Red: What do you do when the rules cannot help you? (Rule Number 3)

by Teya Tapler

  “Okay Lin, come with me. You need to go through some health checks first and then I’ll show you to your quarters.” Ranshen headed to the dining room next door.

  Evan reluctantly sneaked out from under the two throws and followed Ranshen to one of the numbered boxes spread on the long dining room table. There he pulled her hand and took a blood sample. Then he swabbed the inside of her mouth to check for any genetic diseases as he explained. After tucking the samples in what looked like a mobile lab Ranshen lead her to a room five doors down the corridor.

  The room was very small and didn’t have a window. It reminded Evan of the cargo elevators she had seen in some of the tall apartment buildings before. The room had a full size bed and enough space to walk around it from two sides. The sheets and blanket were burgundy color, the walls were white and the floor was bare concrete. Whoever decorated the place didn’t have enough time to even throw a carpet or something.

  “Settle down first and then come to the kitchen area. It’s the room without a door, down the corridor to your left.” Ranshen said and left with a swirl of his cape.

  “The room is perfect. Thank you,” Evan waited for him to close the door.

  Her eyes moved around as her arms hugged her bare elbows. It was cold, as cold as in the rest of the apartment. She saw a thermostat and cranked it up with a smile then lied on the bed and spread her arms and legs. Evan pushed off her shoes and stretched her feet wiggling her toes. In her black jeans and t-shirt she looked like a black ink splash in the middle of a red page. Her eyes went to the ceiling. The ceiling was the same concrete color as the floor; probably they didn’t have time to paint it or had run out of paint. A single incandescent light bulb hanged lonely from a medium length cord. The light switch was next to the door.

  Evan looked at her right arm. The place from where Ranshen took her blood was barely noticeable. Having her blood and DNA sample taken was dangerous. She regretted participating in the DNA research project at the university donating her sample for one of her friend’s research project. Now those men could easily find her in the medical archives and reveal her real identity. Such archives are likely to exist considering that from 25th century point of view the electronic medical records have started four centuries ago. She felt vulnerable. Evan wasn’t fully safe yet. The peril was far from over. But again, she was in the 1970s not in the 25th century so could those people have access to the advanced technology of the future. She squinted her eyes and rubbed her temple. It was all so confusing. Coming from the future to her past just to encounter people from her future living in each other’s past…

  And that thing about being Mort’s assistant. How could he make such an offer? No! How could she accept it?

  Oh, Evangeline Shtuttgart. What is going on with you?

  Evan tossed and turned for a few times then lay on her back and focused on the ceiling. She wanted to scream, she wanted to run away but it was already too late. Finding her chances to be better if she stayed she had stayed. The only thing she could do at that moment was to continue playing along, turn into Lin and wait for Zander, Emil, Peter and Mary to find her.

  Evan closed her eyes and tried to remember the details of the story Zander told her on their way to New York three years ago. If her new acquaintances were considering her some kind of a fortuneteller she had to make at least some effective predictions.

  Chapter 2

  Her stomach growled. In addition to being overwhelmed and afraid, Evan was getting hungry. She didn’t have breakfast the other day because she wanted to see Zander in the hospital before the pearl destruction ceremony and then everything happened so fast.

  Evan missed Zander. Back there in her car, when she found out that he had kept her gift for so many years, she had hoped that they will be together, that her life will be normal again, that she would not have to force herself into trying to forget him, that she would not have to force herself into stifling the voice of her heart. Then when she found that Zander had slipped into comma she was devastated but seeing him every day and being able to talk to him had given her hope that they will be together, that their love story will have a happy ending.

  At that time, well, at that time the things were … different. Without any notice her life had dramatically changed. As cliché as that sounded, for her it wasn’t trivial. For Evan the latest twist of events had brought far more unknowns and insecurities than she had ever handled. Living with Zull Mort and his brother was going to be like an undercover operation. While watching action movies she had wandered how those people had done it, how did they manage to keep their sanity, their clear mind, how did they manage not to lose themselves into the whirlwind of evil surrounding them. She had to answer that for herself. Evan was going to experience the life of an undercover officer for a long time. She knew that it would be a while until her friends find and retrieve her. She was positive that they would come. She only had to survive until then.

  Evan got up from the bed and looked around. A curtain close to the entry door was hiding a small bathroom with a toilet, a sink and a tiny shower. A red towel was thrown over the shower curtain rail. As Evan stretched her arm to grab the towel the door of her room opened and Mort barged in without knocking. Seeing her in the bathroom he quickly approached. The only place she could go was in the shower area. Evan retreated as far as possible until her back pressed against the wall. Not knowing what was the reason for the unexpected visit she waited for him to speak first.

  Mort closed on her and put one hand on the wall to the left of her head. She could smell his alcohol filled breath as he looked down at her and touched her jaw with the back of his other hand. Evan froze. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t even move her eyes from his face when she realized that he sensed her fear. Somehow her frightened look empowered him. Mort grinned, stroke her jaw once more and left the room without saying a word or closing the door.

  Evan slouched down the wall and sat on the floor, knees close to her chest. She struggled to take a deep breath: her muscles still stiff from the fear inside her. She was wrong. She didn’t know what to expect from Mort. That Mort was far more frightening than the one she knew. Very different thoughts were occupying his mind.

  She gasped then took a deep breath. The air filled her lungs and started clearing her mind. Focused on taking deep, slow breaths Evan got up and locked the door using all of the three locks she found there. That made her feel better and she returned to the bathroom. It was safe to freshen up.

  The warm shower calmed her down and cleared her head. Evan was able to think clearly again. While the water was dripping over her head she re-evaluated her situation once more. She was clearly in the past, somewhere in the 70’s but that didn’t matter. What was important was that Mort and his brother haven’t seen her before. She had to learn as much as possible about those readers and the riot she overheard the two brothers talking about. The rest shouldn’t be difficult. She had to remember what those two had done and pretend she was forecasting their successes or failures.

  Evan dried her body and hair with the red towel and put on her clothes. It was something she would never do: put on the same clothes she wore before showering. Missing the clean underwear she wrinkled her nose and made a mental note: after getting some food she had to ask the brothers to take her shopping.

  She unlocked and opened the door when the cold air from the corridor rushed in. Evan shivered and pushed the door shut. Not having around the heavy furniture cover she pulled the red blanket from the bed and wrapped herself warm then followed Ranshen’s directions to the kitchen.

  There was no one there.

  A smile bubbled on her hips when she opened the fridge and found that it was full. Meats, cheeses, milk, vegetables, even drinks were neatly stacked in the cold. Her investigation of the kitchen cabinets revealed cereal, rice, beans and various canned soups and fish. At least she wouldn’t be hungry.

  Evan made herself a tea and a small sandwich with cold turkey cuts, lettuce and mayo, made a
cup of hot tea and sat at the kitchen counter. Back home, when her mother was still alive, they were often eating at the kitchen counter. Memories of her parents and sister having family time at dinner rushed into her mind. She closed her eyes and let her memories guide her and warm her heart.

  She took a sip from the warm liquid and bit of the sandwich. The bread was a little bit stale but the rest of the ingredients were fresher and tasted better. Evan ate slowly eyes closed. She was relaxing from the recent emotional rollercoaster ride, adding the finishing touches to her reorganized thoughts and feelings when somebody’s footsteps made her open her eyes. The image Mort standing in front of her quickly brought her to the present.

  “I see that you’re already settling in,” he said trying to sound friendly, steam coming out with his words. ”I hope you feel better now. It isn’t easy being among the readers that were cast away in time and space. I want you to know that you’re most welcomed here. Everyone who’d rebelled against that society is our friend.” Mort grinned and then turned towards the fridge.

  There was no indication in his behavior or voice that he remembered or cared about their close encounter from a few minutes ago. He also wasn’t expecting her to answer but his words made her mind shift into a higher gear. He thought that she had rebelled against the society and considered her a friend. She didn’t want to befriend him but that might have meant that she was likely to be safe there. Wandering what kind of a friend they would expect her to be Evan remembered the cast away part of his statement. Didn’t Zander say that the pearls were casted away as a means to be destroyed? Or they were transcasted? She got confused again. After trying for a while to discover on her own the meaning of Mort’s words she gave up. Either way it sounded as if she had been sentenced to annihilation because of something she had done and the brothers thought that pure luck had brought her to their place. Evan simply had to pretend that she was the fortuneteller they though she was.

  Bite after bite she forced herself to eat the whole sandwich by pushing the carefully chewed food with big gulps of warm tea. The food didn’t make her feel happier or better anymore. It only calmed her stomach and freed her mind from worrying how to fill it up. She burped quietly and then swirled on her chair towards the door.

  Kevin Mort was standing there quietly watching her. He was sporting the same crew cut and clothing style from their high school years, except that the colors were different hues of red.

  His eyes measured her from top to bottom as if he was going to eat her for breakfast. Evan caught herself thinking about the triple lock on the door of her room. It was not only Mort, it was both of them she had to watch out for.

  Evan swallowed heavily. She didn’t like being thought of as the catch of the day. That was another variable she needed to consider. What if Kevin recognized her, or became suspicious. It was one thing handling his father; she didn’t spend that much time with him, while Kevin was …

  Mort proudly introduced her to Kevin, “Lin, meet Kevin, my son.”

  “Nice to meet you,” she stretched her hand and Kevin met her midway. He looked … a little bit younger that when she saw him last.

  “You are about the same age, aren’t you?” Mort continued. “Kevin is 22 and you are?”

  Oh, no! That means that when I met him in high school he was way older than a junior. Her thoughts scared her. Her heartbeat started to accelerate again and she started to wonder how to remove herself from the conversation.

  “You are right, we are the same age.” Evan said the first thing that came to her mind.

  “Ni-ice!” Kevin put the silly grin on.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Ranshen said to Kevin. The deep scar running from his left temple down his neck seemed to pulsate intensely. Caught in her thoughts Evan hadn’t heard him come. In the future she had to watch out for him as well.

  Oh, no! I’m outnumbered. How am I going to protect myself from all three of them? The idea that those men could harm her physically had the potential to become a reality. Evan felt confined. She needed to run away, to detach herself from her surroundings for a while an rethink her future behavior. The environment was changing too quickly for comfort.

  ”It goes for both of you: don’t consider it at all. We have a genuine reader to work with us, don’t spoil it.” Ranshen’s voice was calm but firm. Mort and Kevin muttered something inaudibly and left the kitchen obviously angry with Ranshen’s intervention.

  Evan tried to understand what was going on. The body language, the facial expressions and the words exchanged in the last few seconds indicated that Zull or Kevin Mort should not interact with her the way they were intending to. Most likely the readers were not allowed to have close relations with members of the opposite sex. It sounded similar to the restrictions for the fortunetellers in the very early cultures because it was thought to steal their special gift.

  Hearing that from Ranshen and seeing the subordination and respect Mort and Kevin showed meant that she shouldn’t worry about Mort’s earlier visit to her room, he wasn’t going to try to do anything else. Evan sighed and changed the topic, “I was wondering if it’ll be possible to get some clothes,” she smiled gesturing that she only had the pair on her back.

  “We’ll be seeing Amanda soon,” Ranshen said. “You two seem to be the same size. She’ll also take care of your hair style.”

  “I like my hair,” Evan touched gently her pixie haircut while trying to keep the warm blanket on her back.

  “It’s not the shape, it’s the color,” Ranshen said and his scar twitched. “You’re now part of the 906 Inquisitors group and need to look your best. You’ll need to receive a tattoo as well,” he completed the list of requirements for the members of the gang.

  Evan wrinkled her nose involuntarily. She didn’t like the idea of having any kind of tattoo on her body and especially not the one marking her as part of a criminal group. Mort caught her expression and said.

  “It’s visible only under infrared light,” he stretched his left arm. She didn’t see anything on the inner side until Mort pointed the beam from an infrared torch. The numbers 906 written in a curvy font flashed in red inside his skin as a three dimensional hologram. If it was a tattoo of a flower Evan might have agreed, but that. She tried once more to wiggle her way out.

  “I’m allergic to the ink,” she said quietly.

  “You’re not allergic to anything. This is nonsense.” Ranshen said with a cold voice. He must have completed the analysis of her blood and the search to match her story. “You’re in perfect physiological health. I hope that your mental condition is that good too. We’ve a lot of work for you at this place,” the steam coming from his mouth made his statement ominous.

  “Hello, where are you?” Amanda’s voice echoed in the corridor.

  “Close to the ice-cream cones, “Ranshen shouted back.

  “Oh, who’s our guest,” Amanda said the minute she entered the room her fire-red hair bouncing as she walked. Evan was still sitting on the chair next to the counter and the two men were leaning at the lower kitchen cabinets nearby.

  “Amanda, this is Lin. Lin – Amanda.” Ranshen presented Evan to Amanda. His gesture and the swing of his cape indicated that the latter one was his property.

  “Hi,” Evan smiled. Amanda’s eyes were clueless, there was no sign that she had seen Evan before. Evan was safe as long as she continued playing the reader role.

  “Would you help us spruce up Lin a little?” Ranshen’s kind words did not match his tone and made the question sound more like an order.

  “Sure, come with me.” Amanda waved Evan to follow her.

  Down the corridor, two doors before Evan’s room they went behind a heavy double door. The king size bed was disappearing in the middle of its lavishly decorated surroundings. The colors used were a lot of red and a little white. Those were supplemented with white marble and gold. Evidently red was their favorite color. The room was as cold as warm winter day.

  “Sit down,” Ama
nda pointed to the bed and Evan complied. She could see the steam coming out of Amanda’s mouth as she spoke.

  “Let me see what I can get you…” Amanda stood in front of the opened door of a walk-in-closet. ”It may be easier if you tell me what you have.”

  “Only what you see,” Evan spread her arms then quickly pulled the blanket closer to keep the warmth from disappearing.

  “Oh dear,” Amanda went inside the closet, “wait for a second,” she shouted from deep inside. Evan heard her take clothes off the hangers and put them back on, open and close drawers. Amanda even kicked something she wasn’t expecting to. After a few minutes she showed up again and tossed an armful of clothes on the bed. The garments were in various shades and hues of red.

  “Here, pick anything you like. I don’t wear these anymore.” Amanda said then realizing that there were bras and panties in the pile too added with a smile,” The underwear’s all new with the tags on. Don’t worry; I have more than I could ever wear in my lifetime.”

  Evan looked at the clothes. They were either too revealing or too sexy. After Mort’s visit to her room and the quick chat with Ranshen in the kitchen she didn’t want to have to ward off the brother’s attacks on a daily basis.

  “Do you have anything like a jacket?” Evan hoped to be able to cover her forms from the preying eyes.

  “No, but I’ve a lab-coat and that huge cardigan.” Amanda pulled them from a cardboard box in the corner labeled trash. ”I haven’t worn them either. They gave me the lab-coat for when I visit the lab but I don’t like that place. Honestly it scares the hell out of me. And the cardigan does not match my style.” Amanda rolled her eyes and asked,” What are you going to do around here?”

  “I’ll be Mort’s assistant.” Evan said. Under that maroon lab-coat or the huge cardigan she could still wear her black t-shirt and black jeans whenever she needed to feel normal again. She quickly thanked Amanda with a big smile and headed with the clothes to her room, balancing the blanket on her shoulders.