Chapter 2: Be Invoked

“Your results are incredible!” A gruff voice called out.

Athena opened her eyes, realizing that the Miranda-Liebert machine had stopped working. The woman on the other end of the desk showed no concern for the device this time and her enthusiastic smile straightened as did her posture as she turned her attention on the man encroaching on the doorway. A goliath of a man, he carried an aluminum attaché case fastened to his left arm by a pair of steel handcuffs that rattled with every powerful step he took. His right eye shined bright blue with the youthfulness of a man twenty years younger than he was, but his left one appeared foggy and pale and moved out of unison with the right one. He wore an unfitting wool flat cap that clashed with his otherwise blue-collar appearance: plaid shirt with sleeves rolled up around his elbows, worn-out blue jeans, and work boots with tattered laces and exposed steel toes.

“Ms. Clancy, did this girl come from a recruiter?” The giant man asked with a subtle southern drawl.

“No. She was a walk-in,” she replied stiffly.

His right eye swung down to meet the young girl and he smiled like a house cat eyeing an injured sparrow. “Well let me introduce myself,” he offered his free hand to Athena. “My name is Robert Haydn.”

The large man – Haydn, stole metal cylinder occupying Athena’s right hand.

“These damn things, I swear these gizmos are stranger than owl shit. You see a lot of owls around here, Ms. Clancy?”

Ms. Clancy shook her head.

“Well, let me tell you, they will eat anything.” He smiled as if to inform the room to laugh. It was quiet. He moved his attention to Athena.

“I’ve been watching you from up above.” Haydn raised two fingers to his right eye, as one would usually do to both eyes, before turning his fingers towards the corner of the ceiling behind Athena. Athena hadn’t even noticed the mesh casing that surrounded a security camera mounted to the wall and scoping her out from above, its glass eye capturing her during the intimate trance. The sudden recognition of its presence sent a chill down her spine that would have made her shiver were she not already shivering from the temperature of the room.

“Now tell me, I don’t think you and Ms. Clancy exchanged names, is that right?”

Athena looked across the desk at the woman she now knew was Ms. Clancy.

“My name’s Athena.” She finished, waiting for a response. “…Athena Henderson.”

Haydn erupted, “Athena Henderson, what an American name! Well, Ms. Henderson, I’d like to offer you an incredible opportunity on behalf of the church. That is if you’re interested.”

The chains of his handcuffs clinked together as he raised the attaché case as high as his chest. The sound raised goosebumps along Athena’s arms.

“No thank you.” She mumbled. She turned her eyes down to the carpet. “I don’t think my parents would let me join your church.”

“That’s a very considerate response, but I was asking you, not mommy and daddy. Don’t let these locks and chains scare you. This last test is a whole lot easier than those machines.”

Haydn laid the case down flat on the desk. As he did, Athena noticed an odd smell filling the room, growing stronger by the second. It was somewhat unpleasant, but also nostalgic. It reminded her of the zoo. Ms. Clancy appeared unmoved as if reduced to a vegetative state in the presence of the man, or maybe by the contents of the case.

“There isn’t a…” She hesitated to say it. “A dead animal in there, is there?”

He laughed, “Well, I don’t think I smell that bad. I get asked if I work at the zoo every so often, but a dead animal is a new one. I just have a lot of pets, you see. Dogs, cats, birds, some fish, got I a couple of exotic reptiles too, but let’s make sure we don’t tell the government about those.” He snickered, this time for himself.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Athena said, grabbing hold of her chair as if expecting a trapdoor to open beneath her.

After patting down every pocket on his body, Haydn brandished a key, used it to unlock the cuff around his wrist, and entered the three-digit combination on both sides of the case. The latches sprung up releasing the lid. Haydn’s eye rose to meet Ms. Clancy and then turned to the door. Ms. Clancy hurried from the room back out to the main floor room.

“You know I always gotta wear these damned cuffs when I carry this thing.” He moaned. “All I did was take it out the safe upstairs, ya hear me? I’ve told the chairman, anyone with some mother’s wit gonna run out the door when they see this stuff.”

Athena agreed.

“Theatrics.” He scoffed.

Within the case sat a thick black plastic shell. In the center was a circular indent housing a golden ring with a circumference large enough to fit around a man’s head. Haydn reached into the case extracting the gilded relic with the utmost tact and precision and cradled it in his gritty calloused palms.

“Just like the last test,” Haydn whispered. “I need you to close your eyes and keep your mind at ease. Let the pictures come to you. Like a dream.”

The golden crown, though flawless in design, lacked any of the lusters one would expect from a venerated holy trinket, but despite its dull presence, it bore an indescribable authentic appearance. With a regal bearing unbecoming of his folksy demeanor, Haydn presented the crown to Athena, hovering it above her head as if she were royalty. It was suffocating, his presence and odor, but he lowered the crown upon her head. It pierced her like a bullet; a shot of adrenaline penetrating her heart, sending shockwaves of energy throughout her body. Athena erupted from her seat, throwing herself into the poster-strewn wall beside her and making a quick leap for the doorway. It took nothing more than a half-hearted side step for Haydn to avert her escape. Athena collided with his burly physique, recoiling as her face ricocheted off his abdomen. Her balance distorted, she fell back into her chair, her face throbbing and her ears and cheeks flushed bright red. A meager groan slipped from the back of her throat as she shook herself from the daze of the blow, but as she did, she felt the icy touch of metal pressing down through her hair, gliding into place around her forehead.

She clutched the rim of the crown, struggling to force it off her head, but Haydn held the crown in place, unmoved even as Athena mustered every ounce of strength in her body to pry herself free. Adrenaline coursing thought her muscles, she pushed harder with more force than she ever imagined her scrawny arms were capable of, but futile doesn’t begin to describe and ant lifting the body of a man.

“Don’t be afraid—you’ll see it soon.”

See what? She thought, the words projecting from her head and broadcasted through the room as if spoken over a P.A. system. Haydn smiled, raising a hand to his ear as her thoughts echoed out of existence.

“Here it comes!” He said, giddy with anticipation. Haydn released his hold on the crown, but Athena—now unrestrained physically—felt the pressure of an unseen force attaching itself to the surface of her skin. Everything stopped. The sound of the air conditioner blowing overhead evaporated, its volume lowering as if turned down like a stereo dial. The goosebumps crawling up Athena’s arms receded, and her heart rate slowed to a halt. She couldn’t even tell if she was still breathing when the numbness overtook her fingers and carried through her hands, up her arms to her shoulders. The urge to cry out for help swelled in her mind. It was an urge nurtured by overwhelming terror, but the paralysis progressed to her head, her back, and even her legs in a matter of seconds. Her eyes became so heavy that just staring straight ahead was like looking directly into the sun. She started blinking, taking longer to open her eyes each time until Haydn, who watched in amusement, dissolved in front of her, first becoming a shadow and then melding with the darkness consuming the walls, floor, and ceiling. She blinked one last time and opened her eyes to see nothing.

She saw nothing. She felt nothing. She heard nothing. Everywhere was an endless black purgatory stretching outwards in all directions. Looking down at her body, she couldn’t tell if she was standing or floating. Lightning crashed in the sky above her sending azure streaks across the darkness, booming with an intense fury that felt as though it would crack the shell of the void. It struck again, and then multiple strikes at once pulsating from a single epicenter of pure white energy that ascended into the black sky. It hung over the endless plain like a star, emitting lightning that stretched and convulsed like tendrils. Shadows dispersed like hordes of insects beneath the burning star, scurrying away to reveal the form of a colossal mountain of stone and dirt. It was an island, drifting on an empty sea, its size and distance immeasurable. Light beamed down from the star onto the landmass illuminating three structures, tall with arms extended to their sides—keepers watching over the abyss. The lightning struck again, and now the faces of the watchers were clear and visible. Without moving, Athena now stood before them, at their feet as they loomed over all that existed. She then realized that these men were no giants. They hung, the three of them suffering, their bodies affixed to crucifixes—feet and hands bleeding. Their faces were obscured except for one, the man who hung in the center, a man Athena had been acquainted with since her childhood and whose face she saw every day at school since she was a little girl. His face was like a Greek statue, his head wrapped in thorns, sharp nails piercing the palms of his hands and feet, Athena stood before the messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.

For a moment, the lightning ceased and a cold wind blew, rustling the meager rag garments of the hanging men. She felt the breeze on her skin. It was cool air. She could breathe. She was alive, but she could not move. They would not allow it. The Messiah approached, his crucifix floating nearer as if to intimidate her with its massive size.

Not even justice. I want to get truth.

The words came from Jesus, but his mouth did not move and the language was one Athena could not speak but in the void, she understood it. Then, his face shifted into a form Athena found less pleasant. His beard vanished, skin became lighter, hair darker and smoother, and facial features shifted and contorted until they appeared East Asian. His crown of thorns crumbled and blew away in the cold wind revealing a true crown hidden beneath it—a ring of gold the circled his head. Athena’s eyes moved upwards realizing that she wore on her head the same crown as the man on the cross.

Not even justice…I want to get truth.

A white aura shined down from a silver cloud hovering above the man on the cross. Athena stared into the strange object realizing that it was by no means an ordinary cloud. The light dampened and the cloud shifted into a dark oval—the same object she saw in the painting of St. Giovannino.

Are you watching us from up there? She questioned.

The man did not answer, only casting a gaze sharp enough to pierce her skin and bones. In his eyes, she saw unjustified hatred. His prejudice became heat, projected from his mind and warming Athena’s body until her skin dried and her eyes stung.

Why do you hate me? She cried.

Athena leaped up from the chair, her heart booming in her chest, her head throbbing and heavy.

Help! Someone help! She pleaded internally, unable to vocalize her cries.

“It always feels like a dream at first,” Haydn said. “Sometimes not a good one.”

Athena’s head slouched over the desk, struggling to focus her eyes on the giant man before her.

Help! Athena thought.

We will help you. Haydn replied without speaking.

Resting his wool cap on the desk, Haydn lowered himself revealing a head of wiry unkempt hair and around his forehead; he wore an identical golden crown. Athena put her hands against her head, wrapping her fingers around the crown and pushing up. Haydn grabbed her wrists.

Don’t go doing that just yet! he telepathically commanded. There’s a lot more leaning you’ll need. Why don’t you just take a breather?

Athena released her grip on the crown and took a deep breath. The throbbing in her head was slowing down and everything felt less and less like a dream with every passing second. Haydn smiled and rose to his feet.

“You feelin’ a little better now? How ‘bout some water?” he offered. “Oh, Ms. Clancy…

“No thank you. I’m fine, but can I ask you a question?”

“What is it?”

Athena stood, raising her neck to catch a glimpse of something eclipsed by Haydn’s wide build.

“Who’s that?”

Haydn turned around but when he did, he saw no one, not even Ms. Clancy.

“Whatcha see? I don’t see no…” Haydn’s body retracted as Athena’s foot swung into his crotch. He fell onto his knees, struggling to catch his breath. Athena’s eyes ran across the wooded desk eyeing for something to throw or threaten with, but there was nothing except the briefcase, the odd machine, her school bag, and the steel clips from the PSI test small enough to rest at the end of her fingers. She grabbed her school bag to use as a weapon, but her arms shook nervously and she struggled to lift the heavy bag. As she turned to check on Haydn, her hand hovered over the steel clips and when it did, she felt pulse move through her hand. It was like a heartbeat. She tore the steel clip from the thin cable. Once she held it in her hand, the pulse synchronized to the rhythm of her heartbeat, which grew more rapid every second. Haydn pulled himself up and turned to the girl, his face detached of kindness and eye glazed with hate.

“That was unnecessary, don’t you think?” he said. “Ms. Clancy already went and locked up this place before your vision. There’s no running from me.”

Athena’s heartrate rose so fast she thought the small clip would explode in her hand. Closing her eyes, she flung it like a marble in Haydn’s direction. She heard a high-pitched scream like the cry of a cat and Athena opened her eyes. Bright red blood filled the crease in Haydn’s forehead as he toppled to the floor. Athena almost apologized to him out of sheer shock but stopped herself.

I have to run away. she thought.

Groaning through gritted teeth, Haydn rose to his feet again. A stream of blood ran down his head collecting along the upper rim of his crown.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Athena repeated, but in her head, she cried HELP! HELP! HELP!

Ms. Clancy hurried to Haydn’s side to appraise his injuries but he pushed her aside and strode forward through the doorway into the small square room, his breathing agitated and singular pupil dilated.

Someone help!

Haydn held his arms out against the doorframe forming a human barricade.

Athena fell back against the wall of the room, her eyes shooting around the room in search of an exit. There were no doors, no windows, no trapdoors or shafts and so she turned her attention to Robert Haydn and the doorway. There was no escape. Considering she only had a few seconds left, Athena remembered the boy from that morning and wondered if it was a message—or maybe—a warning. Was that boy trying to tell me not to come here? But it was only because of him she’d walked in that direction in the first place. An image appeared before Athena separating her and Haydn. It was a teenage boy, but a different one than she saw earlier. After a second, he was gone, but Athena caught enough of his features to know it was someone she hadn’t met before. He had curly black hair and tan skin and maybe glasses with something red around his forehead like a bandana. Before she could reassemble the complete vision in her head and make sense of what she saw, a cool breeze blew the hem of her skirt and she felt the warm glow of the sun shining on her face and stinging her eyes. She squeezed her eyelids shut as the sound of cars and footsteps sounded nearby. When she opened her eyes and saw she was standing on the roof of a building.

“Did you tell them your name?” A boy’s voice asked. She didn’t recognize the voice, and for some reason, she couldn’t describe it. “I’m asking because if they have your name your family could be in trouble.”

Athena looked around but saw now one—no boy, Haydn, or even Ms. Clancy. She walked out to the edge of the roof, identifying the buildings around her: the 99 Cent store and the bodegas. At the precipice, she looked down, her eyes catching the gold lettering on the purple banner hanging inches below her. She swung herself around and searched for the source of the voice, but there was no one.

“The trick to looking over the side of a building is to keep your knees bent that way you don’t lose balance.”

He appeared from thin air without a sound wearing a white T-shirt with ripped sleeves and a red bandana tied around black hair that was almost as long as Athena’s was. Athena jumped at his sudden appearance.

Careful! It’s a REALLY steep fall. You can hear me, right? Like Haydn, he spoke without opening his mouth.

Athena didn’t know how to answer. Her face wore a look of anger while her heart suffered from aches of hopelessness like the hopelessness one feels when they are lost in the woods. She pushed the crown off her head and held it out presenting it to the boy. He looked at her sideways.

“Oh no, I don’t want your…”

Before the boy could finish, Athena flung the crown like a frisbee over the edge of the building. With a sound as soft as a pin drop, the boy vanished. Tears almost fell from her eyes. If before she felt lost in the woods, the mysterious boy’s telepathy and ability to disappear were like watching the sun go down.

Looking across the roof, Athena saw no stairs, no fire escape, and no door leading back into the building. There was an alley along the west side of the building so she hoped there was a tree or something to climb down. She sucked at climbing, but that didn’t matter anymore. She took a single hurried step towards her destination and then froze as the boy reappeared in front of her, now holding her discarded crown in his hands.

“It’s yours, I don’t want it,” said Athena.

The boy disappeared.

Not just anyone can use these, you know.

Athena felt the crown fall onto her head. She turned around and saw the boy standing there. Even on her tip-toes, he stood a whole foot taller than her.

Now that they know you can use it, they’re going to come after you and when they do, you sure as hell are going to wish you held onto it.

Athena didn’t say anything. She kept her mind blank, assuming the boy could hear her thoughts as easy as someone can eavesdrop on someone else’s phone conversation if they used the same phone line. The boy disappeared and reappeared on the other side of her.

You can hear me, right? Earth to middle-schooler.

“I’m not a middle-schooler; I’m turning 15 in a few months.” She blushed.

Good, you can hear me.

The boy grabbed her by the arm and pulled her close to him. She wailed in protest, but before she could articulate a single word, the sound of her voice disappeared into the wide-opened blue sky. When the sound returned it echoed louder like in a hallway. Everything turned dark and claustrophobic. The first thing Athena saw was the concrete ground below here. To her sides, she examined two high reaching brick walls.

We need to warn your family, now! the boy said removing the bandana around his forehead. He pushed his thick black hair up revealing the gilded rim of a crown—a perfect lookalike to the one Athena wore.

Yours might actually have a chance.

Athena stared up at the crown, the urgency in the boy’s words struck a chord in her chest.

Oh yeah, how common is your last name? he pressed.

“It’s Henderson.” She replied.

Yes! You’re lucky. That means we have time.

He tied his bandana back around his forehead obscuring the crown but cursed as he observed the insignia on the breast of Athena’s school shirt.

“Shit!” he said aloud, his voice high and raspy. You’re uniform; it has your school's name on it. They’ll find you through the school.”

“Who’s going to find me?”

Before he could answer, the fluttering of wings stole the boy’s interest and a pigeon descended into the alleyway, pecking its beak at stray pebbles as if they were breadcrumbs. The boy watched the bird, immobile in its presence as if it were a hungry bear or a mountain lion. Athena didn’t say anything—her attention on the boy—though she mimicked the look of concern she read on his face. The boy grabbed Athena’s arm and ran, guiding her towards the narrow opening of the alleyway into the busy streets.

He’s coming! We have to run. the boy warned.

“Who?” Athena asked. “The people from the church? How do you know?”

The boy stopped short in front of the steel barred gate that hung opened at the entrance of the alleyway and Athena realized they were at least three blocks away from the Church of New Life in an area of town she’d only ever seen out the window of a moving bus. The boy searched in every direction, overwhelmed by the city, its people, the cars and busses, unsure where to run.

“Where are you taking me?” Athena asked, but he didn’t answer. He tried to look as though he were concocting an intricate escape, but his hesitation indicated otherwise. Then, his concentration broke under the booming rumble and hissing screech of a train, gaining speed as it pulled out of the nearby station.

The 5 train was a subway that started its route above ground on an elevated track over the city streets of New Rockhaven but moved underground as it traveled south into the five boroughs of New York City. The boy focused his mind on the train and pulled Athena close to him again. They vanished.

The sudden momentum knocked Athena off balance and sent her tumbling headfirst into a row of hard plastic subway seats. The boy appeared beside her but grabbed the metal pole in front of him, though the speed of the train swung him around. The boy scanned his eyes across the train car, probing for any suspicious persons. Two older men sat near the front of the car, but neither seemed to notice their sudden appearance. Towards the back was a woman with stringy blonde hair dressed as if she works in an area much nicer than the neighborhood surrounding Athena’s school.

We should be safe here. Robert Haydn has a decently sized reach, but we’re faster.

“What the F are you talking about?” Athena cried straightening her skirt. “I don’t even know what’s happening?”

He put his finger to his lips.

Careful what you say in the open. The crowns let us project our voices so only other people with crowns can hear. Just pretend you’re going to speak in a falsetto so your focus is on your head, then imagine the words clearly and with a specific emotion. It sounds like a ton of work, but it becomes second nature after a while.

“Falsetto?”

Yeah, its a really high-pitched voice, in singing they call it your head voice. You know, like the Bee Gees?

Athena moved her head from side to side wearing a look of horrified confusion. The boy rested his chin in his hand and stared into the ceiling of the subway car. Finally, it hit him.

Okay, I got it. It’s like a Mickey Mouse voice.

She understood immediately. Athena closed her eyes humming softly, moving the sound from her mouth to her head. She imagined her words running from her brain through the rim of her crown and projecting out like a signal from a radio tower.

Can you hear me? Her voice entered the boy’s mind with a feeling of uncertainty.

That was great! You did it! You took your first step in becoming an esper.

“What’s an…” she spoke reflexively. What’s an esper?

For a few select people, these crowns can invoke powerful psychic abilities. That’s how we’ve jumped from place to place. I can teleport. The people at the church call anyone with abilities like mine espers. If you saw a vision when you put on the crown—one that felt real, then it means you’re an esper too. Once they know you’re an esper, they won’t stop chasing you until they’ve forced you to join them. That’s why you need to warn your family.

As he spoke, Athena’s heart melted in her chest sending waves of endorphins throughout her body. Communicating through telepathy didn’t just relay messages in the form of words; they conveyed the intentions of the speaker’s heart. The words the boy sent to her were warm and protective. When Haydn spoke she felt malice and fear, but the boy’s words warmed the chills moving through her body.

“Do YOU have a common last name?” She asked verbally.

Careful! They’re listening! They’re always listening!

“The trains too loud,” Athena assured him. “Besides, only espers can hear when we talk through our crowns, right? Well, when I hear your voice in my head its clearer than the voices I hear in real life. If we talk in our heads, won’t they hear us better than if they were eavesdropping?”

Well…Maybe?

Athena removed her crown from her head.

“Will you tell me your name?”

He looked away, face almost turning red.

“What’s wrong?” Athena smiled. “Do you have a weird name? I won’t make fun of it, I promise. Even if it’s a girl’s name.”

“My…n-name is Angelo.” He flinched when he spoke as if holding back a sneeze. “A…A-Angelo Dante.”

Athena’s eyes

When I t-t-talk out loud it ta-takes me a while to…say things.”

His voice was energetic and raspy. It reminded Athena of a surfer dude, naturally funny and charismatic but even without telepathy, she sensed a thin trace of vulnerability in his words.

“I like your name,” she said.

Athena returned her crown to her head.

Thanks for saving me.

Don’t mention it. he smiled.

The train fell under a blanket of darkness and even though the overhead lights shone brightly, they could see nothing on the other side of the windows. Angelo turned his back to Athena.

Watch out! They blacked out the windows so I can’t see anything! This isn’t good. Since we’re in a tunnel I can’t tell how far I need to teleport to escape and it’s so dark out there, I can’t teleport us out of the train!

Athena tapped his shoulder, he turned to her — his muscles tense, and fists clenched tightly.

“It’s a subway,” she said. “It’s supposed to go underground.”

Angelo stared into the darkness streaming by the windows noticing the faint flashes of stone and iron that formed the walls of the subway tunnel. Angelo fell back into the seat next to Athena and cradled his head in his hands. Angelo couldn’t hide it anymore—how exhausted he was.

“Haven’t you ever ridden a train before?” she asked.

Train yeah. Subway no. he said. We don’t have them in California. Probably because of earthquakes.

“You’re from California?”

He nodded.

“Did you teleport all the way here?”

No, I can only jump about 50 yards at a time. I came here with some friends. We drove most of the way. They were getting away from the church too.

“Where are your friends now?”

One is probably chasing me down as we speak. I couldn’t get away from her if I teleported until I reached the other end of the world. Our other friend went missing a few days ago. We think the church captured him.

Where’d they take him?

Not sure, but we were staking out that church when you stumbled in.

Athena thought about everything she’d seen in the church just a half-hour earlier, but she couldn’t recall anything in the way of clues to finding Angelo’s missing friend.

“Your friend was an esper too, right?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“You can teleport. What could he do?”

Before Angelo could answer, his attention moved from Athena to the roof of the train car. Athena heard it too. It was a pattering sound like heavy rain falling on sheet metal. The windows of the train were still dark with only the occasional glimpse of the underground as the train hurried past dim lights affixed through the otherwise black tunnel. The door to the back of the car crept opened inviting a gust of cold wind that rumbled like the belly of a hungry animal. Passengers often changed cars while the train was moving, but this was the first time it’d happened since Angelo and Athena arrived. They turned to see who was there, but when they did, they saw only the succeeding train car engulfed in the darkness of the underground. The door hung opened as if it was waiting for someone to pass through it, but seconds flew and still, there was no one. The woman seated at the end of the car closest to the door let out a high-pitched squeal and leaped atop her seat, hugging a metal pole for balance as the motion of the train shook her. The two teens leaned forward to see what it was that had upset the woman and saw the ceaseless swarm of rodents pouring in through the opened door. Athena let out an identical screech of her own as Angelo climbed up on his plastic seat, tugging Athena’s arm to follow him.

A drove of gray and black fur scurried down the subway aisle, squeaking and hissing as their tails whipped against the rats to their sides and behind them. The rodents slowed only once they reached Angelo and Athena’s position. Among the posse of vermin, a dark round rat bobbed his head from the pile of ashy fur clawing his way to the front of the pack that squealed incessantly like a disease-ridden choir. The fat rodent raised his head above his sordid brethren and presented, clasped between a pair of long yellowish fangs, a torn slice of notebook paper. Athena stared down into the creature's pitch-black eyes as the rat convulsed its head until the torn slip fell from its jowls. Then, the pack dispersed with coordination beyond that of any rodent and formed a semi-circle around the discarded note. Angelo eyed the door leading to the next subway car. Angelo reached for Athena’s wrist, but as he did, she lowered her arm grabbing the crumpled paper laid before her. Black ink bled through the sheet revealing a mishmash of backward letters. She unfurled the note and her eyes widen at what she read.