Page 64 of Venomous Heart
They both watched as it appeared there, a feat of technology in the middle of the perfect harmony of the forest. Then, without speaking, they walked side by side into the metallic elevator before it lowered into Knut’s vault.
The air in the Vault was aseptic and cold, like it was brand new and had never been breathed before. Arlen stepped wordlessly in front of her as the door slid aside to reveal a wide-open space. The floor, walls and ceiling reflected luminescent orbs with a distinctly metallic shine, and echoes bounced off the enclosed space as Arlen walked in front of Ava.
Everywhere, metallic surfaces gleamed, empty and cold.
“Do you know what you’re looking for?” Arlen put a protective arm across her as Ava tried to step up to his side. “Stay here and I’ll retrieve it.”
“Really?” She put her hand on Arlen’s forearm, and after a few seconds of hesitation, he lowered it. “We’re in Knut’s secret vault. What makes you think I’ll be safer in the elevator?”
Arlen sighed, then nodded, his face still full of doubt, but at least he wasn’t actively going to stop her. “Fine. But you stay here until I make sure the area is safe.”
She nodded with exasperation and Arlen walked around the steel room, inspecting every corner before turning to her, the confusion plain on his face.
“Nothing. There’s nothing here.”
Ava stepped into the room, then followed in Arlen’s footsteps. Everywhere she looked, everywhere her fingers touched, there was just the cold of polished metal. If this was Knut’s vault, then it was empty.
“This isn’t possible.” Ava turned to Arlen. “I know the Exo-Heart is here.”
Fear twisted and coiled in her heart as the image of Uril lying on his bed came to her mind: his anemic, pale face; the exhaustion pulling his young features taut; the fear gleaming in his golden eyes. But, above all, his courage when he told her he was okay. That he wasn’t afraid.
This was it. Without the heart, he would die. And if she and Arlen couldn’t get back in time, he was going to die alone.
No. This can’t be happening.
“The heart is here. It has to be,” she repeated.
Her breathing became fast and shallow and no matter how much air she sucked in, she felt breathless. Her heart was beating fast, much too fast, so much that it hurt. Pain spread in her chest as her vision filled with dark spots. Ava was vaguely aware of Arlen holding her shoulders, bracing her against his body.
Uril can’t die. He can’t-he can’t-he can’t-he can’t…
“Ava, calm down.” Arlen’s voice came from far away, breaking the litany in her mind and she twisted around, clutching his vest desperately in her fist.
“I told him I could save him. I promised he would be okay.”
Her voice broke in a choke and a dam broke inside her. She sagged to her knees; Arlen catching her so she didn’t hurt herself. Her palms met the metal floor and her tears splashed to the ground in perfect, tiny circles.
She shut her eyes and saw Knut. His aristocratic, slim face, the smile on his thin lips whenever he played a cruel game with her. That satisfied glimmer in his eyes when he managed to make her cry.
“He tricked me.” The words were almost swallowed by her sobs. “He told me he had an Exo-Heart waiting for Uril. He told me I could save him. A lie. It was all a lie.”
As she abandoned herself to the pain and the fear, Arlen let go of her shoulders. The sudden cold that replaced his body heat only heightened her pain and she prostrated herself on the metal floor, crying with her forehead pressed on the ground. It was too much. All those years Knut had spent playing his sick mind tricks on her, allowing her and Uril to become close as brother and sister, to care for each other when no one else had.
All that, only to shatter her heart into a million pieces when he took the hope away from her and let Uril die.
“Say it again.” Arlen’s voice came from above her head, imperious and harsh. “Say his name again.”
Ava only sobbed more. Saying his name wouldn’t repair his heart, and now there was no time to even send him off-world to somewhere they could keep him alive until another Exo-Heart was grown.
“Say Uril’s name again.”
The command was harsh, but there was excitement in Arlen’s voice. A sound of hope that made Ava regain just enough of her senses to lift her head and meet his gaze. He looked down at her with an encouraging expression.
“Uril.”
As she said the name, a small square illuminated itself in the wall directly behind Arlen. As if in a dream, she got to her feet, her broken heart lurching like a starving beast to hold on to the thread of hope.
“Uril!” She said the name more forcefully, and the small square dissolved, revealing another control panel.
