by Nelly Asher
***
As always, instead of the sky there was a ceiling above, and before them there was a small square with a few rows of cars lined up. Those were mostly brightly painted sports cars. There was a single road starting from the edge of the area, and there seemed to be no other way out. Houses that surrounded the square were standing close to each other – either side to side or with a gap so small that not even a child could squeeze through. Houses were very similar – with smooth walls, square windows with almost untransparent glasses and a single door right in the middle of their facade. They only varied in number of floors and in color – each house was painted in flat shades of yellow, green, blue or brown. Looking around, Kevin said:
“Those houses remind me of a block construction set I once had – colorful, standard-shape and empty inside, just very big.”
“I also had a set like that,” Silver recalled. “The box is still collecting dust in the closet. I don't know why they bought it for me, I always liked dolls more,” she turned around – the door they came out of was an entrance of one of the houses. Selena stroke the wall – it felt smooth like plastic.
“Wow, my favorite ride,” Gelia smiled. “Well, pick a car.”
“And where are we going to drive?” her twin asked with distrust.
“Not where, but away from who,” Gold muttered under her breath and walked towards the cars.
“Hey, what did you just say?! You were here before?”
“Sure,”Gelia said over her shoulder. “I like having a great ride... How do you think I was practicing jumping out of a car?”
“Hey, by the way, why did you start all this hijacking mess in the first place?” Selena finally asked.
“No reason,” she smiled carelessly. “It's not like you always realize why you act one way or another. I just felt like it. Cause why not?”
“At the very least because people could've been hurt as the result,” Kevin replied coldly. “Anyway, you gave me trouble.”
“No problem, I can give you pleasure, too, in any way you want,” the blonde winked cunningly and sat at the hood of a violet car with yellow and green stripes. “You'd better pick a car. We don't have much time.”
“What do you me...” Selena was interrupted by a loud deep sound coming from behind the houses. “What's that?” she turned around, startled.
“Do you see this line?” Selena's twin pointed at a barely noticeable stripe drawn around the parking lot. “It's a trigger. Once we've passed it, we woke up something.”
“Would it have killed you to warn us before?!” the girl was furious. “And what do you mean by 'we'? You were the first one stepping over it!”
“Trigger only works on a specific condition. And you know what, darling? You're the one who has a condition!” – she pointed at the revolver in Selena's hand. “Let's cut the chatter and just dash already!”
“Closed,” Selena nervously said, trying a couple of nearest cars. “How are you going start them without keys? How did you drive them before?”
“When I visited this place alone, everything was different,” her voice drowned in a mighty roar. Whatever was making that sound was much closer now. “I could just drive around – with no consequences, but with no prizes, too... And I have no idea what's going to show up now,” she also tried to open a door, but to no avail.
Girls ran along the rows, trying to get some car open. Evanford remained in place, looking around – he thought that it's better to analyze the situation first before rushing about from one dead-end option to another. Soon he noticed a dark green car that stood out among the brightly colored ones. Kevin didn't have a single doubt...
“Follow me!” he said it so loud and confidently that the girls immediately ran up to him. Quickly walking towards Pinton, Evanford pulled out the keys that were still in his pocket. He pushed a button, and alarm switched off with the usual beep. As if reacting to this, something loudly bellowed, and a monster appeared over the roofs.
It vaguely resembled a crab. Leathery angular torso looked like something has hammered it out. Body was small in comparison to six legs – thick pillars with a few joints each. There were orifices on the torso – they seemed small from the ground, though actually they could've swallow a grown person. They were opening and closing, as if chewing something. One of them opened wider, releasing a deep drawn-out groan. Monster swinged and threw his leg over the building.
“Whoo-oah,” sincere astonishment reflected in Gelia's black eyes. Grabbing the keys out of Kevin's hand, she jumped in on the driver's side: “It's more than I expected! I'll drive, or we won't hold out for a minute! Get the hell in!!!”
Kevin sat next to Gold and finally threw the license plate on the floor. Selena turned around on the back seat in horror, watching the monster through the dusty glass.
“Well, hang on,” Gelia stepped on the gas. The car speeded, and in a couple of seconds they left the square behind. They were driving along a relatively wide street surrounded by the same block houses.
“Do you really have to go that fast?” Kevin tried to grab the safety belt, but fingers slipped off the smooth surface. One look was enough to confirm that the belts weren't in this car by design. Of course, Evanford realized that it wasn't actually his Pinton, but now it became painfully obvious that the copy was less than accurate. What other unpleasant surprises will this car have?
“Would you rather rest in that beast's embrace?” Gold throttled back a bit to follow the road bend.
Kevin glanced into the rear view mirror. Monster was moving heavily and slowly, but due to his huge steps the distance between them didn't decrease. Besides, he was stepping straight over the buildings, and the road had more and more curves. However, Gelia drove confidently, without dropping speed. Pinton was moving fast and smoothly on the perfectly flat asphalt. They would've enjoyed the ride, if it weren't for the roaring creature behind.
“I see that you're familiar with the road,” Kevin remarked.
“No, it's different each time, I just had a lot of practice,” Gelia leaned back, easily steering the wheel with her left hand. “But creatures like that never chased me before. Everything is different now...”
Suddenly the car shook. Through the back glass, Selena saw a pothole disappearing in the distance. Gelia raised her eyebrows in disbelief: there were many bumps and dents on the road ahead.
“What the...” she muttered, trying to at least avoid the largest potholes.
“I assume they weren't here before,” Evanford grabbed the bar above the door, trying to hold a vertical position.
Selena was tossed from side to side, her fingers scratching the thick fabric of a seat in an instinctive attempt to grab onto something. Silver almost forgot that there's a gun in her hand, and eventually squeezed it too hard...
Everyone was so distracted that nobody even got scared. Shocked, the girl was looking at a hole in upholstery, but didn't even think of dropping the weapon. Without turning his head, Evanford glanced into the rear view mirror, trying to figure out what's going on with his companion. Gelia shouted:
“Have you ever heard about a safety catch?! Why are you making holes where they don't belong?”
“Well I've...” the car jumped up again, and Silver hissed, twisting her mouth in pain. Kevin realized that she bitten her tongue. The very next second her twin pulled a similar face, though she had no obvious reason to do it.
“Fhat a pain in the ash,” Gelia quietly muttered through her teeth and turned the wheel, making another sharp bend. Suddenly her eyes opened wide. Pupils were dilated – not so much from fear as from the nervous excitement. “Get down!” Gold yelled, throwing herself on Evanford's lap.
“What are you doing?!” Kevin leaned to the wheel, and only at that moment he saw a huge blade blocking the street; its edges were stuck in two opposing houses. It was rapidly approaching.
Selena understand what Gelia meant only when she heard an awful gritting sound. In the very last second she dropped backwards on
to the seat, watching a wide metal stripe passing before her eyes, and saw a ceiling where the roof used to be.
Despite the terrible sound, the blade cut the top off the car as smoothly as razor cuts a tinfoil – even the windows didn't crack. It passed on the level where passangers' necks were supposed to be. Pinton didn't even slow down, as if nothing happened. Fortunately, this segment of the road didn't have curves.
“Get up, we've passed it,” Evanford said, trying to hold on to the wheel.
“I feel fine here,” Gelia replied from his knees. “And if you want, I can make you feel so fi...”
“Cut it out. This is serious,” it was getting increasingly harder for him to maintain self-control.
“I can't cut anything, I can only bite...”
“Got dammit, we're about to crash!” Kevin finally exploded. It was the first time Selena heard him yelling, and this stunned her even more than the shot did. Gelia sat straight at once, saying cheerfully:
“That was quite an ejaculation, as old-timey people would say! I'm feeling merry, I'm feeling gay,” she whistled, grabbing the steering wheel right in time to turn the corner. “Oh, we have a cabriolet now! You've always wanted a similar model, didn't you, Selena? I bet you'd also fancy a car like that,” she turned to Kevin, who was staring blankly at the control panel. “And the road has straightened out, too! Things seem to be looking up!”
“Well, I'm looking up right now, and things don't seem to be that great,” Selena watched monster stomping behind them. The last illusion of protection disappeared along with the roof. The huge six-legged thing looked even more threatening... And was closer. Much closer. As if catching the girl's glance on itself, the creature roared and threw its leg over the building. A furry pillar hit the asphalt in ten meters behind the car. “It's gonna squash us!” Selena shouted.
“I see,” Gold replied gloomily. “So why are you just sitting there? Won't you at least try to shoot it?”
“What's the point,” almost hypnotized, her twin was watching the monster's body pulsating above them.
“What makes you think that?” Gelia raised her voice. “It will certainly be more useful than shooting the place you sit on!”
“Don't let her provoke you,” Evanford said quietly. Kevin didn't like losing his balance, and after the recent splash of emotions he retreated into himself even more. However, he still cared enough to try to prevent Selena from making a mistake, but in this state of mind he forgot that telling her not to do something has an opposite effect.
The girl tried to aim. Vague memories from her past and an accidental trigger pull don't count – it's the first time she will really shoot, and she felt somewhat unconfident. To her own surprise, Selena realised: it's not that easy for her to shoot at a living being, even if it's so scary and disgusting. She took a deep breath and quickly exhaled, pulling the trigger.
It looked like the bullet simply disappeared, but the creature roared with such a pain like it was mortally wounded. Monster almost bucked, hitting the ceiling with his front legs so hard that some plaster fell off. Huge jointy legs bent in the air; monster froze for a moment, as if aiming, and dashed towards the car. Not waiting for him to catch up with them, Selena made another shot with a steady hand. She was ready to hit him until ammo runs off, but the second bullet had a stunning effect. It seemed like it exploded – dark purple blood splattered onto the ceiling above the creature's back, began to ooze from all the pulsating orifices on its torso and poured from the exit wound. Bellowing in agony, the monster tumbled down, crumpling the buildings like cardboard boxes. He hit the ground with such a force that it shook the car, even though it was quite far already.
“That was one hell of a bullet...” notes of horror and admiration rang in Silver's astonished voice.
“Why did a usual bullet have such an effect?” Kevin spoke. Latest occurrence pulled him out of his apathy.
“Because it's a very, very important revolver. Its bullets bring substantial consequences. Of course, if you don't just hit the wall,” Gold replied seriously. It was obvious that she's not going to say anything else on the subject. Another minute passed in silence. Feeling calmer now, Selena leaned on the back of the seat. But just as she finally began to enjoy the ride, the car turned another corner and stopped. They were in a dead end – the road was blocked by a wide building. It was no different from the others, save for the gilded door.
“Don't forget your plate,” Gelia turned to the passanger. “And yeah, there's one thing. Here's your prize for making it through this stage,” she took a cell phone out of the glove box and gave it to Evanford.
“It was there all this time?” Kevin asked in surprise. The girl winked and nodded. With a sigh, young man turned away from her and pressed the call button. Ten recently dialed numbers appeared on the screen. Tiffany's name was in the beginning of the list. “Why did you call her?” he raised his gaze at Gelia. “Can you explain at least one of the things you've done?”
“Make me,” she smiled wryly, opening the door with her healthy hand. Suddenly Kevin grabbed Gelia's right wrist and pulled her to himself.
“Why did you call her? Can you explain at least that?” he repeated in an absolutely level voice. The girl smiled playfully and leaned even more towards him.
“Do you want a logical explanation? There is none. Nobody hired me to make your lives simpler. I have reasons to help you, but that doesn't mean I can't play some tricks on you, if only to see the look on your faces. I'm a girl of mood, didn't you still get it?”
“It's not much of a pleasure to be around people you don't know what to expect from,” Kevin said. “There's a difference between being enigmatic and being inadequate. Personally I am trying to stay away from such people.”
“Then why are you clinging to such a person,” Gelia jerked her hand out of his, pushed the door and jumped out of the car. “This is what I am, whether you like it or not! Yes, I'm a rebel! Rules are written to be broken!..”
“Written... With a left hand?” Selena interjected. The girl felt that this remark will anger her double, and indeed: Gold shot her an incinerating look. But that flash sank in the void of Selena's black eyes. It was useless to fight her with her own methods. While Gelia was distracted, Evanford continued:
“You know, each road has two directions. If you don't want to move in one of them, move in the opposite. But if you're running across just for the sake of doing everything your own way, you'll fall off the bridge or end up in a ditch.”
Gelia was too enfuriated to object or even curse. She turned around and shot a couple of stones into the wall of the nearest house. They smashed so hard like the shot was twice more powerful than it was before. She glanced at her companions with contempt and quickly paced away.
Selena and Kevin exchanged glances. They both didn't like Gold, so it was a moment of complete mutual understanding. They smiled at each other without saying a word, got out of a car and followed Gelia through the gilded door.
