by Jon Chaisson
*
Caren stood on McCleever Street four long blocks away from her sister, and despite her conviction she could not help thinking she would never see her again. She’d fought with that inner demon constantly, but never was it as strong as it was now. As she stood under the archway of the apartment building, waiting for Poe to contact her again, she arched her neck and looked up towards the warehouse. Streetlights illuminated its concrete and corrugated metal a warm pale yellow-green, making its appearance somewhat forgettable, were it not for the fact that the darkest of clouds hovered less than a few thousand feet above it. A dark, painful loneliness hung over her own head, as if in her heart and in her mind she had already accepted Denni’s departure.
Denni hadn’t died or been harmed, she was quite certain of that. She could still feel her presence among the chaos that swelled within those four walls. Or rather, she had sensed her physically returning to the warehouse ten minutes ago, where she previously had only felt a lingering thread, a hint of consciousness tethered to a distance much farther away. Had she stepped into Light? Where had she gone for that last half hour? She could feel a lingering chaos within the warehouse as well…what had happened? Caren growled in frustration as once again she became all too aware that she had not yet come to terms with her sister being a goddess…every disappearance, however temporary, still hit her squarely in the gut. It was the reason she’d decided to split from her partner and make her way back to the warehouse.
Poe knew more about the One of All Sacred than anyone else on her ARU team. She’d often wondered what powers the One may have…and how he or she would use them. The Awakened had been under the rule of eight previous Dearest. They all followed the One of All Sacred to varying degrees, some with devout conviction while others regarded her as little more than a spiritual presence taken for granted.
Would Denni be any different?
Caren’s commlink, clipped to the epaulet of her overcoat, crackled with static. “Poe to CJ, you read?”
She tensed up instinctively, and forced herself to shake it off. “CJ here, go ahead,” she responded.
More static filtered through, this time followed by the bzzzzzt of a stray lightning charge disrupting the bandwidth; she saw the white flash of light somewhere to her left. Three seconds later she heard the thunderclap rumbling down the street towards her. Less than a mile away.
Poe held for a few seconds before responding again, but his voice cut out under another bolt of lightning, followed by the thunder four seconds later. Farther away, but still dangerously close.
“Unheard, Poe,” she responded. “Repeat.”
He started again, his voice clearer this time. “Are you still on McCleever?”
“Yes I am,” she answered, and stepped out onto the sidewalk, the chilling wind pushing at her face. “Just getting out of harm’s way at the moment. I don’t trust that lightning.”
“Get as close to the warehouse as possible,” he said. “Inside if you can, that’s the safest place for you. I’m almost at Christine’s place…if we’re going to pull this off, we’re going to need a Benjamin’s Key.”
Caren blinked. “You have got to be kidding me,” she said, more to herself than to Poe. “I thought those were outlawed after the Seventh Embodiment.”
“Unsanctioned use, yes,” he said. “She’s got a license for it.”
“Are you sure it’ll work?” she asked, laughing despite her misgivings. “That’s a pretty small grounding wire for a damn huge storm.”
“Well…we’ll find out,” he said.
“Here’s to faith,” she said. “Good luck, Alec. Hope to see you soon.”
crrrrrrraaaaakkkk--
Caren cursed and jumped back into the archway as a lightning bolt came searing down into the middle of the street. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw it hit not a hundred feet away. For a brief moment she felt the tingling of electric energy shooting through her nervous system and fell backwards, slamming up against the heavy wooden front door. She blindly grabbed at the concrete railing and slid down onto it, gasping for air.
With a sudden rumbling whoosh a wall of heavy rain and wind pushed its way down the street towards her, turning everything a dark gray. Within seconds the downpour was on top of her, drenching everything and everyone in sight. Caren cursed again, hiked up the collar of her uniform, and despite her still spinning head, began to run towards the warehouse. She only had a few more blocks to go. She was instantly waterlogged, cold and miserable as soon as she’d stepped out from the stoop, and the fright of the close lightning strike had made her temporarily forget where exactly she needed to be. Once at the end of the block she darted across the street and continued up McCleever, towards the warehouse.
“You okay, Caren?” she heard from her commlink. “Thought that one hit you.”
“I’m fine,” she said as she ran. “I’m getting drenched here, Poe, but otherwise all is well. Thanks for the concern.” She hadn’t meant that to sound so sarcastic, but it seemed to amuse him. “Coming up on Holgate, about two blocks ahead.” She slowed to a jog, then to a brisk walk until she came to a long row of restaurant awnings. Crowds packed themselves in below them, and it wasn’t until she hit the third one that she managed to find a spot to catch her breath.
“Damn, Poe,” she huffed. “Had I known, I would have worked out before doing this marathon.”
Poe’s laugh came over the static. “Where are you now?”
“DiTaranto’s Ristorante,” she said, craning her neck to read the sign in the window. “You know, I’ve always wanted to go here. I hear they make great calzones.”
Poe waited a few seconds before responding. “Hey,” he said.
Exasperated, she huffed quietly. “Yes, Alec, what is it?”
“Last chance, kid. You sure this is what you want?”
She smirked despite her annoyance. “Forget it. Give me five minutes to get my bearings and I’m off. There’s no talking me out of this. Denni’s in there, Poe. I can’t leave her alone. If I’m walking into my own death sentence, so be it. As long as I did it trying to protect her.”
“I see your point, Caren, but…” he trailed off.
“But what?”
He stuttered, started to say something, and released the comm.
“Yeah, I know,” she smiled. Goddess, she was one damn lucky girl to have him as a partner. “Don’t worry, Alec. Drinks on me tomorrow at Yoshi’s, okay?”
“I’m there,” he said. “Good luck, Caren. Tell Den I said hi.”
“Heh. Sure thing.”
Caren let go of the commlink, looked up the street at the warehouse, and contemplated her next move.
