“When you battled Kailex's men, she saved you again. You would have died if she hadn’t taken control.” Meeta shook her head. “Your Beast is young, slow, not ready to fight. So she poured power into you, increased your metabolism, made you quicker and stronger before you were ready. Your body is human. It could only be pushed so far and your needs were great. To sustain your energy levels during the fight took more and more from her. It was her strength that carried you through the entire conflict.” Meeta's voice remained calm. Only her face showed the intensity of her emotions.
“Then you met Kailex. When I say his name what comes to mind first? His eyes, right? Deep green. Eyes that see right into you.” I saw Meeta's face harden, her own eyes tighten. Anger merged with worry. “We were told we’d be hunting a past member of the Council. A human, not unlike yourself. Nothing was said of an Elite accompanying him. The hunt should have ended in his office with an easy victory. We weren’t prepared for a powered Kailex. A Hunter! And he wasn’t alone. He had an Elite protecting him!
He attacked Kat before she realized her danger; almost killed her in those first few seconds. After that she knew she didn’t have the strength to beat him and ran. She knew he’d follow. She was the real danger to Kailex, not you. Once inside your mind he realized you still lived and saw a weakness he could exploit. He started killing you the moment you both began talking. Remember the fog? Nothing is more satisfying to a Hunter than eating the Beast of another. You didn't even feel him feeding. Kat could have fled into Belle and from there into me, but choose to remain. Injured, she made herself visible, fought him for control. To you it may have seemed like nothing happened but in reality the struggle between them was fierce. Kat was weak from bleeding so much energy into you. She was losing but still she called to you hoping that together shadow and Hunter could throw Kailex from your mind. Somehow you heard her and came. Somehow you fought your way to her. Amazing. But then you stopped. On the threshold of winning you stopped and forced her to extend her defenses too far in order to protect you. She had to run again. She knew Kailex would pursue her. To him you were just another human. She was the one he feared. She got away. And somehow you survived Fusto, until I scooped you up along with Belle.”
Meeta sighed then shrugged.
“Until I found her in your mind I was certain he’d killed her. She’s badly injured Nicholas. Now her survival depends on you. How can you not repay in kind? What she gave to you in battle, she must take back to survive. That's why you’re weak now, and why it will get worse. The Draw is a hard thing. Neither of you may survive. Once begun it can’t be stopped. She must take as much as you can give. That’s why I need you back in the machine. You’ll need its support to have any chance of living through this. Ah? You thought the Draw was over? I’m afraid it’s only begun.”
I stumbled backward until I pressed up against the wall. It was hard to process everything I’d been told. I wanted to believe her but should I? Her story explained the weakness I’d experienced running through Kailex’s building that night. And the weird overheating during the fight. Still, a part of me wasn’t sure.
“From the start I was just a body to be used,” I whispered. “A means to her end. She’d do anything to get Kailex.”
Two large hands reached out and steadied me. “Perhaps,” she agreed bringing her head down to my level so she could look me in the eyes, “but Kat, is a level three power. If you were only a tool, she could have wielded you like a tool. Instead she gave you a chance to prove your value. If you knew the life she has led,” Meeta paused for a moment, “the life we've both led. You would know how difficult it was for her not to do exactly that.”
Suddenly my body began to shake and I felt the world close in on me. “I don't feel well at all,” I stammered. Then everything went black.
◆◆◆
I was so hungry! I couldn't remember a time I'd been hungrier. I was sitting at a table having dinner with friends. There was food and drink all around me. The restaurant was warm. Hot even. I was sweating badly. I tried to ignore the sweat and began pulling food onto my plate. I forked the meat into my mouth. Each piece was sweet and juicy. But it wasn't enough. Eating with a knife and fork was too slow. I grabbed a roast with my hands and tore off a chunk with my teeth, hardly bothering to chew before I swallowed. The meat seemed to disappear in my hands. I was thirsty. Parched. I drank my beer in one long gulp. Still thirsty. I tipped the pitcher the beer had come in and poured the entire thing down my throat without swallowing. It just went down, disappearing into me like the meat.
My sweat dripped from my face and hands soaking into the table cloth. I looked around embarrassed, expecting to see disgust on the faces of my friends. Instead I saw five strangers at the table with me. They had no plates and were just sitting there watching me. There was something in their eyes I didn’t like. They looked eager, like they were waiting for something to happen and it was almost time. One of them smiled. She had abnormally long teeth. As I stared back her face began to stretch while her teeth grew out, even longer. Droplets of saliva fell from them. Where they fell they stained the table cloth red.
“Are you finished?” The one I’d been watching asked, her voice slurred because of the teeth. She leaned forward, waiting for my answer. The other four leaned forward with her. I realized all five were identical. The same woman. I’d seen her before but struggled to put a name to the face. I pushed away from the table. Accepting my action as an answer the woman flung the table away with one hand sending it to splinter against the wall. All the food crashed to the ground along with plates and cutlery. Grabbing my shoulders she pulled me to the ground. The rest shuffled in around her. I was the table now. It was then I realized I was also the menu. They fell on me. I screamed and screamed until darkness swooped in and took me away.
◆◆◆
The day is beautiful with a slight breeze I appreciate because I'm hot and sticky. Drops of sweat fall off me onto the wooden deck below and disappear. I'm in a balloon carriage high in the air. Below is the ocean, dark and mysterious. I look away. I don’t feel safe. The water below panics me. I notice a sound. A whistle of some kind. What is it? The basket I’m standing in is approximately six by six feet; I should be able to find where the noise is coming from. I think it might be the burner heating the air, but I check and the sound isn’t coming from there. Sweat drips off me like rain, crackling on the burner. I stagger back. I feel like parts of me are draining away with the sweat. I’m dizzy. Any further and I’ll go over. I grab a guy wire to steady me and look up. The world spins but now I see the problem. The sound is coming from a hole in the balloon! A significant amount of air is escaping! I lean over the railing. The ocean‘s closer! In fact I’m just skimming the water now. I look about me for land. There‘s a dark smudge to the east but it’s on the horizon. I'll need a lot more altitude to reach it. The firing mechanism for the balloon is simple. Pull the cord and gas is fed into the flames. I give an experimental pull and the cone of fire heating the center orifice widens. The balloon rises obedient to the laws of physics.
The heat is intense. It feels like I’m melting, disappearing into the wooden decking. A part of me thinks that if I can just make land I’ll be safe! I pull the cord controlling the gas to its limit and hold it there. A wind comes, catches the balloon, pushes me toward the smudge of land I’ve been aiming for. I raise my fist and shake it weakly. A demonstration of my resolve? An invocation for help? Whatever, I’m noticed and the wind becomes a gale. It shakes the balloon like a toy pushing the flame radically towards the balloon’s edges. A flicker of flame comes into being on the edge of the fabric then runs up the side of the balloon.
“No!”
My voice is as thin as the action itself. Words won’t help now. One entire side of the balloon bursts into flame. For a long deep breath the balloon and I hang in the air. Then we drop. All I can feel is the heat. I’m melting. Being consumed.
I hit the water, the impact knocking the air from my lungs.
I struggle feebly. The ocean is a different kind of heat. Cold that burns. I'm so hot I’m freezing. Spinning downward into the deepest darkness yet. All that is left of me are embers. I cup them in my hands and protect them from the darkness.
◆◆◆
”This way Nicholas."
I stand on the shore listening to the ocean surprised. The waves roll in and out with a comforting uniformity. A thick white fog blankets the distant waters. I still live. My body feels light. I stand there feeling the water roll over my feet while time passes. The water feels cool. The air smells of salt. I hear birds in the sky. The sounds of life surround me.
"Nicholas!"
I hear my name but don't respond. It’s safe where I am. If I move this place might disappear. Images of teeth come to me but I refuse the memory. I don’t want to hurt anymore. It’s quiet here. Restful. I could sleep if I liked.
"You’re needed."
A part of me I thought was dead, stirs. Restless. I‘m needed. If it was just me, I'd sleep. I turn towards the sound of my name. It takes so much effort I can’t help but wonder why I bother? No matter, I have to go. Some spark at my core is forcing me to move. I take a step. That helps. The next step is easier. The fog has come in from the ocean now and is all around me. I can see nothing but white. However I can still hear the voice. It keeps repeating my name so I follow its lead. There’s power in its call. Another step and the fog parts. I‘ve made it through somehow! Now I can see the one who’s calling.
She floats in lotus position above a throne built from the bones of her enemies. Her skin is alabaster white, as pale as the fog I’ve just pushed my way through. Her eyes are green as the ocean I fell into. She has the face of a fairy queen. Her eyes hold me now. In the background I hear the lesser voice of the ocean telling me to let go. Her eyes pull me forward. She’s not letting go. She‘s intense. I feel her desire. She walks across the distance that separates us and grasps my hands in hers. We become like one person with one mind, one set of thoughts.
"Are we dying?"
"Yes."
I sense the depth of her sadness. No one wants to die.
"That‘s why I called you. If I take more, you will die. If I take less, I will die."
I nod. Nothing seems all that real so it’s hard to care. Only the spark cares. It prompts me, “One should live. Take what remains."
An eyebrow rises in surprise before her face returns to its state of concentrated calm. ”You will die."
I nod. It‘s hard to disagree with a statement of fact.
She looks troubled. I feel her grip on my fingers tighten.
"Your history is full of tyrants but none will be like Kailex.” She wants me to understand. “He‘ll take your world, change it. Your children's children will serve him. Over time they will be like Meeta or me." She snarls and my mind’s flooded with hatred.
"What about Brenal-Tik? He still hunts."
I‘m surprised to find I‘m agitated. I feel my heart pounding in my chest. I don't want to die and yet I know I might.
"He’s here for Fusto, not Kailex. Fusto is an Elite-Tik, bred to kill Hunters. He‘s a NULL whose mind neither Brenal-Tik nor I can enter. Simple in thought, his physical strength is unmatched. To join as they have is a perversion and should not be possible. Just as one Hunter is bred to hate another, so Fusto should hate Kailex, and wish to destroy him. Instead he obeys. Fusto must have been warped inside the birthing vats to serve only Kailex. The Council may believe they can control Kailex if they destroy Fusto. So they send Brenal-Tik, a Hunter with great skill to hunt the Hunter of Hunters. I trained Brenal-Tik but I do not believe he will succeed."
I frowned, too distracted by weakness to think too deeply. Kat sighed. "My world is complicated and sometimes," she hesitated looking for the right word, "petty."
"Our worlds are similar in some ways after all," I say.
“Time. If we waste more neither of us will live. I will dedicate his death to you when I find him. I will do what I can to lessen your pain."
"I will survive," I say stubbornly.
Kat rose to her feet, turning her body so that she fully faced me. She let go of my hands and I immediately felt weaker. "Very doubtful. But hold that thought firmly in your mind. This process is as much a mystery to me as it is to you and I have seen many miracles in my long life. I begin the final Draw."
All the while we'd been talking, a part of me had been struggling to think of a way for both of us to survive. That part had an idea. Between the two of us there wasn't enough power to live but we weren't really two, we were three. "What about Meeta?" I asked, interrupting her.
Kat looked surprised again, then irritated. "Meeta is a fringe power, primarily an empath. She can’t reach us. Now is not the time to lose your courage."
I shook my head, pulling back from her. I had an idea but no understanding of how to make it work, and I needed her to at least consider it.
"Meeta‘s close Kat, trying to reach us right now. I know it! She might not be able to do this by herself, but maybe you can! You invade minds for Christ’s sake! And you’re not alone! We could pool our strength, bring her into the Draw to help us. Do this and both of us have a chance to live!"
Kat blinked once a sign she was finally considering my idea. "You believe Meeta has direct physical contact with this body and wishes to help us?"
“Yes! Before I passed out, she told me she‘d be there if I needed help. I didn't understand what she was saying at the time but I think she was telling me we could use her in the Draw, if we‘re able. Are we able?" I asked breathlessly.
Kat closed her eyes and I had the sense she was evaluating herself. Her eyes opened and the green was cold and hard. "How much strength have you left Nicholas?"
I tried to imitate her by closing my eyes but that only made me dizzy. I staggered before regaining my equilibrium. "Some." It wasn’t exactly a lie but it wasn’t really the truth either. I didn’t have anything to spare.
Kat shook her head and levelled her frightening stare on me once again. "What you ask will take power from both of us and power is life. We must create a bridge to Meeta; a power loop that feeds us both. Too big a bridge and Meeta will die as we drain her life too quickly. Too small and we will draw too little power to succeed. If that happens, Meeta will still die, just more slowly as we drain her without the power to break the loop. It is not just our lives we risk. Once begun we mustn't falter. I ask again. Have you strength enough?"
I paused, considering my answer. "Yes." With everything on the line I felt stronger but that feeling might be a lie. Just adrenaline and hope. I‘d given so much already. I told myself to shut up. There could be no thoughts of failure or I'd talk myself into an early grave and take Meeta with us.
Kat nodded. "You‘re the battery. I‘m the power. The Draw will be no different from before except the life I take now will be used to forge a conduit with Meeta. This will cause you pain I cannot mitigate. All my concentration must be on the bridge. This is a chancy thing we attempt." Her eyes flashed in anticipation, "but I admit to the excitement it brings me. We‘ve chosen battle over acceptance of our fate. My head says this is foolish but my heart is glad."
I nodded. "Hail Mary passes are always exciting."
“Touch makes the flow of power easier." Kat seemed to drift towards me, her arms raised, hands out front with long beautiful fingers spread wide. She grasped the sides of my head and through pale fingers I saw her green eyes turn pitch black. Then I saw nothing.
Chapter Six
Sarah Walker hid within the deep shadows of the room. She was in the same office building her team had searched. Her colleagues complained that waiting was the worst part of the job but for her it had never been difficult. She'd been right enough times that waiting was worthwhile, even pleasurable. Akin to the anticipation of a favorite meal or good sex. As she leaned into the shadows, unnaturally still for long periods of time, she likened herself to a spider. Before her lay the net, invisible but ready for the fly. S
he corrected herself. This was no fly she waited for; this was a predator, a killer. What did it take to stop a killer? She smiled showing her teeth. Whomever had murdered those men would find out.
She wanted to thumb the safety off her gun but resisted the impulse. Movement betrayed position. There must be no movement, nothing to give the hunter away. The door was the key. A small legion of scientists had tried to hack their way into the room behind it and failed. Then harsher measures that risked destroying everything had been tried and those too had failed. Apparently the building surrounded a room constructed of material no one had seen before. It had proven impervious to their most determined efforts. There was only one reason to protect a room like that. It must contain something valuable, something the owner needed. Something he’d come back for. All she had to do was wait and the trap was set.
A dull thud almost caused her to break silence with an angry curse. One of her men had dropped something. They were good men, elite troops, but she'd still put them one floor below. As good as they were, and they were the best, they weren't up to a first encounter with this particular killer. She needed time to take out its teeth before they arrived. In the last stakeout she'd done it by the book and the results had been... bad, very bad. The killer had been fast, so much faster than expected. With all the men around her she'd had too little room to maneuver. There had been too much confusion. That couldn't be allowed to happen again. Necessity had forced her to adapt. She'd engage this creature alone; pluck its teeth before backup arrived to lock it down. That was the plan. The problem was that most plans didn't survive the first seconds of a fight. Some of her people might die tonight.
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