but as I let my eyes focus my heart slowed when I saw it was only Will, and not some psychotic dead person. It was only will. My heart started its fanatic beating again.

"Tessa?" He said with great concern. It had to be Will, out of everyone else in the house, Will of all people had to hear my whimsy screams, I thought with sarcasm dripping from my words. Of course.

". . . "Tessa say something."

He must have jumped out of his own bed because he wasn't wearing his night robe, just his shirt and trousers, and his black hair was a tasseled mess. If my mind wasn't so preoccupied, I swore I would have blushed such a deep red that Will would have been able to see it in the dark.

"Tess! Please, are you in there?" He softly knocked on my head.

"Yes-" I began, but my thoughts trailed back to the prophecy the Silent Brothers moaned.

"Tessa. . "Will repeated.

I could not bear to forget what they had said about Mortmain using a queen, but who could that be? I was the king like they had said. The knights- well the knights were- I had not idea. My head was beginning to ache. And Nate was most defiantly one of the pawns the silent brothers mentioned. I suppressed a shiver. Nate was truly walking the earth again. And if he looked remotely the way he did in my dream . .

"Tessa!"

"We need to hold a meeting," I said seriously. I stared into Will's eyes. "Now."