Lewis felt a shiver run through him. Anything that came that far couldn’t have come for a good reason. He took a step back, his body jerking when the ground wasn’t where he expected it to be.
He’d stepped into a small crater, a perfectly scaled-down version of the center piece. A tiny shard of green rock protruded from it, like the bud of a new plant. It was small, tiny, paling in comparison to the center rock. This piece wasn’t scary at all.
Tori approached with his friends in tow, excited murmurs of their adventure.
For reasons that escaped him, other than the sudden wave of adrenaline that surged through his body, wanting to be one of the cool kids, along with his brother Tori, Lewis bent down, seized the rock between his thumb and forefinger and pulled it free.
It was cool to the touch, smooth like the stones he hunted for along the riverbank that ran along the back of his house. At his touch, the rock pulsed green. It seemed to match the beating of his heart, and as soon as it did, his skin flushed green. He felt a chill as it moved through his body, like the sensation of someone walking over his grave.
Lewis yelped.
“Are you all right?” Alice said.
Lewis nodded and tucked his hand in his pocket.
Alice placed her hand to Lewis’s forehead, and then to his cheek and nose.
“The volleyball might have done more damage than we thought,” Alice said.
Tori and his friends snorted and giggled at Lewis’s girlish squeal.
Fine, Lewis thought, laugh all you want. A grin spread across his face. But I touched a meteorite.
He reached into his pocket and ran his fingers over its smooth glass-like surface. He was mesmerized.
5.
SHANGHAI, CHINA
ZHANG MIN stared at the gray sky and strummed her fingers over her faded red yo-yo. She scratched her nose, and then snorted and spat out a chunk of something dark and ugly.
The air pollution always played havoc with her respiratory system. The thick smog strangled sunlight. Her life was lived in perpetual gray scale.
The door beside Min swung open. Startled, her yo-yo slipped through her fingers. She grabbed the string and let it unfurl before drawing it back in. She stuffed it into her oversized jacket, straightening to meet the gaze of her social worker.
“Min,” Li Na said. “Have you been waiting long?”
Min shrugged. What was the value of time when you had nothing to do with it?
“Come inside,” Li Na said, darting a look toward either end of the alley.
The metal door banged shut, reminding Min of a prison cell door. Min followed Li Na’s sloped back. The woman was shaped like an egg. They entered a small, but well organized office.
“You can sit if you wish,” Li Na said.
“I’m fine,” Min said.
“Very well,” Li Na said. “She knew the fifteen-year-old well enough to know it was futile attempting to force the subject. Zhang Min, I’m sorry to tell you I don’t have the means to get you off the streets. Not yet.”
Min’s heart sank, but she couldn’t say she was surprised. This wasn’t the first time Li Na had been unable to keep her promise. Each meeting only made the hope in Min’s chest crumble just a little more.
“Don’t take it too hard,” Li Na said. “But please have patience. Just a little more time and we’ll find you a home. Maybe even a family.”
Her smile was met with a sullen expression.
“But not all is lost,” Li Na said. “Here’s what I can give you this month.”
She pulled out a faded red envelope and offered it to Min. Min pulled her hands from her pockets and accepted the envelope with another bow.
“It isn’t much,” Li Na acknowledged. “But it should hold you for some time.”
Min opened the envelope. A thin wad of cash wedged between bright purple meal tickets and a blue hotel key. This was much better than last time.
Min glanced up at Li Na, warmth spread inside her chest at the gesture of goodwill. She must have really pulled some strings to get this much.
Li Na cleared her throat. Min looked away, closing the envelope.
“Be careful not to lose these, Zhang Min,” Li Na said.
“I won’t,” Min muttered, bowing once more.
If she did, she would be back on the harsh streets once more. She clutched the envelope to her chest.
BUSINESSMEN in sharp suits unloaded into cell phones and glanced consciously at their expensive watches. Vendors in out-of-season costumes shouted their wares under bright neon signs. Teenagers coalesced in wayward flocks, dressed in racy fashion statements. In forgotten niches of indistinct buildings, gray children dressed in discarded rags.
A thousand faces she would never see again.
The hair on Min’s neck stood on end. Min threw paranoid looks over her shoulders and stuffed her hand into her jacket pocket, gripping the envelope tight. She held her life in her hands. Her other hand curled around her yo-yo.
Min eyed a darkened alley and considered hiding inside its confines until nighttime when no one would bother her, besides the odd harmless pimp. But the lure of a warm hotel room and hot meal was too strong. She ducked her head, turned, and headed down the street. She put on a mask to hide half her face.
Nighttime wasn’t dangerous in Shanghai. Daylight was. The monsters showed their faces. In one-child-only China, little boys and girls had been treated like royalty. Into them was poured all the income, riches and opportunities their families could provide. They did what they wanted, with no fear of repercussions.
Min froze. She’d been lost in her own little world. She hadn’t noticed she’d walked right into the den of monsters she feared. But they hadn’t noticed her yet. She daren’t change direction suddenly for fear of attracting their attention. She would walk past them slowly, part of the crowd, hidden, as if she were anyone else on the street. She lowered her head and focused on the pavement.
She jostled against the crowd, pushing against one another as if testing their strength. The monster gang’s leader was disinterested, his heavy lids perusing the crowd from the top step.
Min couldn’t help herself. She had to look up, had to make sure they didn’t recognize her. If they got the jump on her, there would be no hope of escape. She needed every advantage she could grasp.
Then, horror of horrors: her eyes met his.
They reflected her own surprise. But where her stomach fell in fear, his face curled with a terrible sneer. That same face had haunted her dreams for a year.
Him on top of her, thrusting, his pals holding her down, pinning her in place, awaiting their turn, Min screaming in the back of her throat, holding on, crying at her body tightening around each of them, her body reacting the way it had evolved to.
The crosswalk signal let out a bleep and the people around her rushed forward to make it to the other side of the road before the traffic took its turn. Beside the boy were several other gang members who hadn’t noticed her. Their leader nudged them with an elbow. They perked up. Six pairs of eyes locked onto her. Fear flooded Min like a shot at the doctor’s office.
Move! Min’s mind shouted. Go! Move!
But she couldn’t move. The boys were crossing the street, heading straight for her, looks aggressive and primal.
A delivery cyclist yelled, before slamming on his brakes, skidding to a stop before the gang. The gang leapt back with a shout. Min blinked, the fear dissolving from her body. Without another look, Min turned and sprinted in the opposite direction.
She shoved through the crowd with her shoulders and elbows. The boys shouted, calling after her. Min didn’t slow. She didn’t have to look back to know they were giving chase. She needed to hurry.
She spied an alley between two buildings, the same one she’d seen the gray children daydreaming in before. She jumped over a game a pair of kids were playing, climbed up over a stack of crates, and hopped over a restaurant dumpster.
“Hey!” the gray boys said as the older
gang members ran through their game.
Min hopped down off the dumpster to find an alley populated with clotheslines. She ran through it, between the sheets and towels, darting aside to avoid the shadows of working women. Min slipped on a puddle of water, formed from dripping clothes.
Her ankle twisted, and she hit the ground. Min bit her tongue to keep from screaming.
Hurried footsteps behind her. Min scrambled to her feet. She flinched, her ankle throbbing. The end of the alley wasn’t far, but she was unlikely to make it there before they caught up with her. Her mind spun with frantic ideas, tears burning her eyes.
She had only one chance.
Min unshouldered her backpack and took out the envelope of money from Li Na. Bitter angry tears rolled down her cheeks as she felt the money—her only money—between her fingers. She tossed the money into the air. It fluttered to the alley floor. They were going to get it anyway, but maybe it would prevent them from getting her. She limped toward the end of the alley, ankle screaming in protest.
The running footsteps came to a stop behind her. They would see her, but their attention would be taken with the cash. She hoped.
She rounded the corner, too scared to roll the die and see if they were paying more attention to the money or her.
Min crossed a narrow dirt path and entered an abandoned building through a large crack in the wall. The inside was bare save for a few discolored mattresses and funky rags. The smell was awful. Min limped deep inside the building.
She’d slept here often in days past. Despite its decrepit appearance, it was cool and dry. She swallowed, her throat burning with gulps of dirty air. She threw a glance back toward the alley behind her.
It remained empty. They’d be harvesting her money. She couldn’t walk much farther on her twisted ankle. She would just have to hope they’d had enough fun for the day.
Min fell on top of a mattress green with mold, and sobbed. Her eyes stung with tears but her cheeks remained dry. Her mouth and tongue felt thick and swollen, as though she had swallowed sand and prickly needles. Min was parched for drink, but she dared not expose herself yet.
Min reached into her pocket and pulled out the wooden yo-yo. She slid her fingers along its smooth surface. The memory of a round, grinning face came to mind, happily exclaiming after showing off a new trick with his favorite toy.
Min curled up on the dirty mattress. Her eyes closed as she fell asleep.
WHEN MIN awoke, night had cast its spell over the city, turning it into a dungeon of dangers. She shivered as a cold draft sank deep into her bones. Her thin jacket did little to keep out the cold.
Min groaned as she sat up. Her stomach moaned. She was hungry. She’d have to go scavenge something from a dumpster outside the restaurants.
Eeeeeeeeeeee!
A strange whistle in the distance, high in the sky, like a screaming firework. The low whistle grew in volume, getting louder and louder. Min clapped her hands over her ears. It was so loud!
A low boom exploded overhead, shaking the building to its foundations. If Min hadn’t already been sitting, it would have knocked her to the floor. As quickly as it had happened, it was over.
Min got to her feet, body trembling. She crossed to the nearest window—a crack in the wall facing the river. Strips of pale gray smoke looked like scratches from a terrible beast against the sky, pointing, an arrow, at the roof of her building. The city was calm, quiet, as if no one else had noticed but her.
The ceiling creaked. It was old and often did when there was a strong breeze, but there was no wind this night. A shower of dust fell through the cracks and dusted her lightly. Min stepped back. The ceiling creaked again, this time sounding pained.
Crack!
Min jumped back. The ceiling caved in, curling in upon itself. Min let out a hoarse scream, her arms flying over her head. Dust and rubble swept her with a thick cloud. Min put on her face mask and panted heavily into it.
As the dust settled, a faint pulsing green glow took its place. Min rubbed the dirt from her eyes. A strange green rock lay embedded within the concrete.
Min just stared, unable to move. The green glow pulsed like a heartbeat in a steady rhythm. It was soothing, calm.
But anything unknown was dangerous. She’d learned that through hard experience. The pulse was mesmerizing. She shook off the desire to run. Min took a few tentative steps forward. Debris crunched under her tattered sneakers, small clouds of dust rising with each step. Min’s eyes narrowed.
What is that?
She approached the edge of the small crater. At its heart was a small jagged rock, not dissimilar to a tiger-tooth necklace she had often seen at the market. Only this wasn’t smooth bleached white, but a deep green.
Every sense she had screamed at her to be cautious, to turn and run. But she didn’t. Perhaps it was the spate of bad luck she’d always experienced, and expected some good luck in exchange, or maybe she just didn’t care anymore. She was sick of being alone, of eking her way through life. She would take a risk, just this once.
Min stepped into the crater, a single step, and she was at the center. She crouched down and pushed away concrete fragments. Her fingers brushed over the rock at the center, a smooth surface, surprisingly cool. She pinched the rock between her thumb and forefinger and yanked it out with a firm tug.
She held it up to her eyes. Green flecks rose and fell like a lava lamp within its glassy confines. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She covered it with her hands to protect it from prying eyes. It was even more gorgeous cupped in her hands. It emitted its own light.
Min allowed herself a smile, at her great fortune, and at allowing herself to, for once, take a risk. She could sell it, could get a great deal of money for it. She would never have to dig in dumpsters for food again, never have to watch where she was going. She could be happy.
The rock pulsed again, this time brighter and stronger than before, and a very strange thing happened. The flash of green somehow bled into her fingers and under her skin.
Min dropped the rock, her eyes wide with shock. She looked at her hands. She didn’t notice anything. She rubbed her thumb and fingers together, opening herself to sensing anything strange. But she didn’t.
Min turned her attention back to the innocent rock. It continued to pulse and glow that strange unearthly green color. Pulse. That was what she felt inside herself. A pulse, beside her heartbeat, but separate from it, beating in time to the rock at her feet. A cold shiver ran through her.
A shout. From outside the building.
Min glanced up. She spied nothing but the distant glow of city lights. Was it the gang? Had they found her? Were they back?
Min bent down, snatched the space rock from the earth, and stuffed it in her pocket. A precious fallen star, a new hope.
6.
MOSCOW, RUSSIA
WINTERS in Russia bite deep and do not relinquish their grip easily. Nearing the end of September, and the city was already covered in a thin film of snow that melted and froze again each day. The gray sky was heavy with rain and sleet.
Speckled rain tapped the glass surface of Anton Ivanenkov’s office window. A lone limp cigarette hung unlit from his lips. He leaned against the window, shoulders slumped, expression tired. Yet another dull damp day.
A soft rap against the door startled Anton. The assistant secretary, Vera Borgov, hung back at the threshold.
“Vera,” Anton said with a curt nod.
Vera rubbed pale fingers against her slim neck, tugging at a thin curl of hair that strayed from her ponytail. On her wrist was the ever-present Mickey Mouse watch, proudly pointing out the time. Currently it was 8:05 PM.
“Shouldn’t you be in the conference room now?” Vera said.
“Conference room?” Anton said.
“For your appointment,” Vera said. “For the Petyekov account.”
“Petyekov account?” Anton said. “That’s not scheduled until. . .”
His eyes grew wid
e.
“Who’s with them now?” he said.
“Bogdan,” Vera said.
Bogdan. Of course he was. Anton’s first sniff of a sale in weeks and Bogdan was there to close it.
Anton looked away to avoid the pity in Vera’s eyes. He straightened his suit jacket and adjusted his tie before crossing the threshold. Vera gave him a hearty thumbs-up.
“Good luck!” she said.
Anton breathed out a sigh but said nothing. He hustled through the open plan sales office. No doubt everyone knew what was happening before he did, and approached the conference room. He could hear Bogdan giving the sales spiel—his sales spiel—to his clients.
Anton took a deep breath, affixed the warmest smile he could muster, and then opened the door. A dozen heads turned to look at him. Only a couple showed any sign of recognizing who he was. At the head of the room, Anton met Bogdan Veselov’s smug smirk with a withering glare.
“There he is,” Bogdan said. “The man of the hour. Anton Ivanenkov. Don’t let the commonness of his name delude you. He is quite an exceptional worker.”
“Good evening,” Anton said, forcing a smile.
It would do no good to react to Bogdan’s backhanded compliments now. If he wanted to keep this contract, he needed to wrestle it from Bogdan.
“As I’m sure you are all aware, we’re here to discuss the Petyekov Account—” Anton said.
“As I’ve already surmised,” Bogdan said with a roll of his eyes. “This is why you should never be late to important meetings. You slow everything down.”
Clearly the change in meeting time was Bogdan’s idea. But admitting that, and the fact Anton hadn’t been forewarned, meant he wasn’t important in the company, and invalidate his position. Anton exhaled slowly.
“Come along, Anton, the men would like to hear a pitch, not an introduction,” Bogdan said. “While you’re here, you might as well make yourself useful.”
After the Fall- The Complete series Box Set Page 65
