Incursion: The Unbound, #6

1.

In retrospect, I could probably have predicted this party wasn't going to be a normal one. But at that time I was too distracted to notice, mostly because of Karen dancing right in front of me.

Our school did these parties several times a year, but usually rented a club rather than using the school building itself. I couldn't really blame them—after everything that happened with the Purifiers, I guess that they wanted to give us a positive association with the building.

I smiled as Karen drew closer, and I took hold of her hips as she danced in front of me. I'm not even sure what the name of the song was, but it was definitely not the sort of music Karen or I generally listened to, as it had a distinct lack of both guitars and Phil Collins.

Karen had recently changed her hair; it was shorter than it had been, and she had added streaks of purple to the already-blue hair. It suited her, though I think Elariel had some hand in suggesting the purple.

I'm thirsty! Karen had to get close to make herself heard.

And I've had too much soda. I gave her an apologetic look. I need to get rid of some.

Karen drew back, giving me a smile, then taking my hand, leading me through the crowd to the opposite end of the hall. She went to the makeshift bar, where several of our teachers were handing out soda—they didn't serve alcoholic beverages at school parties, with only a third of the students being of legal drinking age—and I entered the corridor next to it.

I shrugged as I approached the toilets, remembering that this was the wing where Thanatos had entered the building and taken out half of the Purifiers waiting for him. As I opened the door to the men's room, I noticed my gym teacher, Eric, was there as well.

Hey, Thymen, good to see you're here! I felt a bit uncomfortable having one of my teachers talk to me as I was taking a pee, so I waited. I'm glad to see you recovered from that nasty virus.

Right, I thought as I remembered my mother having called me in sick after the school reopened. Karen and I had still been in England then, flying home with the Clavis Lucis. After that, we'd had to deal with Michael, Thanatos, and Gabriel. I'd only been back to follow classes for about two weeks, and in another three, we'd be off for the summer vacation.

I feel much better now, and I'm glad to be here. I gave him a slight smile, and even though every word I'd said was true, the words were laden with hidden meaning. I did feel better—better than I'd ever felt in my entire life, in fact. I suppressed the urge to hold out my hand and summon the white fire. Best not start using my powers near the school again; we'd had enough trouble with that already.

I still did not completely understand what had happened after the fight with Gabriel, but the bond between Uriel and me had changed. The distance between us was gone, and I could access his memories as readily as my own. It was difficult to tell the difference between his emotions and mine, even though our personalities were still distinct.

Uriel had done something to our bond when we'd been in the place of utter darkness beyond the fracture in Heaven. And I'd seen God—at least I think I did. There were beams of light in a place of utter darkness, which had taken a rough human shape, and had spoken with a child's voice. Uriel had called him Father, and said the place of darkness felt familiar. He'd been there before, and when he had, he didn't refer to God as Father.

And then we'd disappeared from that place, and found ourselves back in the cathedral in Dresden, my powers changed, and most of the barriers between Uriel and me were gone. We still didn't quite understand what we'd seen, or what exactly had happened to us, but we were alive, and back with those we loved. I had been ready to give my life to save Karen and our families, expecting to die, but I'd come back alive.

Are you sure you're okay? You're staring at the wall. Eric gave me a quizzical look.

Sorry. I gave Eric an apologetic smile. Just thinking about the weird things that happened lately.

I can't say I blame you, but I don't think there's anything you need to worry about. I've been a teacher here for over fifteen years, and as far as these parties go, this one is actually pretty quiet.

I nodded, not quite sure what to say, and moved to one of the urinals. Eric mumbled a goodbye and left the bathroom, giving me a moment to empty my bladder in peace.

I left the bathroom a few minutes later, and almost immediately stumbled into Arnold, the boy I had managed to knock halfway across a field with a Repulsion at the Queen's Day party.

Sorry, man! I tried to give him a disarming smile.

Oh, hey, Thymen! Arnold's eyes were glazed over and unfocused. My best guess was that he'd both been drinking and smoking pot. I ran into your friend Rob a moment ago, near the exit.

The exit? I looked at my watch, which indicated half past ten. The party isn't over for another hour.

Something to do with his girlfriend, Arnold mumbled, and pointed at the door behind me. Do you mind? I need to go.

Sure. I moved out of his way and headed back to the school's main hall. Why would Rob be hanging out around the exit worrying about Sarah?

I went back to the bar, but Karen wasn't there, and there wasn't any sign of her anywhere near. I looked around the hall, searching for familiar faces. I saw a few of my classmates, some of them on the dance floor, a few more standing near the edges in conversation, but a lot of them were locked in passionate embraces, kissing each other with an enthusiasm I wouldn't have thought them capable of.

I felt Uriel stir within me; something was off about this situation, something dangerous. I took a deep breath, dreading the idea of having to use my powers in such a crowded setting again. As the air entered my lungs, a chill passed over me. Something was definitely not right.

Hey, handsome! I felt a hand on my wrist, and turned around to see it belonged to a blonde girl at least a year older than me. Her pupils were dilated, and she was staring in a way that made it look like she was on drugs. Why are you standing here all alone?

"He was looking for me." Elariel's sudden voice gave me goosebumps.

The girl gave an annoyed sigh as she turned to face Karen, but at the sight of her glowing purple eyes she instinctively took a step back.

Your eyes! The girl