Tales of the Scarlet Knight Collection: The Call

by P. T. Dilloway

  “I’m here, sweetie. I’m here.”

  The little girl nodded and then fell back to sleep. Marie wiped the tears from her eyes. Her eye had at least done one good thing: Veronica was still alive. Marie would keep it that way no matter who she had to make a pact with.

  Chapter 22

  Emma had gone back into the sewer, but with the armor on the rats wanted no part of her. Once at street level, she knew she needed a faster mode of transportation than hopping along rooftops. She saw what she needed by a parking meter: a motorcycle similar to her own except it was pink. As she got on the bike, she heard a woman shout, “Hey, what are you doing?”

  It was Constance Reuben. She was much younger than the one in the original timeline, younger even than Emma. The biggest difference besides her youth was this Mrs. Reuben’s hair matched the pink of the bike. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Reuben. I need to borrow your bike.”

  “Who’s Mrs. Reuben?”

  “Could you give me the keys please?”

  “You’re carjacking me?”

  “It’s an emergency. I promise I’ll return it here in a day or two.” Emma doubted she would need to follow through on this promise. In any case it didn’t seem to assuage Mrs. Reuben’s anger at all. “Please don’t make me hurt you.”

  “Fine. This stupid city. Full of weirdoes.” She reached into the pocket of her leather pants and produced the keys. She tossed these to Emma. “Try not to wreck it.”

  “I won’t,” Emma said. Then she started the bike.

  From there it was like old times. She raced along the streets on Mrs. Reuben’s motorcycle; she veered onto the shoulder or even the sidewalk if she needed to. She wasn’t sure where to go, at least not until she saw the police car flipped over about six blocks from Robinson Park. A half-dozen of the Class-4 demons advanced on the car.

  Emma drove the bike straight at them. At the last moment she flipped the bike sideways and leaped from it. As the bike scattered the demons, Emma used the cape to drift down behind the overturned police car.

  She found two officers beside the car. The scrawny one with stringy red hair she recognized as Officer Early. The obese one with dark hair looked like Becky in the other timeline, but beneath the flab Emma realized it was Lieutenant Donovan. She certainly sounded like Lieutenant Donovan as she said, “Who the hell are you?”

  “I’m the Scarlet Knight,” Emma said.

  “Who?”

  “I’m a superhero here to save you.”

  “Yeah, right, a superhero,” Early said with a snort. “Whatever you’re on, kid, give me some.”

  “You’ll see,” Emma said. “I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.”

  She scurried out from behind the car. She pulled out the Sword of Justice as she ran. The demons had regrouped from her sneak attack with the bike. They stood in a semi-circle to face her.

  One of the demons bared his sharp teeth. “This is the Scarlet Knight?” he said.

  “Go home and play with your dolls, kid,” another said.

  As with Niccione and his goons, the demons required a demonstration. Without a word, Emma tossed the Sword of Justice into the air and then somersaulted towards the demons. She came out of the roll to sweep the legs of the nearest demon. At the same time, the Sword of Justice pierced through the shoulder of another.

  Emma found her shorter frame in this timeline actually gave her more agility. Combined with the augmented strength from the armor, she had no problem with the demons. Sylvia had told her to think of them as vermin like rats or cockroaches, but she still couldn’t bring herself to kill them. Once they were unconscious, she went back to the police cruiser.

  “Jesus Christ,” Donovan said. “I guess you ain’t just some nut in a costume.”

  “Thanks,” Emma said. She reached into a pouch on her belt to take out four pieces of string Sylvia had given to her. The strings were straight with a trio of knots tied in them. Sylvia had said the knots would keep the demons from changing shape. “Those guys are going to wake up in a few minutes. Make sure you keep one of these strings on them at all times. Understand?”

  “Strings? What good are strings?” Early asked.

  “These aren’t ordinary thugs,” Emma said. “They’re demons. These strings will keep them from changing shape and getting away.”

  “Demons? Are you high or something?”

  Donovan took the strings from Emma. “Makes as much sense as anything,” she said. She really wasn’t like Lieutenant Donovan as she patted Emma’s shoulder. “Thanks for the assist, kid.”

  “Just doing my job,” Emma said. Then she went to retrieve her bike.

  ***

  By five in the morning, as the first rays of sunlight appeared on the horizon, the demons finally retired for the night. Throughout the night, Emma had thwarted fifteen separate attacks, but that was only a small fraction of the total. When she didn’t hear of any new reports on the news, she decided to call it a night—or a morning.

  She didn’t go back to the Rampart Arms or to Parkdale. Instead, she went to the hospital. She left the pink motorcycle in an alley, propped behind a dumpster. She hoped that would be an effective enough camouflage for now. Otherwise she would have to find a new bike to steal.

  She left the armor beside the dumpster, though she knew from experience it would soon vanish back to the Sanctuary to wait for her. Only then, clad in Sylvia’s clothes, did she go into the hospital to see her husband.

  At the front desk for the emergency room she asked the nurse for Dan Dreyfus. “They moved him up to intensive care,” the nurse said.

  “Oh. Thank you.” Emma hurried to find the nearest elevator and then took it up to the third floor for intensive care.

  The nurse at that front counter said, “Only family is allowed in right now.”

  “I’m his wife,” Emma said. She held up her wedding ring for emphasis.

  “That’s beautiful,” the nurse said. She pointed down the hall. “He’s in room 306. He’s doing fine.”

  Emma nodded and then walked down the hallway as fast as she could. She paused at the door for 306 and took a deep breath. Some honeymoon, she thought.

  As befitted a man as wealthy as Dan, he had a private room. He lay on the bed, asleep, with bandages on his midsection. Machines beeped and hummed around him. Emma checked the readouts to confirm what the nurse had said. Dan was in no danger, unless those demons came back.

  She collapsed onto a chair next to him and reached for his hand. No, the demons didn’t care about Dan. They only cared about her and the red armor. Even in this timeline she had put him in danger. “It’s not fair,” she whispered. “Why can’t we be together?”

  She contemplated this for a few minutes. Then his eyes fluttered open. He groaned a little and then turned to her. Despite everything that had happened, his smile remained the same. “Hey, babe,” he said.

  “Hi.”

  “Not the honeymoon you had in mind, was it?”

  She chuckled. “No, I guess not.” She leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. “We can take another honeymoon later. For now you just rest.”

  “How did I get here? What happened to those…things?”

  “Someone from hotel security came in and scared them away,” Emma said, yet another lie she’d been forced to tell him. Just as she could never keep him out of danger, she could never be truly honest with him either.

  “Well, that’s lucky.” He peeked beneath his gown at the bandages. “They didn’t get anything important, did they?”

  “No. You’re going to be fine. It’ll just take a few weeks for those cuts to heal.”

  “Great. This wasn’t what I planned for our wedding night.”

  “I know, but the important thing is you’re alive.”

  “Sure. I just wanted this to be really special for you. I mean, you were really looking forward to this.”

  “All I care about is having you.” She gave his hand another squeeze. “The rest of it doesn’t matter.”

&n
bsp; He tried to sit up, but got only a few inches before he groaned again. She leaned down to kiss him on the lips. It wasn’t quite as passionate as their kiss in the hot tub, but she didn’t care. She was grateful to still have him. But for how much longer?

  ***

  Marie snapped awake when she heard Veronica call her name. The little girl sat up in bed; she clutched her doll to her chest as she shivered. “Marie?”

  “I’m here, sweetheart,” Marie said. She put an arm around Veronica’s shoulders. With the other she turned on the light.

  “Where are we? Where’s Mama and Papa?”

  “We’re at a friend’s house. He has a doctor to make sure you get better. Then I’ll take you to Mama and Papa.”

  Veronica continued to shiver. Marie felt the girl’s forehead. It was slightly warm, but not dangerously so. “Are you thirsty?” Veronica nodded, so Marie poured a glass of water for her. That still didn’t seem to settle the girl down. “What’s wrong, sweetheart? Did you have a bad dream?”

  “Yes. I dreamed there were awful monsters all around us. They were black and they had wings and yellow eyes. They chased after us. Then we got separated. I kept calling and calling, but I couldn’t find you. Then one of the monsters landed in front of me. He was going to kill me, but I woke up.”

  Marie pressed Veronica’s head to her chest and stroked her hair. “It’s all right, sweetheart. It was just a nightmare. There aren’t any monsters here.”

  “I want to go home!” Veronica blurted out. “Can’t we go home now? I feel better.”

  “Not yet. We have to wait until we’re sure you’re better. We don’t want you to have another relapse.”

  “What’s a relapse?”

  “It’s when you get sick again. That’s what happened. Your fever relapsed.”

  “Will it relapse again?”

  “I hope not, but we have to be very careful. You have to stay here and do what the doctor says. Understand?”

  “Yes.”

  There was a knock on the door. Before Marie could answer, the Watchmaker burst in. He grinned at them. Veronica whimpered and snuggled closer to Marie. “I see the little one is up and around again.”

  “Where’s the doctor?”

  “Dr. Torrence will be here soon. In the meantime, I thought I’d bring you a present.”

  Marie shuddered as she imagined the Watchmaker would hold up the head of Douglas on a stick. Instead, another large man wheeled in a television on a cart. “I thought this might help little Veronica in her recovery.”

  “That’s very thoughtful. Isn’t it, Veronica?”

  “Yes,” Veronica squeaked. “Thank you.”

  “It’s nothing at all, darling girl. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other business to attend to.” He left them with the large man, who didn’t so much as look at Marie as he got the television hooked up. Word of what had happened to Douglas must have trickled down to him.

  The man left without a word. He did leave the remote on Veronica’s bed. Marie scooped it up and flipped through the channels until she found some cartoons for Veronica to watch. As they sat there on the bed, Veronica pressed against Marie; it was easy enough to imagine everything was perfectly normal. Maybe if they could find a way out of this, things could be like this all the time.

  Veronica fell asleep again after an hour of television. Marie flipped through the channels again and stopped on a news station. The headline at the bottom of the screen screamed, “Terror Shakes Rampart City.” Marie went over to the television and put her ear near the speaker so it wouldn’t disturb Veronica.

  “Reports are coming in all over the city of mysterious attacks against police and government officials. Police Commissioner Kramer and Mayor Lintner have refused to comment on the identity of the attackers and no terrorist organization has taken credit for the attacks so far. But our sources indicate the police have a number of the terrorists in custody.”

  Marie looked to the door. She knew who the attackers were: those “co-workers” of the Watchmaker. His demon army was on the march to take over the city. But why? What did he want? And more importantly, why did he need her?

  On the screen came a blurry image of a pink motorcycle with a red figure atop it; a streak of gold trailed behind the figure. “Numerous reports have also come in of a female vigilante in red armor riding a pink motorcycle. Again there’s no official comment, but sources within the Rampart City Police Department indicated the vigilante calls herself the Scarlet Knight. She’s believed to be armed and extremely dangerous. Anyone who sees this vigilante should immediately contact the police.”

  Marie changed the channel. There was little doubt in Marie’s mind that Emma Earl was the Scarlet Knight in this timeline as well. She must have tried to stop the demons last night. Marie looked back at the bed, at Veronica. How long before Emma showed up here? What would Marie do then?

  With a sigh she curled back up in her armchair to wait.

  Chapter 23

  Emma didn’t know when she’d fallen asleep, but she awoke to a hand on her shoulder. Her mother smiled down at her. “Hello, baby. How are you holding up?”

  “I’m fine.” She looked over at the bed. Dan was still asleep. “Has the doctor been in?”

  “I’m not sure. We just got here.”

  “Daddy’s here?”

  “And your sister. They’re in the waiting room. The nurses don’t want too many people in the room at once.”

  “Oh, right.” Emma yawned and then got to her feet. She patted Dan’s hand. “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she whispered to him.

  As her mother had said, her father and Becky were in the waiting room. Becky shot over to Emma to wrap her in a hug. “Oh my God! I’m so sorry, Em.”

  “It’s all right. I’m fine.”

  Becky leaned back a bit and frowned. “Where did you get those clothes, Rambo’s garage sale?”

  “A friend let me borrow them.”

  “What friend?”

  “No one you would know.”

  “Uh-huh. Well, Mom and I will get you some clothes from home. Something that actually fits. And some makeup. You look awful, kid.”

  “Now, Becky, your sister’s been through enough already. To think some burglars would break into her room on her wedding night. People in this city have no shame.”

  “You should sue that damned hotel. What kind of security do they have there to allow those burglars right up to the penthouse?”

  “It’s fine, Daddy. They didn’t get anything and Dan will be all right.”

  “It’s still not right,” her father grumbled, but he got up to join them in a group hug. “How about you, kiddo? How are you?”

  “I’m all right, Daddy. I’m just tired.”

  “Maybe you should go home—”

  “I can’t. Dan will wake up again soon. I have to be here. He’s my husband.”

  “Yes, well, I suppose that’s true. I guess your sister and I should go home to fetch you some things.”

  “We’ll bring you some lunch too,” Becky said. “This hospital food is shit.”

  After one last squeeze, Becky left with Emma’s father in tow. Mom gave Emma a squeeze of her own. “I suppose we can go back to the room now.”

  They sat by Dan’s bed for over an hour without much conversation. The doctor finally showed up to confirm what Emma already knew: Dan’s cuts needed some time to heal, but otherwise he would be fine. The doctor estimated Dan could leave the ICU by the end of the day. After another few days of observation, he could go home.

  “That’s good news. Thank you,” Emma said.

  When the doctor had mentioned “home” Emma grimaced. She assumed they would live in Dan’s mansion in the Heights. If he lived there. She hadn’t checked on that. Nor had she considered what it would be like to share a house with him. She remembered how nervous she’d felt last night at the thought they might sleep together in a hotel; a private bedroom would be much more awkward.

  That was if they
got that far. She had little doubt those demons would return again tonight. Perhaps this time they would kill her. Even if they didn’t, she still had to find Marie and sort things out. When she did, everything would go back to the way it had been. Her parents would be dead again and Dan would be back in Egypt with no memory of her.

  “What’s the matter, baby?” her mother asked.

  “Oh, it’s nothing.”

  “I know this is a bad situation, but he’s alive. That’s the important thing.”

  “I know. Thanks, Mom.”

  “Why all the long faces?” Dan asked.

  Emma bolted to her feet to wrap him in a gentle hug and kiss him on the lips. “How are you feeling? Any pain? I can call the nurse—”

  “I’m fine, babe. It doesn’t hurt that much.”

  “Hey, you two, take it easy,” Becky said from the doorway. Emma’s father stood behind her with a suitcase. “We got plenty of stuff in here to last a few days.”

  “I don’t know, I kind of like this look on Em,” Dan said. “She’s one bad mama.”

  Emma playfully slapped him on the shoulder. “I have to get out of these boots at least. They’re killing me.”

  She took the suitcase into the bathroom to change. Becky had brought an assortment of Emma’s tube tops and shorts. Emma picked one of each at random. Then she slipped her feet into a pair of tennis shoes that were far more comfortable than Sylvia’s combat boots.

  The rest of the afternoon felt almost normal, except they were in a hospital room. Emma and Becky joked around with her parents. Dan slept much of the time, but joined in when he was lucid enough. It was hard to believe last night had actually happened.

  As the doctor had said, they moved Dan upstairs to the fifth floor, into another private room. “The décor isn’t any better,” Dan grumbled, but he smiled.

  “A couple more days and you’ll be out of here,” she said and kissed him on the cheek.

  “I can’t wait. But you might have to carry me over the threshold.”

  “I don’t think I could without a forklift,” she joked. Or without the scarlet armor, she thought to herself. That prompted her to look out the window. It was almost sunset. The demons would probably start to come out soon.