by P. S. Power
It had been hard to see, since he was just some boy there. A kid at lunch with them. The truth was, Mark was a hero. The kind of person that threw themselves in front of bullets to save children they didn’t know. Or just possibly, spend his entire life, for the safety of a friend.
It was a horrible thing, regardless, even if it was noble and so big that she couldn’t really wrap her head around it. Tarsus, or the version of him inside of her, ran the odds however. There had been nearly a fifty-fifty chance of something like that happening. After all, Ann and Allison wouldn’t have chosen him for recruitment if he hadn’t had something more to him than was obvious.
It took her to the end of the lunch allotment to finish her meal. It was both oddly lonely, everyone being gone, in the crowd of bodies and incredible din, and normal to her. She’d been alone long enough not to need others there to prop her up. It was, she realized, a kind of strength. One that most adults likely had by the time they were younger than she was, by a good bit. The thought got her to smile to herself.
Then, since no one else was there, she took the fine basket back to Edom’s house and came back to school before class started. That was against the rules, but only if she got caught breaking them.
Muttering to herself, she entered her second to last class of the day.
“I think these Demons might be a bad influence on me.”
Art class went fine, since she focused as tightly as she could. In physical education, they had running that day, as a special treat. Most of the students walked around the track, not getting much from the exercise, but she managed a nicely paced run, which had her matching Phillip. Avery glanced at him, as the Human boy actually pulled ahead of her, working hard to do so.
In a sprint, she was faster than anyone else there that day. Still, here he was, focusing his thoughts enough that space itself blurred under his regard, driving his body into real pain, trying to become more than he should have been. It was impressive.
The boy himself was oddly regular looking. He was fit enough, but didn’t seem hyper muscled or as if he lived to exercise. His nose looked to have been broken at some point and was bent just a bit to the right. His hands were callused obviously on the palms, but that was from weight lifting. The knuckles were bruised on the backs, as were the sides of his hands. Probably from hitting things, trying to become stronger. Shifters didn’t have those kinds of things in the main. Calluses, but not bruises that lingered for days.
He was, from the outside, if you weren’t paying attention, a rather plain and boring seeming young Human. Quiet, since he did his best at everything he could, which in the main didn’t mean talking. There was an oddness there, since regular kids didn’t do any of that. In a small way it reminded her of how Mark and Leslie had seemed, after being told to do their best that day.
Except that, when she checked, there was no line or flavor of a Demon around him. Just a Human being who was nearly harming himself, keeping up with her. Avery didn’t back off, running a bit faster herself, doing her own meditation to fight the pain away from her mind as she did it.
That pace was held until they had to go in, which they did at a walk. Halfway back to the gym, she smiled at him, then pushed his arm to get his attention.
“Meet me after school? I don’t have a lot of time, but you really need to meet some people.”
That got a blank look from the boy, his face not giving anything away about how he was feeling.
“I do?”
“Yes. I can get you there, then back to your home if that’s needed. I won’t have a lot of time… But it will be enough. What’s your home life like?” It was probably too bold a thing to ask a person she didn’t know well, but the boy just shrugged.
“Fine, really. Two parents, a few brothers, a couple of sisters. I’m not starved or beaten. No one cares that much if I make it in the world, but other than that, not bad. You?”
Avery kept walking, but answered.
“A few years ago I was attacked by my clan. They told the police, your Human authorities that my mother was dead. I found out last night that she lived, but has become the slave of a Greater Demon. The Rotted. Mark, a boy from school here, gained favor for her with the Demon, by trading his life away into enslavement less than two hours ago. She, my mother, was made to seem younger and is a cheerleader here. Leslie.”
The boy didn’t even make a hard face at the news. Then, he also didn’t seem to doubt her at all.
“Leslie Schmidt? How are we going to get her free? I don’t know the rules there at all. Greater Demons… I’ve read some things, but most people don’t think those are real. Though, if Shifters can come to school with you, then they almost have to be, don’t they?”
She nodded as they neared the building. Human children had different facilities for the men and women to change and shower in, rather than a shared one which was the common way for Shifters.
“The bargain struck is probably about what we can do for her. It seems, if it wasn’t a lie, that Ann, The Rotted, took her as a slave to protect her from other Greater Demons. Ones that would have used her to control me. Part of the deal is that Ann has to love her now. Mark as well. Hopefully that means they’ll be treated as well as possible.”
Phillip went silent, for a bit. Sweat covered him, soaking his clothing.
“I can meet you out here in ten minutes?”
She nodded smiling.
“Shower first. I’ll wait for you. We need to meet a Vampire, so you’ll want to smell as clean as possible. Not that you do poorly, but special care might be needed, given that.” She felt rude, saying the obvious, then realized it might not be that way to him.
She hadn’t really explained anything, after all.
“Yeah. No one wants to be the one who reeks. Fifteen minutes then.”
She wasn’t sweat soaked, but still cleaned herself well, since the advice wasn’t a poor idea. When the young man came out, his short reddish hair was brushed or combed, going almost straight back, and he had two shirts on. A t-shirt and a baggy, oversized button up over that. Along with black colored jeans that were loose enough to move in. His shoes were the running kind, but were different than the ones he’d exercised in.
He had a school bag with him, but the sodden clothing inside wasn’t too bad scent wise. There was a hint of plastic however, which she understood after a moment. He’d wrapped them up to protect his other things. That was probably good enough.
“Follow me. We’ll be doing some walking. Not that much.” Looking over her shoulder as she moved, Avery grinned. “You’ve heard of the nodes?” It was possible. After all, the kid was clearly not doing the normal Human trick of thinking everything they saw was a dream, after all. Why that was… Well, it probably came down to how he’d organized his mind, rather than a natural talent.
Tarsus, the one in her head handed that part of things to her.
Human beings were naturally clever, if not always that bright. Mainly because they didn’t apply themselves enough. They made useful slaves for Greater Demons, due to the fact that they could be ordered to do things that they normally wouldn’t have made themselves bother with.
Phillip bothered. It made a difference.
The plain looking boy walked and spoke, his words thoughtful.
“That… Not a lot. Some kind of complex… A natural occurrence, that people, different groups, gather at. Why, I don’t know. That hasn’t really made the net.”
“It wouldn’t have, most likely. For the most part it’s about what you said. People gather at them because it’s a thing to do. Some beings, line walkers, can use them for travel. A lot of groups can, by sacrificing lives of their own kind to open them, temporarily, but only the line walkers really get to do it without cost. Not in lives. Just in focus and effort.”
“Oh. Why open them at all?”
That sounded stupid to her, but she realized that she hadn’t covered that part with the Human. It would have been easy to think that his lacking that information meant he was s
low or deficient somehow. That wasn’t the case. It was ignorance, due to the fact that a lot of things had been hidden from him.
“You can use them to go to other places. It’s kind of like…” She thought back to what Eve had told the Principal of their school. That was a good enough explanation. “It’s like really lame teleportation. You need a rip in space, which is what a node really is, to do it well. There are smaller tears that can be used.”
The boy nodded then.
“That seems right. If there are large things like that, there should be smaller ones. Just from the shifting of space and… I don’t know what could do that. Tear space? It must be nearly impossible.”
Avery looked at him then and shook her head.
“Not really. Space is fluid. It bends and warps due to a lot of different factors. When you were running with me, you were warping the world around you. Not much, but you were doing it. No one else was. Not even me. I can do it, however. It’s how I make holes into reality, from the void between worlds. Anyway, I don’t know if you can see it, but we have a warp right in front of us.”
She waved at it, trying to show him where it was, but that just got a head shake.
“It seems normal to me. So I don’t have this line walking talent?”
“That remains to be seen. Probably not, but that isn’t why I’m taking you with me. Still, even if you just memorize where the weak spots are, you can use them. Not even all the line walkers can see them, so don’t feel bad. Here, take my hand. I’ll walk you through. The trick is just in hitting it from the right direction.”
They ended up in Edom’s back yard. The shortcut there was a very strong one, but going in from the natural tear by the school was the only thing that could be done easily.
The boy didn’t seem upset by the sudden change.
“So, if I reverse this, I should end up where I was?”
“Exactly. This is my house. Two master Vampires live here as well, so if you use this shortcut, try not to bother them. They aren’t violent or bad, but that doesn’t mean they won’t protect themselves if you seem like a threat to them, coming and going at all hours.”
That got a nod. Then the kid tried it. Which did nothing. Not until Avery took him back and forth several times. Then, finally, once, he got it all on his own.
“There. Now you know you can use them. We should hurry, since I have a meeting at four and kind of need to make a call soon. Now, using this rift, we can go to Westfield, which is a node. That means traveling through the void. I’ll pause there, wrapped around you. Meditate while I do that? We won’t stay that long. A few years?” She screwed her mouth to the side. “Which in this world time won’t be more than a few seconds. You won’t need anything there, except to focus and meditate. Keep bringing yourself back to the center.”
Then, taking his hand, she stepped into the floating disk, not knowing what she was really doing. It wasn’t line walker training. Once there she understood why doing that wasn’t going to work. Her school pal was simply too young for it. That would change if they wanted to spend centuries in the void together, but that day there was no time for it. What they did do was sit there, together, meditating for nearly two decades. Possibly four or five. She couldn’t tell, to be honest.
His mind didn’t break, which was a great sign. In truth, if she’d had more time, she could have allowed him to try and stay in the void alone. It probably meant that they’d been there for a lot longer than she’d let herself believe. Tarsus, for some reason, suggested that she not share that information with anyone yet. It would be easier to gain control over the child before he became a line walker, after all.
When she pulled him out, into the back of Yoghurt World, she slapped him on the arm.
“That was good. Nearly perfect. Eve?” She pitched her voice so it would carry. Almost instantly a pretty girl was there, standing in the doorway of the back chamber. Her hair was about shoulder length and she was smiling. That wasn’t real, at first, until she noticed that Avery was doing the same thing. She had a green and white apron on, which was still fraying in places.
That got pointed to.
“I need to fix those. Later, if I have the time.” She gestured at Phillip, who was covertly looking at the node. Tracing movements that most couldn’t see at all. Eve understood that part, it seemed.
“A new line walker?”
Avery shook her head.
“Not yet. I took him into the void for some meditation. He’s from my school. P.E. class? I noticed that he was stronger than most, and was using meditation to bolster that kind of thing. He bends space while running… You can actually do magic, so I was wondering if that might not be passed along to him? Also… I didn’t mention it, but he might make a good candidate for your training program.” Or not. It was after all, only a suggestion.
Her best friend smiled then.
“Really? Well, nice to meet you. I’m Eve Benson. Vampire. Line walker as well. You would be?”
Avery felt slow, having not introduced the new man.
Not that he paused for long to do it himself.
“Phillip Hart. High school student.” He stopped there, since it was probably about all that he really felt he was.
The words got him smiled at.
“Neat. So, tell me all your secrets, Phil. What drives you? What’s your goal in life? Just so you aren’t taken by surprise, this is an interview, so try to impress me. Avery got you a recommendation for our program and you just passed a test she gave you, which is impressive. How long were you there, in the void?”
Avery lifted her shoulders.
“You know how I am with time. I was trying for twenty years. I think that might have been a bit off. He was watching the node in there, that normally takes longer, doesn’t it?”
The good-looking Vampire made a goofy face. Clearly working out that it had to be more like a hundred years.
“Oh, yes. That it does. Indeed. So, we know that you aren’t going to panic doing that kind of thing at least. That’s the first hurdle. Most people can’t make it past a few months without going partially insane. We try to pull them first if that starts to happen. That takes out… Oh, about four hundred and ninety-three out of five hundred, so far. So that’s one less thing. You also have discipline already, so a lot of the rest of the training won’t be a problem for you. Intermittent fasting, with an eye toward leaving you hungry a lot of the time, learning to fight, that sort of thing.”
She pointed at his hands then.
“You fight already?”
That got a look which was nearly bashful.
“More like I read books on the subject and then pretend that imagining training while I wave my hands around counts as anything other than wasted time. I try? Does that count?”
She was a bit blank faced, but shook her head, just a little.
“I wouldn’t have a clue. We can get you real lessons. It’s part of the training course. Also, you need to do volunteer work. Toys for Tots, soup kitchens, cleaning up sidewalks. We don’t want any Vampires that aren’t willing to help others as Humans. Trust me, it’s harder to do when everything inside you is screaming for you to kill everyone.”
Avery looked at her watch, which told her it was only three forty-five. She had a few minutes, but needed to go and wait on Bente, or it would be rude. That was at Zack’s bookstore. She didn’t work that day, but was on the schedule for the two after that.
Seeing her do that, the Vampire waved at her.
“I’ve got this. You need to get going.” She looked at Phillip then. “I can get you home. We might be here for a bit. How will your parents take it, if you want to be a Vampire? Are they religious?”
As Avery walked out, she heard a soft chuckle.
“They won’t care, as long as they don’t have to do any work for it. Not that they’re bad, but there are six of us kids. They have spares. Church, that isn’t a thing for us, really. Atheists?”
Avery lost the sounds as she rounded the n
ew moving sign that was floating in front of the shop. It was solid, but clearly not there, at the same time. A thing of magic, which was interesting, but not important. For the time being, she needed to survive her next meeting.
Also, she had a phone call to make, if it could be done in the next few moments. As she walked, she brought up the right number, from Krista Hall’s memories. Dialing while walking took some focus, being unfamiliar for her, but she managed it without too much walking into walls. The red tile under her feet clicked as her soft shoes touched it.
Interestingly, on the third chirping sound, the phone picked up, a woman’s voice speaking to her directly.
“Krista Hall here. What can I do for you today?”
“Hi, Krista? This is Avery Rome? I promised to call, so…” She didn’t know if the job offer had been real or just a deflection, since Donald had kind of been offering her a place in exchange for favors. The phone number was real. It probably meant something.
Avery wasn’t going to be hurt if the woman on the device didn’t want her for that kind of thing. Not once she’d had some time to think about it.
“Avery! You actually called back. That will save me flying up and camping in your back yard until you sign with us. Red Rain has three offers already, from major stations, contingent on us showcasing the Dragon Girl. That footage from the other night really sells the whole thing. So, our writers have reworked things a bit, or, well, more like they’re doing it right now. I can send you a script to see if you want to be in with us? Say yes. Please.”
Avery wrinkled her nose, since that didn't make much sense, sending her something, when she could just go and get it, when the creative wizards were prepared.
“I’ll come to you, when you need me. In the evening, or at night would be best. If I eat enough I only have to sleep a few hours a day. I might need help with that. Finding you, I mean. Eve or Zack… You know Eve though, right?”
That got a sound which was half choked sounding.
“Um, well, I went to school with her. I dated Zack though, so I think I know him pretty well. Technically we didn’t break up either, so we should be on good terms still. You know, that kind of thing? Hook up buddies, more than anything else.”
