by Clayton Wood
Hunter sighed, placing the cube on the floor near the bed. Then he grabbed his medallion, and hesitated. Trixie was coming tonight, so he shouldn’t put it under the bed. He placed it in one corner of the apartment, then sat down on the bed again, thinking of Trixie. He still felt guilty about allowing her to do what she did when he didn’t realize it was her, but the sting wasn’t as bad as it’d been this morning. He supposed that Trixie just had that effect on him…he simply couldn’t resist her. Hell, even thinking about her now made his body react. He closed his eyes, picturing her as she’d been last night, when she’d had her way with him that first time. When he’d given in to her, despite his mind’s protests, and allowed her to bring him to ecstasy.
Damn, he thought, feeling himself growing steadily, straining against his pants.
There was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” he called out, sitting up quickly and putting his arms in front of his groin. The door opened, but it wasn’t Trixie that stepped through. It was Sukri. “Oh, hey,” he greeted.
“Heya Crispy,” she replied. “You got a minute?”
“Yeah, what’s up?” he asked. “I thought you were going out drinking.”
“Oh I am,” she confirmed. “I just wanted to talk to you in private first. Nice place by the way,” she added, looking around. Hunter grimaced.
“Ha ha.”
“What’s that?” she asked, gesturing at the cube near his bed. Hunter shrugged.
“Hell if I know,” he replied. “I found it under the bed earlier.” Sukri frowned, walking up to it and kneeling down, staring at its symbols.
“Well damn,” she said, picking it up and rotating it slowly, looking at the symbols carved on its sides. “Holy shit.”
“What?”
“This is a Temple Stone,” she replied. “I can’t believe this.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s from the Acropolis,” Sukri explained. “A block of obsidian from the Temple of Tykus,” she added. “I’ve never actually seen one in real life before.” She glanced at him. “These are incredibly rare. People here would kill to have one of these.”
“What’s it doing here?” he asked. Sukri shook her head.
“I have no idea,” she admitted. “But someone really important must have put it here.”
“Why?”
“Each Temple Stone is kept by the Alter of Tykus,” she explained. “They’re exposed to the most devout worshippers at the Temple, absorbing their wills. We’re talking nobles here, not peasants like us. Tykus is strong with them.”
“I don’t get it,” he admitted. “Why would someone put it under my bed?”
“To expose you to the will of the devout,” Sukri answered. “They want to make you loyal to the kingdom…to Tykus.” She smirked. “Probably want to make you less crispy too.”
“What?”
“You’re an Original,” Sukri explained. “They worship Originals, like Tykus. But they don’t want to end up with another civil war.”
“I don’t get it,” Hunter admitted. Sukri sighed, sitting down on his bed. He sat down next to her.
“Fifty years ago,” she began, “…an Original came through the Gate. The kingdom took her in, and she lived in the Outskirts.” She ran a hand through her hair. “The Outskirts were a lot bigger back then, covering the Deadlands.”
“Wait, the Deadlands were…”
“Hold on,” Sukri interrupted. “Let me finish.” Hunter nodded. “There were a ton of people like us back then, immigrants the kingdom allowed to enter the city. People from other kingdoms coming to Tykus to try to live a better life.”
“Okay.”
“Tykus was, and is, the richest kingdom in the world,” she continued. “Back then, the Lords were more generous, sometimes even allowing more wealthy peasants to rent land from them. People in the Outskirts could have homes, not just shitty apartments like this.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Anyway, this Original, she lived in the Outskirts, at the very edge, near the Fringe.”
“The what?”
“The edge of the forest,” Sukri explained. “People who lived there were corrupted over time by the forest.”
“Like corrupted with emotions?” Hunter pressed. Sukri hesitated.
“Sort of,” she replied. “The forest hates us, so people who live near it started to hate the kingdom too. And they started to…change.”
“Change how?”
“Well, you know how objects absorb emotions?” Sukri asked. Hunter nodded. “That’s not all they absorb,” she continued. “See, they absorb everything around them. Emotions, appearances, personalities…everything.”
Hunter just stared at her.
“The forest changed the people near the Fringe, made them start to look different. A little darker, a little stranger. Just…not quite right. The Acropolis sent soldiers out regularly to examine the peasants, and if they thought a peasant was becoming too corrupted by the forest, they’d either throw them out of the city…or kill them.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah,” Sukri muttered. “The Acropolis didn’t want the peasants to turn against them, so they had to keep people from being too corrupted by the forest.”
“How can the forest hate us?” Hunter asked. “I mean, it’s just trees.” Trees didn’t have emotions, after all.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “But it does. That’s one of the reasons Tykus created the Deadlands,” she added. “The forest is so far away now that it can’t corrupt anyone in the city.” She paused, putting the Temple Stone down, then putting her hands in her lap, glancing sidelong at him. “Anyway, the Original, she lived near the Fringe. One day, when the soldiers from the Acropolis came to take away corrupted peasants, she and a crowd of other peasants stopped them. They fought back, killing the soldiers, then starting a massive revolt in the city.”
“Why?”
“They say she was corrupted by the forest too,” Sukri answered. “And she was very strong-willed…a born leader. The peasants rallied around her, and she led them against Tykus, starting the Civil War.”
“What happened?”
“The peasant army attacked the city, killing many of the nobles. Some even got past the inner wall, around the Acropolis itself. The Acropolis fought back, eventually killing most of the peasants. The survivors fled into the forest.”
“What happened to the Original?” Hunter pressed. Sukri shrugged.
“No one knows,” she answered. “She fled with the surviving peasants. No one ever saw them again.” She sighed. “After that, the Outskirts were…significantly downsized. The king ordered most of it demolished, turning it into the Deadlands. Then one of the dukes had the wall built around the city to keep out any immigrants…anyone corrupted by the forest, and anyone who wasn’t like them. Like Tykus.”
“Damn.”
“People like me,” she continued, “…and Gammon and Kris, we’re descendants of the original peasants. That’s why we look different than everybody else.” She sighed. “They let us live here, but we’ll never be anything but peasants. Becoming a Seeker is the only way out for us.”
“I get it,” Hunter muttered. It was the only way out of here for him, too…literally and figuratively. She smiled at him, putting a hand on his knee.
“I know you do,” she replied. “You’re one of us now.”
“Thanks for taking me in,” Hunter stated, smiling back.
“Aw, no problem Crispy,” Sukri replied. She leaned against him, resting her head against his shoulder, her hair tickling the side of his face. He was suddenly reminded of Trixie, of how her hair had done the same the night before. Even the thought of it made him shift uneasily on the bed. If it hadn’t been for Sukri’s hand on his knee, he would’ve put his hands in his lap. “I’m glad I did, you know.”
“Huh?”
“I’m glad I took you in,” she clarified, turning her head to look at him. He’d never really noticed her eyes be
fore. They were bright blue, almond-shaped, and slightly slanted…quite stunning, actually. Her lips were much fuller than Trixie’s, he couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to kiss them.
“Me too,” he murmured, pushing the thought away.
“You’re almost as much of an ass as I am,” she added with a grin. He had to smile at that.
“Yeah, you’re probably right about that.”
“Of course I am,” she agreed. She sighed, staring at him for a long moment, then shaking her head. “Damn,” she muttered.
“What?”
“I gotta get off this bed,” she said, standing up and walking to the other side of the room. “Damn Hunter,” she added. “You must’ve had a hell of a night last night.” He stared at her.
“What are you talking about?”
“Ah, that’s better,” she said, ignoring his question. “Who’s the girl you’ve been seeing?”
“Her name’s Trixie,” he answered.
“What does she look like?”
“Blond hair, blue eyes,” Hunter replied. “Cute,” he added. He frowned then. “She looked exactly like the woman from the tryouts,” he added.
“Which one?”
Hunter explained what had happened after the first round of eliminations, after he’d faced the homeless wretch in that tiny room. The woman who’d looked like Trixie’s twin. When he finished, Sukri just stared at him for a long moment.
“What?” he asked.
“You’re talking about the woman who tried to seduce us,” Sukri stated. Hunter nodded.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Sukri stared at him a moment longer, then crossed her arms over her chest.
“How did you meet her?”
Hunter explained his meeting with Ekrin, and how Trixie had been tasked with showing him the town, and his apartment. When he was done, Sukri paused, then sat down on the bed next to him again, shaking her head slowly.
“Holy shit,” she muttered. She turned to look at him. “You do realize what she is, don’t you?”
“Uh, no.”
“Hunter,” Sukri stated, putting a hand on his arm. “Your girlfriend’s a prostitute.”
Hunter stared at her blankly.
“That woman at the test,” Sukri pressed. “She was a prostitute too.”
“Ha ha,” Hunter replied. “Very funny Sukri.” But Sukri shook her head.
“I’m dead serious,” she retorted. “All of the higher-end hookers in the city look like that. Exactly like that.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Hunter protested. “Trixie’s not a hooker! Why would Ekrin send a hooker to help me find my apartment?”
Sukri regarded him silently for a long moment, then sighed.
“You’re right,” she mumbled. “It doesn’t make much sense, does it?”
“No, it doesn’t,” Hunter agreed.
“Sorry,” she mumbled.
“Hey, no problem,” Hunter reassured her. “You’re just looking out for me, I get it.”
“That’s what friends do,” she agreed, giving him a smile. Then she turned, looking down at the bed, the sheet covering it bunched up at the end. She ran a hand over it, then laid back, turning so that she was laying lengthwise. She shuffled over, leaving an empty spot next to her, and patting it with her hand. “Come on, take a load off, Crispy.”
“Like, lay down?” he asked.
“I’ve been standing and sitting the whole damn day,” she replied. “I’m gonna let the blood outta my legs.” She patted the bed again. “Come on,” she pressed. “It feels weird with you sitting over me like that. Like you’re my dad putting me to sleep.”
“All right,” Hunter agreed. He laid down next to her, feeling a little awkward. She laughed.
“Look at you, all nervous,” she observed. “You shy, Crispy?”
“Only around pretty girls,” he quipped, smiling back. She arched an eyebrow.
“All right,” she murmured. “You got some game.” She rolled onto her side, looking at him. “How’re you holding up, anyway?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well let’s see,” she began. “You’re stranded on a strange world forever, no chance of ever going back home. You’re living in a rotten slum with a bunch of people that hate you and are afraid of you.” She grinned then. “And your apartment sucks. I mean it really sucks.”
“Tell me about it,” he agreed, breaking out into a grin.
“So?” she pressed. “Answer the question.”
“I’m…” he began, then sighed. The truth was, he didn’t know how he was doing. He hadn’t really had much time to think about it. His days had been spent with Sukri and the rest of the gang, and his nights with Trixie. He hadn’t had much time to himself. To reflect. “I don’t know,” he confessed.
“Sorry Crispy,” she murmured, putting a hand on his arm. “I can’t imagine what it would be like, being you.”
“What, being black?” he quipped. But she didn’t smile.
“Being lost,” she countered.
He said nothing, but swallowed noisily, turning away from her and staring up at the ceiling. She was right…he was lost. And Sukri, Kris, Gammon, and of course Trixie were the only people he had in this new world. Hell, if it hadn’t been for Sukri, he’d never have had a chance at finding his mom.
“Thanks for everything, Sukri,” he said, turning back to her. She smiled, saying nothing, looking back at him silently with those blue, slightly slanted eyes. He found himself staring back, once again surprised at how striking her eyes were. Again, he found his gaze drawn to her lips, so much fuller than Trixie’s thin, pale lips. They were slightly parted, and whether due to a sudden burst of affection for her, or her closeness, he had the sudden urge to kiss them.
“Whatcha thinking?” she inquired.
“Nothing you’d wanna know,” he replied with a smirk. She arched an eyebrow.
“You sure ‘bout that?”
“Not really,” he admitted. She raised both eyebrows then, and rolled onto her back, stretching her arms over her head and yawning. He stole a glance at her body; she was curvy in all the right places, unlike Trixie’s slim, more angular shape. Sukri was more…feminine. He raised his gaze to her eyes as she finished her stretch, rolling back onto her side and looking back at him. She put a warm hand on his arm again, then slid it down until it rested on his upper thigh.
“Let’s see if I can figure it out,” she murmured, leaning in close, her lips inches from his now. He felt her hand slide sideways on his upper thigh, toward his groin…and felt himself growing to meet that hand, sliding under it. Part of him wanted to pull away, to stand up and leave the room. But he was intoxicated by her…her eyes, her scent. Her closeness. He stayed where he was, feeling her hand on him, the gentle pressure promising a…
Then she pulled away, sitting up.
“What…?” he began.
“Wow,” Sukri said, running a hand through her hair. “Okay, I think I need to stop there.” She took a deep breath in, then let it out. “Have I made my point?”
“What point?” he asked, sitting up and hastily hiding the bulge in his pants. She glanced at it, then at him.
“Objects absorb emotions, right?” she said. Hunter nodded. She patted the bed with one hand. “I’ll give you one guess what emotion your bed’s absorbed.”
Hunter stared down at the bed, then blanched.
“Yeah,” Sukri stated. “Your bed is horny as hell.” She backed away from him, getting off the bed and standing up. “And if I don’t get off of it now, we’re going to have sex.”
Hunter stared at her, then got off the bed too, staring at it.
“You’re saying that my bed is making me…uh, us…horny?” She nodded.
“Sorry to say,” she replied with a wry smirk. “Not that I don’t like you, Crispy. But I barely know you.”
“Why did you…” he began, remembering how she’d touched him.
“I wanted to prove m
y point,” she answered. “Touching your happy place wasn’t part of the plan, but I underestimated how goddamn powerful that bed is.” She shook her head. “Must’ve had a hell of a night last night, huh?”
“Tell me about it,” Hunter muttered. That explained why he wasn’t able to stop Trixie from having her way with him last night, when he’d thought she was someone else. The bed had affected him just as much as Thorius’s crystal sphere, controlling his emotions. “Jesus,” he murmured, shaking his head.
“Hunter,” Sukri said, breaking him from his reverie. “I’m sorry to say this, but your girlfriend really is a whore.”
“Come on,” Hunter retorted. “How can you say that?”
“Every girl from the higher-end brothels looks the same,” Sukri explained. “They’re raised in the brothels, absorbing all the…emotions stored in the rooms. I’m talking a shit-ton of lust, hundreds of years’ worth of it, stored in those buildings.” She sighed. “The girls raised there worship at a different altar than everyone else. An altar in the brothel, one that turns them into friggin’ nymphomaniacs.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Well,” Sukri began, “…it’s hard to explain to someone who hasn’t grown up here. I mean, it’s like you don’t even know how the world works.”
“Then teach me.”
“I’ll try, Crispy,” she replied with a sigh. “But I need to get away from that fucking bed. Let’s go for a walk.”
They did just that, Sukri leading him out of the apartment and down the stairs to the docks below. The sun was close to setting, light splaying across the water below. Hunter realized that he didn’t feel aroused at all anymore. He glanced at Sukri; she was attractive, and did have pretty eyes, but he no longer found her irresistible.
“Okay,” Sukri stated. “Here goes. So, every generation, there’s a few people who are just absolutely amazing at whatever their job is. Geniuses who’re better than everyone else, right?”
“Right,” Hunter agreed. Like Einstein.
“Eventually these people die,” she continued. “And the kingdom mummifies them, then keeps their bones.”
“Why would they do that?”
