Chapter 1: https://markcheverton.com/the-algae-voices-of-azule-chapter-1/ 

Chapter 2: https://markcheverton.com/the-algae-voices-of-azule-chapter-2/

Chapter 3: https://markcheverton.com/the-algae-voices-of-azule-chapter-3/

Chapter 4: https://markcheverton.com/the-algae-voices-of-azule-chapter-4/

Chapter 5: https://markcheverton.com/the-algae-voices-of-azule-chapter-5/

The Algae Voices of Azule

Chapter 6

The darkness flared into brightness—stale white brightness. He was cold and lying on a hard surface. As his mind cleared, he realized that he was on the ground next to Francis’ hospital bed, the cold slate floor chilling his skin. Looking under the bed, he could see Ali also lying on the ground, eyes closed. Was she OK? Did she make it back with him? Uncertainty and dread exploded within his mind, making him shudder. And then she smiled at him as she opened her eyes, giving him a smile that warmed his soul and made him want to sing; she was OK. Standing up slowly, Billy shook his head, trying to clear the confusing visions from his mind. Ali was also now standing on the other side of the bed.

“You OK?” Billy asked. She nodded.

“Did we do it?” she asked. “Did we save him?”

“I don’t know?”

They looked down at Francis. His eyes were now closed and his face looked relaxed and calm. He actually looked as if he were just asleep, though the blue still ringed the spaces around his eyes. Reaching down, Billy gently shook his brother.

“Francis, wake up! Can you hear me? Wake up!”

One eye opened and peered up at Billy.

“Of course, I can hear you, you knucklehead, you’re loud enough to wake the dead,” Francis said in a clear voice.

Ali started to cry and wrapped her arms around Francis. Billy, too started to cry, grabbing his brother’s hand and squeezing it tight.

“What’s up with you two?” Francis asked. “What’s the big deal?… Hey…wait a minute…where am I?”

Mom and dad, Ali thought to Billy.

Yeah, I’ll get them, Billy thought back.

Billy released his brother’s hand and ran to the door. Pushing it open, he stuck his head into the corridor. “Mom, dad! Come quick! It’s Francis, IT’S FRANCIS! GET IN HERE!”

He saw the double doors at the end of the corridor swing open, and his parents came running, one of the useless doctors trailing far behind. Billy opened the room door all the way then went back to Francis, taking up his hand again, a gigantic smile on his young face.

“What are you smiling at, little brother?” Francis said then looked at Ali. She was also smiling, her face lit up like fireworks, her eyes red from joyous tears. “What’s going on? Is anyone going to tell me what’s going on here?”

Just then, their mother and father entered the room.

“Mom, Dad, will you tell me what’s going on? Where am I?”

Their parents came to a dead stop when they heard Francis and looked at each other, confusion on their faces. Diane brought her hands to her face in shock, her mouth agape, and then the tears came again, but these were different tears, joy rather than sorrow. She reached over and grabbed Charles’ arm for support, then looked up into his always-stern face. She was surprised to find a bigger-than-life smile, one that reached up to his eyes, lighting up his face, joy replacing the ever-present firm look.

“Frank?” he said in a weak, almost disbelieving voice. “Is it really you?”

“Of course, it’s me, who else would it be?”

“I can’t believe it…I can’t …” Charles stammered.

Their father surged forward and gave his oldest a bone-crushing hug, then pulled his wife forward so that she too could join the hug. He held his son for what seemed forever, then pulled away and wiped the tears from his cheeks, drying his eyes with his algae-stained sleeve.

“What happened?” he asked Francis.

“How should I know?” Francis answered. “I was just having this really weird dream about people screaming at me, a lot of people, and then all of a sudden Billy and Ali were there in the dream. They made the screaming stop, and then I woke up.”

Charles turned and looked at Billy, then to Ali, a look of unasked questions on his face.

“Did you do this?” he asked the twins hesitantly.

Ali moved around the bed and stood next to Billy, both smiling. They nodded.

“But how? How?” Charles stood in silent contemplation, processing the information. Billy could hear his thoughts; how could this be? How could they do what all the doctors on the planet could not? Were they…? Are they…? No, they can’t be…please no.

He started to ask the question when Billy stepped forward and spoke.

“Yes, father, we’re Gifted. We saved Francis with our Gifts.”

Charles took a step back, shocked at hearing it spoken out loud, then stood up straight and stepped forward, so that he was right in front of the twins. Slowly, he patted them affectionately, reassuringly on their shoulders, smiled, and nodded almost imperceptibly; a silent look of pride on his face. He was about to say something to them but wasn’t sure what he could say that would convey his feelings of gratitude and respect, so instead, he just patted them on the shoulders and then pulled them into a giant hug, holding them tight.

“What’s going on here? Why are there so many people in this room?”

It was one of the many useless doctors in the long-term care section of the hospital.

The doctor looked at all the people in the room, an angry scowl on his face, then his eyes landed on Francis.

“He’s awake, that’s impossible. No one ever recovers. How can this be?”

“Sorry, doc, I’ll go back asleep if it will make you feel better,” Francis said with a smile.

“But…how did this happen? What brought you back?” the doctor asked, still disbelief in his voice.

“We did,” Billy and Ali said simultaneously, proud of their achievement.

“Shhh,” their father said; it was too late.

“What?” the doctor asked then looked closely at the twins. He stepped forward and stared straight into Ali’s face, and then Billy’s. “Look at their eyes.”

Charles knelt hesitantly down and looked into Billy’s eyes. He could see it, a blue coloration in the whites, just like Francis. Reaching down, Charles lifted up Billy’s hand. The fingernails were also tinted blue, the telltale sign of the algae, the Blue.

The doctor turned from Billy and looked at Ali closely. He then turned back to Billy again…then to Ali, confused.

“How is this possible? What did you two do? Did you …” He paused to consider his thoughts then lowered his voice to a whisper. “You’re Gifted! You did this with your Gift, didn’t you?”

Nobody spoke a word.

“I have to report this, it’s the law,” the doctor whispered. “If I don’t and they find out, I could get in a lot of trouble. I could get sent to the crystal mines. I could…”

“So instead, you think these children should get sent,” boomed their father.

“Get sent where?” asked a scratchy voice from the doorway.

They all turned and saw an Inquisitor standing in the doorway, his black metallic collar reflecting the stale, antiseptic light from the room, his black uniform and his black presence seeming to devour all hope from those he surveyed.

Charles stood tall and silent, looking straight at the Inquisitor.

“What’s going on here? I heard we had another Voices case, but when I enter the room, I find that everything is happy and wonderful. I don’t trust happy and wonderful. What’s going on here? And who are these two brats?”

The room turned cold. Fear pulsed through every heart as the Inquisitor stepped further into the room, his snake-like glare scanning their faces, deciding with one would be his first victim. His gaze then fell on Ali, and he pointed at her with his black-gloved hand. And all hope left her as panic filled her mind.