Chapter 35

Calm After The Storm

The door to Belle Tout Lighthouse was thrown open and Ruby stormed directly to the centre of the room where the Oracle sat by the now-empty kettle. Ruby sent an errant kick at the kettle, sending it clattering against the wall.

"What is this!?" Ruby asked with intensity, her face filled with a myriad of emotions. She gestured to the door, where Zach was following close behind, clutching the leather pouch to his chest. "FIVE!? You're asking me to choose five people to live!?"

"You assume you make the choice," the Oracle said absently.

"You said you… saw, or whatever the fuck it is you do, the eight people on the list!"

"I did," Archibald said. "But not at the same time. I have seen all fifty-six possible combinations of the survivors. It doesn't matter who of the eight survive, only that five of you do. That was why Paige Calloway sacrificed her life."

Ruby couldn't find the words and grabbed at her hair, pacing back and forth. Finally she whipped her head back towards Archibald. "…Five?" She asked again, exhausted. "You couldn't have made eight of those… capsules?"

"The Nectar is very volatile. Too little will do nothing. Too much will destroy you. Five is all that is allowed."

"…Hah…" Ruby's face suddenly broke into a grim smile. "…Hahah… Hah… You're saying… You're saying that no matter what happens… no matter what I do… three people are going to die?"

"Three on the List, yes," the Oracle said simply.

"…I… There is no… no other possible future?"

"Now Paige Calloway has made her choice, the only possible futures are the survival of the five in the list."

"If you can see every possible future then what happens if we lose the capsules!? If I suddenly get in an accident, surely there are more! Surely we can save them, surely we can—"

"To play against fate is very dangerous," Archibald said. "Now, there is a car that will arrive in twenty seconds. You will want to save your friends. The fate of the world relies on it."

"…Five…" Ruby repeated, shaking her head. She had started pacing back and forth, her hands still weaved into her red hair. "How… How can we make that choice…? What do I do...?" She looked desperately at Zach who was standing grim-faced, the pouch still clutched carefully. "What do I do?"

"I think the first thing we should do is go to that car he mentioned, work our way from there," Zach said after a moment.

"Well… You'll have to take one of those…" Ruby breathed. "You came here. You deserve it."

Zach just shrugged. "My life against theirs? I can't judge that. Come on, let's go. We'll have the trip to decide what we do."

"But…"

"You'll drive yourself crazy if you think of every possible outcome," Zach said gently, putting a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Just look at what it did to this guy."

"The man in the car is Nathan Furrow," the Oracle continued quietly. "Tell him an officer by the name of Carol is in danger. Tell him that you have no time to waste and that all the lives at the hospital are in danger. He will listen and wait for further explanation. The man's sense of duty is strong. He will get you there. " With that said, Archibald Orwell closed his eyes and said nothing more.

Ruby and Zach turned and walked towards the door; Zach trying to hide the shaking in his hands and Ruby practically stumbling her way there. When they opened the door they found Willow and Ash waiting for them. Ruby regarded both of them with a hateful gaze and walked straight past them towards the road where a car had indeed stopped and a tall figure was getting out. Zach paused to ask, "What are you two going to do?"

"What we've always done," Willow said with an airy smile, as if someone hadn't just been thrown off a cliff in front of her. "We will care for our uncle."

"Do you not care about any of this?"

"More than you may think," Willow answered gently. "Zachary… Do try to survive. You possess great heart and that will no doubt be useful."

"Yeah…" Zach didn't meet Willow's gaze. "I doubt I can make that promise. But thanks anyway," He stared at the pouch for a moment. "Thanks for the information, as well. What happened with Paige…" Zach shook his head. "I can't even think about that now. Too much is going on and I feel if I try to sit down and think it through then…" He let out a short laugh. "But you gave us vital information, you and your uncle. Ruby is not on the list and… well, call me an optimist…" He raised the pouch. "Five is better than none, in my estimation." He let out a breath. "Goodbye," and with that Zach was gone, heading to the car.

Willow looked to Ash. "Give them safe passage, would you?"

"Of course," Ash nodded through his horribly bruised nose and closed his eyes, lifting his hands in front of him as if feeling for something that wasn't there… and strangely enough, the rain started to grow thinner and the thunder stopped rumbling. A last flash of lightning lit up the black clouds before they seemed to part and a ray of sunlight shone bright down on Ash, before widening further and further.

Jade, Jeffrey, and Jeremiah all strode through the entrance of the General Hospital, Jade in front, Jeffrey next to her and Jeremiah pulling up the rear, looking strangely occupied.

"Urgh… despise hospitals," Jade shuddered as she peered around the waiting room. "The idea of waking up with no idea where you are after an accident… I'd probably get violent, if it were me."

"Over there," Jeffrey said, pointing to Naomi, who was standing in the corner, watching the doors. She smiled at the sight of Jade and moved to meet her in the middle. Jeffrey himself hung back a moment to speak to Jeremiah. "How are you doing?" Jeffrey's eyes clearly told Jeremiah that the man had seen his hesitation back at the school.

"I'll be fine," Jeremiah said gruffly, pulling the rim of his hat over his eyes.

"I hope so," Jeffrey replied, concerned, before meeting up with Naomi as well. "How are you?"

"I am okay, thank you," Naomi replied. She looked to the receptionist and caught eyes with them. The receptionist seemed to nod at some previous agreement and Naomi started to walk. "I will take you to Lucas' room. He has been told not to move at the moment but Tanzi has been allowed to. Lacey is there as well as two others." Naomi turned to Jade as they walked. "It is good to see you."

"I still think it is all crazy," Jade shrugged. "But hey, I'm willing to listen now. A strike of lightning will do that, I suppose. If I'm not convinced though, I'm out of here."

"That is fair enough," Naomi said as she led them up some stairs.

"What is this about two others?" Jeffrey asked.

"Two policemen," Naomi said and upon seeing Jeffrey's expression, expanded, "One of them is on the List. Their boss, a detective inspector, managed to convince them to stay while he went to the Lighthouse to warn Paige that she is next."

"I don't like the police," Jade frowned. "Never liked me making noise in public, least not when I started. Most of them are fans now, though." Then her face lit up. "Maybe these two are fans?"

They reached the door to Lucas' room and Naomi led them inside. Lucas was leaning on a mountain of pillows, dressed in a hospital gown and look a little pale and worse for wear. He was hand-in-hand with Lacey, who sat next to him. Tanzi stood in the corner, her head wrapped with bandages. The two police officers Naomi had mentioned also stood in a corner. One black-haired man and the other a female.

"This is Carol," Naomi made the introductions. "That that is Timothy."

"Hi there," Carol greeted kindly and offered her hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"Despite the crazy situation," Timothy said with a sigh as if he clearly didn't want to be.

"Timothy," Carol scolded. "You know Nathan. If he says something is up then you know something is up."

"Or maybe all that time being a stick in the mud has worn off and he's finally got a sense of humor," Timothy scowled. "I bet he's at a bar, drinking and laughing."

"That man never laughs," Carol smiled as Jeremiah, Jeffrey, and Jade all filtered into the now crowded room.

"Thanks for coming," Tanzi said to Jade as the others started talking amongst themselves. "I appreciate that this is all a bit strange."

"It is…" Jade looked around the room. "I'm always up for meeting new people, though."

"Yes," Tanzi looked strangely at Jade. "I understand your fear of being alone."

"Excuse me?" Jade raised an eyebrow at Tanzi.

"Sorry…" Tanzi looked away. "That was unnecessary."

"I assume you want to talk to us then?" Jade said, plopping herself down cross-legged on the floor.

"Not yet," Tanzi replied. "We're waiting for news from Ruby. I can't proceed until I know Paige is safe."

"With Nathan on the case, she'll be fine," Timothy said cheerfully. "The man is a miracle worker, I promise you that… as long as you stay on his good side."

"If he gets there on time…" Tanzi said grimly, looking through the window as the storm seemed to disappear as if it were never there, leaving pools of water across the car park. She closed her eyes and could imagine the life she had briefly lived when she had her vision and took her thoughts. "Please make it… You've gone through so much to lose it now…"

Whistling quietly to himself, Bobby Yates ran his hands across the fence, tapping each rung in turn. A small group of students milled behind him, chatting to themselves. They were walking down a path that led to a pedestrian entrance to the General Hospital. He was clutching the strap of a backpack on his shoulder and had an unlit cigarette in his mouth. As he came across one of the entrances that led into the hospital grounds itself, Bobby stopped and turned back to his crowd of students.

"Spot check, guys," Bobby said as he faced them. "Did everyone bring what they were asked to bring?"

One by one they all drew out the same item – a cigarette lighter. One of them, larger than the rest, looked strangely at Bobby. "I don't understand why you asked this of us, Bobby."

Bobby raised an eyebrow at him. "Neil, Neil, Neil… Please. You know better than to ask what my intentions are." He looked to another student who stood out among the rest. Her hair was pure white, with two thin white braids running down the front of her face. Her eyes were a bright blue and her whole appearance gave off an icy aura. "Marianne?"

Marianne nodded at the unasked questioned and reached up to place a hand on the taller Neil's shoulder. "You must listen to Robert, do you understand?" Her voice was quiet but upon hearing it Neil straightened up and held the lighter out further without a word.

"Put away the lighter, Neil," Bobby said, crossing his arms. Neil put the lighter back into his pocket without a word. "Break the little finger on your left hand," Bobby said again and leaned on the balls of his feet. Once more, with a slightly glazed look, Neil wordlessly obeyed. He lifted his left hand, grasped his little finger with his right and pulled back without hesitation. The crack didn't even draw the attention of the smaller students and Neil didn't seem to feel any pain. "Good boy," Bobby patted the big man's arm before turning back to Marianne. "Thank you. Guess the bigger they are the more they resist."

"I guess," Marianne replied simply.

"Let's go," Bobby said and started whistling low again as he led the group through the some kind of back road, perhaps a surface road, with many full bins and leaves littering the ground. They stopped at an unmarked grey door and Bobby experimentally pushed against the door. "Locked… I suppose I should have expected as much." Bobby stepped back and wordlessly Marianne put her eye against the keyhole. She nodded to herself and took out two small pins from her pocket. She fiddled with the lock for a moment before nodding to herself and standing back. "Thank you," Bobby smiled and pushed the door open.

Bobby let his crowd of students down the small stairs and didn't even pause before opening the door at the bottom. "One locked door… sloppy…" He entered the empty morgue and looked around. He ignored the office door and its darkened windows and approached another door in the corner, half-hidden in the shadows. "Perfect," he pushed but it was another locked door. "Marianne, if you please."

Once more unlocking the door with expertise, Marianne stepped back to allow Bobby to lead his crowd through the door. They walked through a thin corridor filled with a faint humming and a number of pipes running across the ceiling. Bobby simply walked to the end of the corridor where a large square room waited, with a number of grates on the floor. He approached one particular one marked with a red pipe and smiled. "Perfect," He tested it with a quick pull. "Alright, Neil, prove your worth."

Neil, broken finger and all, knelt down next to the grating and grasped the grating; his finger still bent horribly and going purple. He grunted and pulled with all his strength before the grating popped off. The rest of the students had surrounded the back-half of the room, all staring inside. Neil stood back to join them as Bobby placed his bag on the ground and unzipped it, pulling out a long metal rod that had been sharped into a steak. Then he pulled out an claw hammer and crouched down by the pipe.

He placed the stake against the red metal of the pipe, "Here we go…" He smiled. "Gently does it…" With a practiced strike, Bobby cracked the hammer on the end of the stake. It instantly pierced the pipe and almost immediately there was a loud hissing. "Wonderful!" Bobby grinned, pulling out a cloth and wiping down the handle of both the stake and the hammer, leaving it on the floor. "Pick that up," he said to Neil, who obediently picked both items up.

"Well now, this is interesting," a voice rang out and Bobby immediately whipped his head to the entrance of the maintenance room, where a one-armed ebony-skinned man stood with his one hand in his pocket. His eyes were completely black and gleamed in the dull light of the maintenance room. "I wasn't expecting visitors today."

Bobby recovered from his shock at the unexpected visitor quickly and stood up, dusting his knees. He crossed his arms and nodded to William Bludworth. "Nice eyes," he said, peering in the black depths. "What are they, huh? Contacts?"

"What are you doing down here?" William asked, ignoring the question.

"Take a wild guess," Bobby said, motioning to the gas pipe which was still hissing. "I'm actually glad you happen to be here, Bludworth… Oh yes, I know who you are." Bobby opened his arms wide. "I can kill two birds with one stone! Death'll certainly be happy with your head on a pike!"