The Preston Six Collection: (Book 1, 2 and 3)

by Ryan, Matt

  The room had two rows of chairs and the smell of fresh linen. A bar was on one side and a snack stand on the other. Poly walked to the room’s wide, tinted windows. Below them, there were rows and rows of chairs, filled with a sea of black macabre people.

  Poly had seen a concert with her mom once, but that stage and venue was tiny by comparison. This one must seat fifty thousand people, shaped in a horseshoe around a stage. The long stage made of pure black, filled the center of the stadium. Behind it, a large curtain strung across.

  Barrels sat on the stage, she figured they were some kind of prop until she saw a man zip over them, gliding on a steel cable toward the stage. He grasped handlebars attached to the line, picking up speed as he reached thirty feet above. He let go, did one flip in the air and landed into the barrel, sending foam out of it. The man stood and waved to the crowd. Polite applause sounded.

  Five more zip-lines spread high above the stage, each with a man hanging from handlebars, zooming down the line toward the stage. The first few landed in the barrels and waved to the lukewarm crowd. The fourth one landed in the barrel, but it fell over and knocked another barrel over as the last man dropped to land in it. The crowd screamed as the man crashed against the overturned barrel. The barrel shattered under his body and he lay in a bed of foam and wood.

  “Oh no, he’s not moving,” Julie said.

  The men jumped from their barrels and ran toward the fallen man. A man and women in white jump suits ran on stage with a hover gurney. The crowd cheered as they picked up the man and placed him on the gurney, rushing him off stage. A group of men wearing gray jumpsuits then ran onto the stage and cleared all the barrels and foam.

  Travis walked on stage holding a microphone. He waved to the crowd with his brilliant smile. They all cheered.

  “Wow, I hope that guy didn’t die.” The crowd cheered louder. “Hello, Sanct!” His voice boomed through the stadium. “Welcome to the two hundred and eighty-seventh annual Dead Show.”

  The crowd roared.

  “Who wants to die today? You, you, you?” Travis pointed to the crowd as he made use of all the space on the stage. He laughed. “But seriously people, it’s a great honor to once again kick off Dead Day. And I just have sixty-four items I would like to discuss before we officially start.”

  A gray-jumpsuit guy ran onto the stage with a chair. Travis sat in the chair and crossed his legs. He cleared his throat and held his Panavice near his face. “Item one, the Flower guild is looking for more volunteers to plant roses along route four. Contact Mrs. Flabberbottom for further information and open spots.”

  The crowd booed.

  “Please people, these are important notices.” Travis cleared his throat again and adjusted his shirt before looking at his Panavice. “Second, you can now ping the Transit guild directly for any road/transit problems you find. They can be pinged directly at Fill-my-hole.”

  The crowd exploded with boos again. Some even threw what looked like rats on the stage. Travis stood from his chair.

  “Listen folks, we have a long list of public service announcements here and if you keep interrupting me it’s going to take a long time to get through the next sixty-two items.” He held out and shook his Panavice at the crowd.

  The crowd drowned out his words with boos and more rats landed around him. Something huge moved behind the stage, pushing against the black curtain next to the picture of the city behind him.

  Travis sat back down, crossed his legs and spent some time finding his place back on the list. “Ah, here we are. The Waste Management guild wanted to remind everyone that Thursday will be no flush day. If you have any problems you can ping Mr. Stiflebladder at the WMG—”

  The crowd erupted again, drowning out Travis’s words. The curtain behind him pushed forward again. Two horns rose from the faux city walls behind Travis as he asked people to sit back down and listen to the list.

  The crowd boos fell to murmurs as the horns rose above the curtain.

  “Thank you,” Travis said and held his Panavice back to his face. “And I think you will find the next one very interesting.”

  The horns continued to rise and a redhead, the horns were attached to, appeared. The head was half the width of the stage. Its yellow eyes moved around looking at the crowd and down at Travis. With the new silence, Travis read from his Panavice.

  “The Water Collection guild wants everyone to check their pipes and make sure there are no leaks in your home reclamation systems. You can report any problems to Randy Butterhams at the WCG.”

  The huge red creature with two horns towered over the stage. Its arms reached above and it grinned a horrible mouth full of sharp metal teeth. The crowd stood up on their chairs and cheered.

  “Thank you.” Travis stood up again. “The men and women of Water guild will be warmed by your generous response—”

  The giant creature’s red arm reached down and grabbed Travis off the stage. The crowd’s deafening roars made it impossible to hear his screams. Poly’s heart raced and she pressed her hands against the glass. Holding Travis in its hand, it shoved him into its red mouth and tore him in half with its teeth, tossing the lower half of his body to the ground, behind the stage and swallowing the top half.

  Horrified, Poly turned to Julie, as she just stood there . . . calmly studying the scene.

  “Just part of the show, he’s fine,” Julie soothed her nerves.

  Poly stared at the beast. It took a large step and crushed the stage under its massive weight, the black curtain and fake city fell to the ground around it. The black-painted wood shattered and splintered around the beast’s feet, with each step it took. Some of the crowd in the lowest rows backed up from the devil monster. Her heart pounded in her chest.

  “Good show,” a man’s voice sounded from behind them.

  Poly’s heart stopped, and she spun around to face the voice. The man sat in the back row of the room, slow-clapping with a smile. The MM logo and a R8 were displayed on his shirt.

  “Max,” Julie said.

  “Oh good, you remember me. I hate introductions.”

  Poly pulled a knife from her side and flung it at Max’s head, followed by two more. The blades pinged off his personal shield. He didn’t even blink.

  “Pretty rude, Poly.” Max gave her a wry smile. “Julie, I would love it if you tried to hack my personal tech.”

  Julie already had her Panavice in her hands, frantically typing and sliding her fingers across the screen. She glanced at Poly with a terrified look, giving her a quick shake of her head.

  Poly pulled out her dagger and lunged at Max, he stood and let the dagger hit his shield. The dagger zinged her hand and she dropped it to the floor holding her stunned hand.

  “Are you done? Or do you wish to continue? I do like the aggressive type.” Max leered at Poly, rubbing himself for effect.

  “Give us Joey and Samantha back.” Poly spit as she spoke, her rage and disgust poured out uncontrollably.

  “I can’t do that, he needs them.” Max fixed his cuffs. “I’m not sure they would even want to leave. They’ve become very close, spending all their time together in the scene generator. They seem very happy where they are. The two were on the verge of breeding when I left. So predictable, just like your parents.”

  “Lies!” Poly yelled.

  Max shrugged. “I’m not here to make you see the truth. I came here to discuss the remaining members of your little group.” He stepped out from the chair. “Harris is up to something, isn’t he? You’re planning to get your friends back. Good for you, commendable.” His cocky smile made Poly want to puke. “But Harris has other goals, doesn’t he? What are they?”

  “We only want to get Joey and Samantha back,” Poly said.

  “I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me what Harris is up to?” Max asked.

  Poly didn’t respond, but tried to burn a hole in his head with her thoughts. Max slowly nodded his head.

  Julie walked next to Poly and wrapped her arms
around her. Poly put her arm around Julie while never losing eye contact with Max. She would hold Julie and if this was the end for them, she couldn’t ask for a better friend to be with.

  Max let out a long sigh. “You two could have gone a long way in MM. But you chose the wrong side, or the wrong side chose you.” He pulled out a gun and pointed it at her head. “He wants you alive . . . I guess I just don’t care enough to see that through.”

  “You can kill us, but everything else will still happen. You’re days are numbered, with or without us,” Poly said.

  “I’ve killed better.”

  Poly shivered with rage and fear. She hated herself for failing Joey, Samantha, and the rest of her friends. Tears welled in her eyes, but she would not blink and let them fall. She would not give Max the pleasure of seeing her beaten before he killed her. She clenched her jaw and narrowed her eyes. She would die, with him seeing her fighting eyes, her steel. His finger twitched on the trigger and the end of the barrel ignited in flames. She closed her eyes, accepting the end.

  SHE HEARD A LOUD DING sound, like metal hitting metal and opened her eyes to see Max’s face perplexed. The gun in his hand unleashed a barrage of bullets, each one disintegrating around Poly and Julie.

  “Don’t move,” Julie whispered. She held Poly around the waist. “I made us a shield.”

  Poly could’ve kissed Julie. The whole time she was playing around in clubs and bars with Travis, Julie worked on creating something awesome, something illegal and something that was pissing the crap out of Max.

  His eyes narrowed. “How did you create one of my shields?” Max holstered his gun and pulled out his Panavice.

  Julie’s arms released Poly, but she kept her body close as she took to her Panavice.

  He glanced at Julie and gave a chuckle. “Please, I will have your shield down in thirty seconds.” His fingers moved across his screen.

  Julie punched at her screen, and Poly watched the pages flying by. She felt for another set of throwing knives. She touched the metal blade when the room shook. Max looked past them.

  Poly glanced over her shoulder. The red devil-beast stood close to the glass, its mechanical eyes staring into their box. The arena had cleared out and the beast crushed the seats under its feet as it took a step closer. A large hand landed on the roof of the upper boxes and pulled off a section. Poly crouched down from the falling debris, but it deflected off their shield.

  Max stumbled backward as the red hand tore through the ceiling, reaching for him. He slid out the back door, avoiding the pinching fingers.

  Dust stirred in the room as the red hand pushed against the door, blocking it with debris before retracting back out. Poly let out a long breath and grabbed Julie. “You okay?”

  “Yeah,” Julie said, still fingering her Panavice.

  “You think he’s gone?”

  “He’ll never be gone.”

  Poly pulled out the black throwing knife Travis gave her, searching for Max to reappear.

  The room shook and Poly extended her hand, grabbing for the wall. The beast crushed down large parts of the stadium around them. Dust fell into their small room. The shaking stopped and the thing’s hand extended into their room. Through the dust, she saw a figure running down the arm. Travis jumped off its forearm and landed next to them.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Poly said. “He tried to kill us.”

  “I know.” Travis looked around. “We need to go.”

  “Where?” Julie asked.

  “I have a place, but we need to leave now.” His determined look didn’t leave room for argument.

  “Here are some clothes to put over yours.” Travis tossed a black cloth to Poly and Julie.

  Poly unfolded the thick black fabric and held it out in front of her. “What’s this?”

  “Your new costume. I know it’s generic, but it will help us blend in better than those designer ones,” Travis said, slipping a matching one over his head.

  Poly matched his actions and pulled the costume over her head. It dangled down to her feet and covered her entire body.

  “There’s a hood too,” Julie pointed out.

  Poly looked at her and the thick hood pulled over her head, large enough to cover most of her face. She reached back and found her own hood and pulled it over.

  Travis glanced at the screen. “We only have a minute to get out.” He pulled a metal hatch open from the floor. “Come on.” He disappeared down the hatch.

  They followed Travis over some debris and down the crushed stands surrounding the red giant. He leaped over the rail and into a door. Poly and Julie kept pace and followed him down into the depths of the arena.

  Travis stopped at a long hallway and looked down both directions before turning to his Panavice.

  Poly peeked down the hall where a pile of broken concrete lay next to the robot’s red foot.

  “This thing is going to move in ten seconds,” Travis pointed to the red foot. “We should run.” He turned and ran down the concrete hallway.

  Poly scrambled over some of the debris surrounding where the beasts foot had penetrated to the underbelly of the arena. She ran, glancing back at the beast’s red foot and making sure Julie kept up. A humming sound filled the hallway and the leg activated, stepping out of the hole, heading to the above stands. The hallway shook under its girth and dust fell from the ceiling with each of its massive steps.

  Poly’s heart raced, she wasn’t concerned about the devil beast, but the Devil himself, Max. She knew he lurked somewhere nearby and the cloak she wore gave her difficult access to her knives. She got closer to Julie and her shield.

  “Thanks for saving me back there,” Poly said. “Why didn’t you tell me you figured out their shield?”

  “I didn’t think I had it yet,” Julie said. “I’m actually pretty shocked it worked.”

  Poly thought of the bullets bouncing around her head and shook the thoughts of it not working. Travis stopped in the hallway next to a door.

  “Out this door, there should be a crowd. Keep your heads down and keep close to me.”

  She took a deep breath and nodded her head. Max may be on the other side of the door, in with the crowd. As Travis opened the door and the light threaded through, she held her breath and searched for him from behind her hood. Julie grabbed her hand and pulled on her. Travis was already ten feet ahead.

  People, thousands of people, crowded the area in front of them. Many stages had formed around the arena with bands playing on them, but everyone watched the arena being destroyed. The arena shook and the crowd cheered. Poly glanced behind her and the hallway filled with dust, some poured out over the crowd. Elated grim reapers, skeletons, druids, devils, and varied painted faces cheered it all on. Poly kept her head down as Julie pulled on her hand, taking her through the cheering crowd. She glanced back to the arena to see a large section of it collapse to the ground.

  She looked ahead for Travis. He led them through the crowd, clearing a small path for them to follow. Poly got directly behind Julie as the crowd pulsed and swayed with their roars. One mistake and she could lose both of them in the melee.

  The crowd thinned as they distanced themselves from the arena. Poly took one look back to see a section of the arena in ruins. Did Travis create a diversion or was this part of the Dead Day celebration? The arena left her sight, as they passed a building.

  Travis stopped and turned down another less crowded street. Poly stumbled on a crack in the sidewalk and her knife clanked to the ground. She curtsied low enough to grab the knife from the bottom of the cloak. A man with a dirty face and rags for clothes slowed down to look at them.

  “It’s not much further,” Travis said. Urgency spread across his face.

  He picked up the pace for the next few blocks. The sidewalk narrowed and disappeared, leaving them to walk on the edge of the street. Not that it mattered, as there were no cars currently traveling along it.

  The smell changed as well. Center C
ity smelled of fresh air, but the streets Travis took them down smelled of metal and hints of sewer. Bits of trash lay against the edge of buildings. She hadn’t realized how clean the inner part the city was. Sheets of metal covered some of the windows of the three-story buildings that lined each side of the street. No stores, no commercial businesses of any kind appeared. She figured it for a residential area—a poor one at that.

  Julie looked back and gave her a nervous look as a group of men with long drinking containers walked by. Travis kept his head low as they approached. Poly also kept her head so low, she could only see Julie’s legs in front of her.

  “Hey, ladies,” one man said as he passed Travis and spotted Julie and Poly. He grabbed Julie’s arm and spun her as he danced with her, making sure his large drink didn’t spill.

  “Leave me alone,” Julie said as she pulled back her arm, freeing it.

  “Oh, come on,” the other man wearing devil horns said. “It’s Dead Day, we leave nothing behind.”

  Travis stopped and faced the three men. He kept his cloak low, exposing only his mouth and nose.

  “Why don’t you two come with us to the festival?” Devil-horned man asked.

  “Why don’t you get the hell out of here?” Poly asked.

  The three men laughed and looked at each other. Devil man took a large drink from his glass and wiped his mouth. Poly met his eyes.

  “My, you’re a young-looking one,” he said. “What guild are you in?”

  “We need to be on our way,” Travis said, waving a hand and taking a step closer to the three men.

  The man that hadn’t spoken yet, moved closer to Travis. “Why don’t you leave? We can take your girls and show them a good time.”

  Travis’s lips curled back and his nostrils flared. His eyes were covered, but she was sure they were burning holes into his hood. The quiet man moved closer to Travis.

  “Last chance,” Travis warned.

  They laughed and devil-horned man said, “You got to be kidding—”

  Travis didn’t let the man finish his sentence, covering the five feet between them in a split second, he punched the man in the neck. Falling to the ground and clutching his throat, the man choked for air. Travis then kicked the quiet man in the gut, and kneed the third man in the groin. They both fell to the ground, grabbing their mid sections, and groaning.