Angels of America: A Circle of the Fallen novella

by Wendy Maddocks

  After what feels like forever, I come to the floor I think my cell was on and a wave of nausea crashes through me. Despite my brain warning me against it, I have to look over the railing to find the body I heard drop. I don’t know how I’ll deal if it’s Bytheway – not least because it means I’ll have to go on alone. Logic. Logically, it’s him. He was lagging behind; he was weak; his voice stopped the moment the struggling sounds began. Deep breath. Look. Slumped body. Dark clothes. Security uniform. My sigh of relief is cut short. He was dressed as a guard to get in. But it could be… Twitching slightly, icy eyes search me out and silently plead with me to go. A pair of real security men kick him out of the way with no mercy and start up the stairs. They’re a few floors below me but I want to stay as far ahead as possible. A wordless apology and I cross to the door leading from the stairwell into the building proper. I take a few seconds to slam the door shut and use the butt of my Tazer to hammer the fire bar down and break one end. Getting it to move now will be a job and a half. I doubt it will slow them for long. They will just use their batons to smash the window, most likely.

  The doors along this corridor end up going to cells. How many people was Mariah planning to keep here? Was I going to be the first of hundreds? Finding Jack doesn’t seem that important. There is this overwhelming sense of responsibility weighing on me now.

  I push the emotional onslaught to the back of my mind and keep going. Katie’s more than capable of continuing the search on her own. But with no other plan in place, carry on looking is all I can do. My soles squeak too loudly on the tiled floor and I’m positive everybody can hear them. Every door leads to an identical little room: about 10 by 12 feet, thin industrial carpet, neutral walls, minimal furniture. Other girls my age, maybe younger, will be kept imprisoned in these rooms. Maybe some of them will be strong enough to look after themselves but I’m here, now, for the ones who can’t. I’m here for me, because I was one of them.

  There are five cells and a tiny break room at the end which seems to be where the guards rested betweens shifts at my door. Nobody is inside but thick jackets are hanging from a few pegs meaning that it has been used recently. Through the internal window, the men battering at the door are fully uniformed – these must belong to the main body of staff sent out to hunt for me. After a quick check of the room for any handy weapons, I put one of the heavy jackets on and strip my hoodie off. It’s hot, bulky, uncomfortable but it’s not going to earn me a stint in cuffs if anybody is just running past me. If they expect to see a black uniform, then that’s all that will register. Attentional blindness. Just as I am zipping it up, the trio who had been trying to get the mangled fire door open darken the doorway, squashing any hopes of escape.

  “You.” The first one comes in and glares at me.

  “Yes?”

  He seems taken aback by the saccharine face and voice, pausing a few seconds before recovering enough to speak again. “You’re the hardest job I’ve ever had.”

  “Whatever they’re paying you, Mack, I’m worth it.” Mack is the still-alive one of the pair who tried to abduct me from school. I throw out a flare of alarm and pray Katie can sense it amidst whatever chaos she has found. I can’t pin my hopes on a rescue. He back steps me until my spine is touching one of the chairs and my hands automatically fly out to my sides to steady me.

  “No, it’s not nearly enough for all the trouble you’ve caused us.”

  “Did you know your partner’s dead?” Mental slap. Why am I making this oaf even more angry? Which part of me decided this was a good thing? “Yeah. Stabbed to death. Bled out. You weren’t there to staunch the bleeding, ran off like a little wussy pants.”

  “So? Never even knew the guys’ name.” But… partners… “First time I laid eyes on him was Tuesday morning. Got drafted in from all over.”

  Drafted in from all over. That means, however trained they are, they won’t be brilliant at working as a team – won’t anticipate each others move, won’t know how to cover each others backs before it’s too late. A plan is forming in my brain. Well, a list of things I want to achieve without the faintest clue of how to execute them. If we could just confuse them somehow… Distract the guards left enough that… that what? I wanted to get to Jack when I came in. Now all I can think of is finding Mariah and throttling her. She way deserves it. I want her to look at me and know I’m going to find a way to destroy her life like she did to me in that small room.

  “You don’t look like much. Like a grenade, ain’t ya? Lotta chaos in a little bomb.”

  “The bomb wasn’t me.” He doesn’t believe me. Why should he? I mysteriously knew he was bad for my health at Milagro High and ran from there, my apartment, my excuse for a life, causing all sorts of mayhem along the way. Of course I’d chuck a firebomb through the plate glass of a building I never wanted to see again. Actually, that kinda makes sense. “I guess it looks that way but the fire was burning when I got here,” which is technically true. I can’t hear the alarms but we are on the fourth floor and there’s no saying the alarm system is fully operational up here. In any case, I have to hope it’s contained enough not to reach the stairwell where Bytheway is still lying unconscious. “I swear!”

  “Right. Just like that fire door was swinging open when you got here, or that our car was always in the lot, just invisible, for the past two hours.”

  “Erm…”

  “Or that my partner didn’t really get stabbed in the chest. He was already like that.”

  “Erm…” Okay, his last scenario made absolutely no sense. Still. “Erm…” Mack is leaning in close to me now, so close I know he had tuna and pickles for lunch. I’m glad of the thick protection the jacket provides, even though it’s already too warm for my liking, because mine and his together give the couple of inches breathing space I need to keep my shit together.

  “Oh no you don’t, missy!” He puts his meaty hand over my wrist, his fingers circling the bones easily. He pulls my hand up over my head and twists it just enough that my grip on my Tazer loosens and it falls to the floor. It bounces and rolls over to the tiny, ancient TV by the uniforms – too far away to reach even if I was free enough to make a lunge for it. Perfect. The only weapon, however lame, and I can’t even use it. “You’re gonna come with me, nice and quiet, and you’re not gonna do a thing to make my job any harder. Damn, if I could get out of this contract I would but-“

  “You’re basically a contract killer.”

  A shrug. “Hey, the only way outta this is if I die and, unless you stab me through the heart” (gladly) “I’m gonna deliver you to Mariah, get paid, get the hell out of this mess.”

  “What if I kill you?”

  “Won’t help you none.”

  There’s too much going on. My head feels ready to explode. I hear two quiet impacts and try to look over Mack’s shoulder to see. Either shadowing me or curious himself, the guard half-turns to look just in time to see the two bodies of his colleagues slump to the ground. I don’t even bother. As so as he moves away from me, I launch myself to the side and thank God again for the jacket taking the force of my landing. My left ankle feels weird, like on Tuesday, I ignore it and crab-walk back to the TV cabinet. Bytheway charges through the door like a pissed off bull and throws a punch. Not fast enough. Mack uses the forward momentum to crouch, get a shoulder into his stomach and flip my friend to the ground.

  “Rose,” gasps Bytheway. “Go.”

  I look at the door then over at Mack, who is drawing his gun from his shoulder holster slowly, making sure I can see every move. “No,” I decide. “I’m not leaving you here to die. And certainly not at his hands. Get up.”

  He does. The Tazer blast, unexpected trip downstairs, shooting two men through the head in cold blood – it’s all taking a toll.

  “Come on then.” His next punch connects with flesh but Mack doesn’t so much as flinch. “Give me everything you g
ot.”

  The next few minutes are a blur of messy dark hair whizzing around and wince-inducing noises from both men. All I know is that in the next instant, they’re both on all fours, breathing hard, and then I’m slamming my Tazer into the guards’ genitals and telling him “Hope you’ve had all the kids you want.” I didn’t hope that. I don’t want him to have had any children. I don’t want any child to grow up believing it’s okay to condemn a girl just because you’re getting paid.

  The guard couldn’t looker deader if he was, y’know, dead. The only sign of life is the pained and pitiful keening coming out of him. Tiny shudders run through him as the electrical current dies away. I did this. On either side of me are the bodies of his peers. Bytheway is leaning on the door jamb, rubbing a big red lump around his jaw. That’ll be a nice bruise tomorrow. He looks up at me and comes forward with is hands out. My gut reactions are at war with themselves. One tells me to go to him, hug him, thank him for saving me: the other… “Don’t touch me!”

  Bytheway freezes as soon as the words come out, he respects me enough to not push me, but the deep confusion churning in his eyes makes me want to both cry and explain. No time for either as Mack’s whining is getting a bit louder. I turn for the door and lunge across the corridor into the nearest cell.

  “Okay, what the hell, Rose? I just saved your ass in there and now you won’t even look at me. He was going to let them have you. And probably have you himself first.”

  “I know but… those two men. You shot them both straight dead. Execution style. That’s… that’s a bit too much too handle.”

  “And running into a burning building on some insane hunt for a guy you barely know isn’t?”

  “I didn’t.” There’s no answer. “I did it for Katie. And for me too, I guess. She’s tried to help me but I know she wants to find Jack. And the safest place for me is with her.”

  “And where is she right now?”

  I can’t answer this one. I can’t pick anything up through my mind. Maybe it’s too loud or chaotic where she is but I feel like I should be able to sense her. As if she knew we were talking about her, my stomach twists and I know she’s alright. “Somewhere. I don’t have to take this from you. I’m perfectly capable of getting into and out of my own messes.” Well, the first part is true.

  “And I said I wouldn’t leave you in here. Not this morning and not now!”

  “I appreciate that. Really, I do. But I’m letting Katie concentrate on Jack for now. Apparently, she has some kind of link with him but it broke as soon as we got brought in the first time. I’m just hoping it came back. If not…” God, none of the possibilities were good. She had to find him or she’d never leave and keep me safe. “I just hope the link reformed.”

  “I never meant to scare you, Rose. Shooting them seemed like the only way to get you out.”

  “It worked. Just – just there’s been so much shooting and stabbing and people getting hurt lately. I thought that part of my life was over.”

  “This has happened before?”

  “I was a street kid. Poverty, violence, it was what I went to sleep to and what I woke up to. It was horrible. I never wanted to think about guns again.”

  “Man, I’m sorry. But I want you to know it was my last resort. I got my Tazer out when they jumped me and somehow it got turned around on me. They took it off me but I managed to get one of their guns.”

  “You couldn’t have just slammed their heads together like castanets?”

  “I didn’t have time to get into a fight.”

  I’m trying to get the image of how calmly and precisely he had shot those two guards out of my head but I know I’ll have nightmares about that for weeks to come. Every time a car passes me, I will think it’s Mariah chasing me in her red town car; each time a balloon pops, I’ll hear a gun shot. Every silent moment won’t be truly quiet – it will be and endless clock ticking down the heartbeats until I die. The only thing I can be thankful for is that the rest of my life might not be that long. or it might be… and I’ll never be free. Depression dims my vision for an instant. An arms snakes around my thickly padded waist and squeezes gently. “I’m okay. It’s okay,” I tell him, trying a smile on for size. “I was just shocked, you know. I never considered you might be able to do something like that.”

  “Believe me, I wish I didn’t know how.”

  There was so much I didn’t know about Bytheway. So much I want to ask him but am too scared of the answers he might give. “Matthew.” I twist to look up at him. “If we hadn’t been trying to save me, would you have stayed? If we were purely here for Jack or, or on a mission to take down Mariah, would you have stayed?”

  An uncomfortable pause hangs between us. “No. I never met him. I’m not a Shade. I’m here now and if it helps you to do any of those things… well, I’m hardly going anywhere.”

  “I heard you get shocked. I thought you were dead. I just ran. And nearly got myself killed.”

  “Relax. Neither of us died.”

  “But I’m going to.”

  “We’re all going to, someday. And none of us knows which.”

  I’d not thought of it like that.

  Nobody knows when they are about to die. At least I had the comfort of knowing my life wasn’t going to be permanently snuffed out. It’s just… I’m not quite seventeen and I’m being slapped in the face with my own mortality.

  “We should go.”

  “Where?”

  Think, Rose, think. Where are you going? What are you doing? And what are you wearing? Glancing down, my scuffed and flimsy sneakers, messy hair, the stolen vest and hoodie round my waist – the old Rose, the Rose who spent most of her time in a t-shirt, Capri pants and sandals, even she would cringe at this ensemble. I waste a few precious seconds scraping my hair pack into an elastic band I must have snagged from the office. What do I really want now? “To find Mariah.”

  “That’s great. You know where she is, do you?”

  Crap. I was hoping that gap in my plan wouldn’t be obvious. “No, but-“ it hits me like a smack in the face. When the lobby alarms started blaring, she would have gone to Jack – protecting her biggest asset from us. Now, if we only knew where he was being kept. Mariah had taken great pleasure in telling Katie and myself that her bosses were doing experiments on him so that meant a lab somewhere. She’d also mentioned taking me to the circle. There was a circular top floor to the building but it was glass. Surely I would have seen figures up there before I came in. I don’t feel good about asking for help from Bytheway, a man who seems to know the building. It was nothing more sinister than a cover job to rescue me, yet it still makes me shudder that he came in here willingly. “Hey, are there any labs in here?”

  He shakes his head slowly: my heart sinks. “The basement. It was always locked off the elevators and stairs. That could be it!”

  “Move!”

  He rushed for the door. We barreled through and used the opposite door as a springboard to turn us in the right direction. Instinct battered my logic. Maybe the way I’d been heading was safer. Maybe not. I already know the path I’d followed here was clear. “Yo, follow,” I call to Bytheway and head for the broken door. Can’t help seeing the fallen bodies by the door of the small breakroom. The big guy isn’t whimpering on the floor anymore. He’s somewhere in this building, looking for us, warning Mariah I’m on the hunt for her,, bringing out his biggest guns. I can’t let myself worry about that. Bytheway looks like he’s doing it for both of us – scanning every partly open door before beckoning me forward. He holds out an automatic handgun. After staring blankly at it, I see my hand reaching out to take it, distantly aware that he filched it off one of the dead bodies. His dead bodies. Somehow that knowledge doesn’t mesh with my actions or words. Once past all the doors, we break into a sprint for the bent stairwell door. It would be bad if anyone caught us before even getting off this floor.


  We took it in turns going down to the ground floor; one flight at a time, weapons loose at our sides but ready to use at a moments notice. It felt like I was walking through some FBI TV show, all action and high alert. Also, I have to admit, having a partner to watch my back feels pretty awesome. At the bottom though, we can barely touch the fire bar to get out of the stairway. It’s so hot my palms almost burn the instant I put them on the metal. Dark grey smoke is curling underneath it. I cough. It’s not smoky enough to cause a cough but just the sight takes me back to that day in the mall.

  “Could today get any worse?” Rhetorical, okay.

  ‘Cos, clearly, yes.

  “We can’t go though that way.” If a fire door had gotten this hot then the flames would burn us up in seconds. Evidently nobody had managed to get the blaze under control, or… or they’d left it to burn so they could join in the hunt. Had anybody taken the time to call their security back from the wild chase around Valmont?

  “We don’t have any choice.”

  “Dude, please, the smoke will kill you if the fire doesn’t. No, there has to be another route. I don’t even know how getting through there will get us to the basement.”

  “I do. And going through here is the only way to get there.”

  Believe me, I hate this. This is going to set off his asthma again, and I doubt he thought to bring his inhaler. Bytheway strips the padded security jacket off me, dumping it in a corner with his own, making sure his salvaged gun is in the utility belt around his waist. I hand him mine too. Wrapped around my hands, my hoodie works like an oven glove to open the door. A blast of heat nearly knocks me to the floor and sweat instantly breaks out. I can’t even begin to guess what the temperature is. My eyes are watering from the smoke driving into my face.

  It’s okay to be scared, Rose, I tell myself, wishing like hell that it was Katie’s calm, determined voice saying that. A hand grips my elbow and I close my eyes as far as I dare and begin my run through the fiery corridor. I stumble after only a few steps but my friend tows me along a few meters more before my weight drags him down too. The smoke has turned everything shades of black and dark grey. Patches of angry gold float around, not quite seeming to touch the ground. This is it. It’s over now. I tried. I lost.

  “Rose! Rose! Get up!”

  “No point. Everyone dies, right?”

  “Okay, ummm, yeah, stay low. Oxygen stays at the bottom. Can you crawl?”

  “What?” His words are just crazy ramblings. “Crawl?”

  “Like a baby. Crawling. You can crawl, sure. We’re gonna stay on the ground and crawl, real fast, straight ahead. And you can’t stop until we reach the end. I’ll be right behind you.” As limp as a ragdoll, I allow him to put me into a crawling position and move forward. I could do this – follow orders. My old high school teachers would be so proud. True to his word, Bytheway touches the bottom of my leg every few seconds to let me know he’s still there. That hacking cough has developed at an alarming rate. One of the doors starts to crackle and pop as we try to pass before it goes ballistic. We get past but are faced with the door beyond that which has already fallen and it spitting agonizing drop of liquid flame all over my exposed hands and face. His breathing is becoming harsher and quicker; I’m glad I can take the worst of this punishment for my friend. Stripping my sweater off my hands and draping it over my head and upper back so the fire won’t scorch the delicate, I squeeze beneath the fallen wooden panel without too much damage. The plan had been to slide the garment back under the door to protect Bytheway but by the time I’ve stamped out the flames that are eating through the tiger stripes, there’s not much of a top left. I glance behind me: probably no more than ten feet from the lobby, but would there be anything left in there that could be used as a fire blanket? Was it worth the risk? He inches forward. Oxygen is being fast swamped by the toxic smoke meaning he is getting even less clean air than I am. He looks pale beneath the soot. The door suddenly splits and a long shard falls towards the floor, raining fire behind it. I throw my arm across my face on instinct and scream louder than I thought I could as a whip of sizzling pain laces right I can’t shake it away, the very flames themselves seem to be burrowing into my skin, blistering me in an instant. Then it’s over and a searing I can cope with set in although my teeth are permanently gritted.

  When I look, the broken chunk of door has fallen inches from Bytheway. The heat must be horrendous. Slumped back against a wall, he turns almost lifeless eyes on me, pleading without words that I don’t let him burn to death here. The weak cough is good there’s still enough oxygen to breathe for that. “I’ll be right back.”

  I made the right decision. I know I have. Except… do I? What if the lobby is in as bad, or worse, state that here? This might all be for nothing.

  At the door which will take me into the foyer, the wall provides support for me to stand up. The area in front of me is unrecognizable as the clean, bright (firebomb notwithstanding) area I had entered an hour ago. Flames are licking the sparse furniture, turning the chairs into fragile, black skeletons. Windows, picture frames, vases, have all cracked under the heat. The pale tiled floor is patchy with smoke damage and the plastic-topped front desk is bubbling and melting. I race to the broken plate-glass door and take a few welcome lungfuls of fresh-ish air. It’s heaven, the breeze stroking my face and blowing through the matted hair that fell out of the band. No more time to waste. I turn back into the room and try to rub the worst of the crap out of my eyes so I can at least see straight. I need to find some scrap of material thick enough to hold of burns for Bytheway. The curtain. The door Katie had a thick version of the USA flag hiding it from view and suspicion. It is nailed in place at the top. Pulling hard isn’t shifting it, but as I curse, the nails slide out and the heavy fabric slithers into my arms. Katie. Where-ever she is now, she’s still keeping an eye on me. A piece of that broken glass would cut the flag into a more manageable size but it’s thinner than I thought and I can probably just fold it a couple of times to be usable. “Thanks.”

  I’m heading towards the door. The material is dragging and gets twisted around my hurrying fall. I head for the ground.

  Fast.

  Where am I?

  But I know even without opening my eyes. My back is tingling from where the skin touches the silver walkway I woke up lying on. I take a breath and immediately launch into a coughing fit. My lungs have been shredded and are still burning up, from the thick smoke covering my mortal body in Valmont, and my left arm glows angrily as red and gold fire snakes around it. I want to scream but all I can manage is a loud exhale as I use the arm to lever me up. Below the silver bridge is a river. It looks icy cold, like it would feel orgasmic on my ruined flesh. Even if I could reach it I don’t think it would feel half as amazing as it looks – not with yet another fire crackling happily away somewhere under the surface.

  Like the idiot I am, I look down and find that the silver reflects me well enough to know that I look frightful. Soot is smudged all over me; blood is trickling from a hundred tiny wounds; the fine hairs on my arms are singed and prickly. All I can be glad of is that my dirty jeans and tank top have been magically changed to linen trousers and blouse in the palest blue. Not enough to be truly presentable but I’m positive the Keepers could have cleaned me up if they were that bothered. The Keepers… Seeing them (or not) is not on the list of things to do before I turn seventeen. It looks, however, like that’s the thing I’m supposed to do.

  And I’m alone.

  Just like my first dream, there is no Katie to guide me through this place. It’s pretty straightforward: straight ahead and through the curtain of mist and cloud, beyond that is a floor of cloud – aura, she called it – and that’s, like, Keeper territory. Deep breath. Keep breathing. Just put one foot in front of the other. Is it very shameful to admit I’m pretty terrified of actually facing them without a hand to hol
d? I know, right, who’d’ve thunk it? The great Rose Blood scared of talking to people who don’t even have faces. The same Rose Blood who slipped as many curse words into essays as possible when she bothered to do homework. Rose Blood who flipped off her landlord most mornings. Rose Blood who had spent three years of her life squatting all over South Carolina, falling in with petty criminals, druggies, and never let it break her. And now I would trade anything to have somebody here with me. Then I think all my wishes have been granted because, on the other side of the curtain is Bytheway just standing there and staring. He doesn’t even notice me for a few awkward seconds.

  “Hey.”

  “Oh. Hi. Are you dead too?”

  “What?!” He thinks he’s dead. Oh no. “Of course not. And neither are you. When I’ve finished here, I’m coming to save you.”

  “Will there be enough time?”

  I don’t know. Why does he insist on asking questions I just can’t answer. “I’ve got to go. Will you” come with me? “wait for me?”

  “I don’t know. Don’t think I can. They told me to keep walking forward and… once I go through this, I can’t come back. You can’t bring me back, Rose.” I notice his clothes are the ones I last saw him in. Somehow, that’s significant. His pale eyes are rimmed with red. He rubs them, we both pretend not to notice the wetness that glistens on his fingertips. So quiet it’s barely audible comes a whisper, “I’m scared.”

  I rush forward and fling myself into his stunned arms. “Whatever happens, you tried to protect me and that’s amazing. You’re definitely going to heaven for that. I think there’s a special heaven for heroes.”

  “Maybe. You need to find Mariah now, Rose.”

  “I need your help for that!” Without Bytheway what chance have I got? Security will have me under lock and key in five minutes flat. For all my attitude and the weapons I can get, strip that all away and I’m a kid who can be easily over-powered.

  “Listen to me. Get to Mariah. Stop her from doing this to other girls in the future. You know those cells were for more people like you. Your arm.” He takes it in one of his hand and traces his lttle finger over the twists and coils. “Trust Jack to Katie and vice versa. They’re not your responsibility.”

  “If I fail, she dies. Maybe they both do. Without you, I fail Matthew.”

  That’s the third time I have called him Matthew and not Bytheway, and every time it feels weird. I’m still getting used to the tingle of emotion that makes me want to use his real name but I can tell he likes it. How can this be the last time he ever hears me say it.

  “They’re pushing me. I can’t stay any longer…”

  But how do I –“ He’s gone. Now I’m feeling even more alone than before. Alone and helpless. Alone, helpless and hopeless. I won’t even be able to find the basement let alone get into it to find Mariah. And what am I going to do once I’m there? Talk her out of it?

  MISS BLOOD. The voice comes from everywhere and nowhere. It’s inside my smoke-filled head and vibrating through my chest. I open my mouth to tell them I’m coming but no sound comes out. Their world. Their rules. Miss Blood, we will not be kept waiting.

  And I won’t be told what to do by people too scared to show their faces. Oops. I can’t even think in private up here.

  Our apologies. Yeah, no. They’ve never apologized for anything and meant it – you can tell by the voice. It’s like they know the words and what they should mean but that’s it. Do you know why you are here again? You are in danger.

  Last thing I knew was falling over in the middle of a fire so yeah, seems pretty accurate.

  In danger of failing your mission.

  Hang on. Katie’s the one with the mission to save me. Don’t you mean she is in danger? She basically abandoned me to hare off after Jack

  Kathleen would not risk her life for a mere boy. You are her first concern.

  One question. I’m not sure where to look so I look at my feet sinking into the pale grey swirls of aura at my feet. Isn’t that how she became an angel in the first place? Risking herself for the people she loved?

  The only person she will truly chance herself for now is you.

  A tiny grin flutters over my lips. It’s weirdly comforting to know that I can still rely o her to come for me if things get really bad. But I wonder if they know as much as they think they do. What am I about to flunk?

  You set yourself a goal. Your friend reminded you of it just a few minutes ago,

  Find Mariah. Why weren’t they helping me by telling me how to get to her? We think she’s in the basement but I have no idea how to get there. And I don’t know how I can get her to stop this anyway. You took away the only person I have right now. I know I can get help from Katie but I can save myself. I’ve been doing it most of my life.

  We cannot touch the mortal world directly. Mariah must have said something while you were being held captive that you can use.

  She…she kept saying something about wanting to take me to the circle. And she said her bosses wanted me. And Jack ‘cos he was the first Shade. Does that help?

  They are silent for so long that I am toying with the idea of escaping. Perhaps. Yep, that was worth waiting for. This may require research and it is appreciated that you remember such details. For now, Mariah is the most immediate threat. Neutralize it. By whatever means.

  By whatever means. You mean… kill her.

  If necessary.

  This is unbelievable. These Keepers are supposed to be, I dunno, the gods of something or other. And they’re condoning murder. My face must be demanding an explanation. She could bring more trouble than you can imagine for you and for the future of Shades everywhere. There can be no lenience, no negotiation, no rehabilitation.

  Do you know where she is? Do you know how I get to Mariah?

  You have all the tools you need. Thanks. Leave now. Your time is fast running out.

  Something like a gust of wind rushes into my stomach and the pressure forces me back. The only way to keep it from battering at me again is to turn around and run as fast as I dare, not completely trusting this cloud-like aura not to drop me a million miles to earth. It takes forever and a moment for the wall of grey mist to loom onto view. I hesitate too long, wondering where Bytheway had gone when he walked through it, because the wind prods me towards it, eventually getting bored with my ignorance and escalating into a brief gust which bodily throws me through the curtain. I close my eyes, hold my breath.

  Take me away from here.

  Chapter twelve