Lin did a halfhearted bow, “Sorry, it won’t happen again.” and disappeared back down the dark path.
“I must apologize for my—”
“Save it for someone stupid,” Colleen said, finally looking up. The woman before her was nearly as tall as she was, their eyes meeting. A uniform of form-fitting olive utility pants hinted at thick, muscular thighs. Her white long-sleeve Henley unbuttoned to just above her sternum, wrapped in long-toned arms. The only significant difference between the two of them; her carbon-colored hair against the backdrop of pecan skin. She was breathtaking, and not just compared to other women. The fine lines of her face, the perfect skin, the petal pink lips, all would have left her speechless if she weren’t so livid already.
“While I can understand your frustration, that’s no way to talk to someone trying to help you, is it?”
“How is it you are trying to help me? I’m here for only one thing, and once you tell me where she is, then we can act like we never met.”
“And what makes you think I know where this thing you want is?”
Colleen exhaled deeply, then rolled her shoulders, stretching her neck back and forth. She pulled her lips together as she drummed her fingers on the tops of her thighs.
“I’m going to go out on a limb and assume you run this place. Is it safe for me to assume you run this den of idiots?”
Kali bit her lower lip.
“Admit that the evil dungeon lair seems a bit too stereotypical, though. Maybe a bit too on the nose?"
The woman playfully put her lower lip out. “Perhaps”
A familiar sound escaped from the door behind Kali, low and rumbling. There was something else too, a breathy noise, almost wheezing, moving closer to them. Colleen looked to her and waited to see if the woman noticed it, too.
“Yesterday, my girlfriend and I, along with this guy here,” giving a head nod in Lito’s directions, "were taking in the city, bothering no one, just doing our thing. We are in Seattle anyway, so why not visit the Space Needle? Seem’s harmless enough. Then suddenly, I’m thrown to the ground, threatened, and Marisha is gone in the blink of an eye.”
Kali put up a finger to speak, but Colleen just rolled right past her. The woman narrowed her eyes and pressed her fingertips together.
“Before you try to say it’s probably just some misunderstanding. I saw it all happen, and I saw where these people went. The only thing I didn’t know was who specifically did it.”
“If you don’t know who...how can you be sure it was anyone associated with our community? There a lot of depraved people who remain on the fringes of society here.”
“Because I followed them, and it just so happens disappearing down a zipline into a hole in a huge white dome isn’t very subtle. Also, lucky for me, they weren’t too quiet when discussing who they kidnapped and why. So, I'm going to ask again, where is she?”
Kali backed up and leaned against the desk.
“Oh, she’s safe,” Kali said, her voice still soothing but hiding threat behind the calm.
“You’re going to tell me—”
“I’m not telling you anything. Your position of power hasn’t changed in these last few minutes. I’m still the one with the guns and the resources.”
An all too familiar acrid scent began to permeate the room. She held her breath, the smell bringing back vivid memories. Jackson cowered his head, and his tail dropped between his legs. She pushed down her simmering temper, opting for a more mellow response.
“I just want her back. That’s simple enough, right?”
“Your attitude seems to have changed almost instantly. It’s amazing what a little motivation can do.” Colleen opened her mouth to speak up, but Kali held out a finger, “Like I said, she’s just fine, and no one has done anything to her. Honestly, she was welcomed with open arms by many of the people here, others, not so much, but it’s to be expected with how she left us.”
“And how is that?”
Kali placed a single finger to her lips. “Let’s just say she burned a few bridges before she left that couldn’t be fixed.”
Colleen raised a shoulder. “I’m sure she had her reasons,”
“That’s not the type of place I run here.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, but anyway, can I at least see her?”
“I think it can be arranged, but I believe she’s off helping the resources team with a few extended errands and won't be back until tomorrow morning. Once she’s done for the day, it should settle her debts. How about we find you two a place to sleep for the evening.”
Colleen’s heart sank at the thought of going another night without the love of her life. Another night without the touch of her skin as they fell asleep holding hands. The way Marisha’s warm breath tickled the back of her neck as she would cuddle up with her from behind when it got too cold in the middle of the night. Or Marisha running her fingers through her hair, sending electricity through her neck. Just the thought of her hand brushing down her cheek as two fingers would then rest to her lips, ending with a gentle kiss. She felt her cheeks getting warm with broken anticipation.“Sleep?” Lito said, finally speaking up, “It’s still morning.”
“What if I just ride out to meet her?” Colleen spoke, trying to hide her impatience. “I could help them out so they can get back quicker. I’m just missing her, you know.”
Jackson plopped down on the ground at her feet and let out a depressing sigh.
“Oh, that won’t be necessary. They don’t need any more distractions than they already have.”
Colleen took a deep, long breath then slowly exhaled. All Kali had to do was motion to one of the guards with a subtle head nod, and the two of them were led back upstairs
"Colleen," Kali said, as they were halfway up the stairs.
"Yep."
"I forgot to tell you. I absolutely love your dog. He's absolutely gorgeous and so well-behaved.” The sweetness in her voice as thick as crystallized honey. “You don't see many like him anymore."
Forty-Four
Marisha
As the sun set to their left, Marisha could see the 23rd-mile marker pass by. Even with a slow start, they had blown away their lofty goals. With light fading fast, they would have to set up camp soon. She wasn’t about to travel at night. Gone were the days of not being able to watch your back under the light of the moon.
Quinn took the first exit as soon as the sign announcing the town of Everett came into view. They made their way down the concrete exit ramp and proceeded to the battered road that ran alongside the rocky beach. As she focused, her eyes gravitated to the tallest building in town, a beautiful relic of yesteryears. To the left, on a small hill, stood a tall white tower. An enormous glass enclosure encircled the top.
“There’s our bunk for the night,” Quinn said, pointing with a crooked finger.
They hiked up the hill and down to the beach, their feet sinking into the sand. Marisha felt a pain inch its way up the back of her skull, slowly pushing its way towards the front. She grabbed the back of her neck as the pain increased, digging deeper into her brain. Blue and yellow spots, almost like snowflakes, floated across her eyes, blocking nearly half of what she could see.
Garrick turned to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
Marisha pulled away, nearly losing her balance. “I’m fine, I—”
The pain spiked into her brain like a hot jagged needle. The sickening feeling made her fall to her knees as she heaved the contents of her stomach onto the white sand. Another jolt of mind-numbing pain dulled her arms as she fell face down into the sticky sand. Her fingers dug deep, gripping for anything to relieve the anguish she could no longer stomach.
Images of fire danced on the edges, slowly creeping inside. Everything she saw was now black except for the encroaching fire. Red and yellow flames burned white-hot as aromas of burning wood filled her senses.
Voices echoed within her head, first faint and nameless, then forming into wailing
cries of unimaginable grief.
Marisha felt powerful hands on her body, pulling her, tugging her back to reality, but they felt distant, as if in another world and powerless against the depths she had fallen to. If she didn’t get help, and fast, her sanity would be a distant memory.
The pain, the excruciating pain, was just too much to overcome, tainting every thought, clouding her judgment. The words “help me” soundlessly spilled out of her mouth. No one could hear her cries. She was going to die, face down in a pile of her own vomit, and there was nothing she or anyone could do about it.
Her mind felt like it was volleying forward. The memories clouding her head, or that’s what she assumed they were. The visceral sensation of wood smoldering, metal twisting and rending apart under immense pressure flashed to her. People screamed as metal beams tore apart like wet paper. Explosions shook her world as black smoke billowed up to the sky, blocking out the sun.
She felt her powerless body yanked up, this time closer to reality. The pain had eased, pulling back the veil of fire around her eyes. The needle of searing anguish buried deep within the nerves connecting the two halves of her brain was almost instantly withdrawn. Reality took over as all her senses return. The smell of bile and sand fill her nostrils, the sounds of the waves crashing against the rocks calm her ears. The nightmare was gone.
“Marisha,” a voice yelled again. This time loud enough for her to react. She pulled her head up, wiped her mouth, and almost threw up again; the smell was repugnant.
“Hey! Marisha, where did you just go? You just scared me half to death. Whatever was going on inside you was freaking scary.” Garrick lifted her up and brushed her sweaty hair off her face.
“Yeah, I... I... I don’t know for sure. It happened again; these visions where I can’t control anything happening to me. It’s like something evil has taken over my mind, and it’s using my body to torture me.” She coughed, spitting up some blood. “Maybe this is what it’s like to be possessed. I don’t want to go there again, but I’m almost certain that’s out of my hands.”
“We’ll get you help, I promise.”
“It’s just a headache, it’s—” he trailed off.
Marisha sat back on her feet and wiped her mouth and ran her fingers through her hair.
“No, it's not, and you know that. We all do. I’m the only one here not trying to fool myself.”
“Then what is it since you seem to know everything?”
An uncomfortable silence lingered until a familiar, firm voice behind them finally broke through.
“It’s the Terror, and this is nothing new from her.”
Marisha clapped both hands over her mouth, and her glassy eyes blinked rapidly.
Forty-Five
Colleen
Colleen had spent the day pacing around the museum. Exploring the surprisingly still intact collection of once priceless artifacts. While most of the glass that at one time surrounded the exhibits was all broken, the items themselves were still displayed. She and Jackson had taken a turn and ended up face to face with a life-sized mock-up of early Denisovan men, along with their canine companions. This had set Jackson off as he barked for over five minutes, trying to scare away the wax and fur statues. He had to protect his territory.
It took a while, but she pulled him away, and they spent the rest of the day outside. Preferring the outside air to being cooped up inside.
“Come on, boy, I could use some dinner. What do you say?”
He prodded her in the side of her leg and had run towards the building.
“I don’t have to tell you twice,” she chuckled.
“I’m not sleeping tonight,” Colleen said, using her fingers to keep her eyes from drifting closed, “or any other night that I’m here until I can see Marisha, unharmed.”
Colleen sat up on the foldout bed that she had been given for the night. It was far more comfortable than she had expected it to be. It would be hard not to pass out tonight from exhaustion. She pushed the curtain separating their “rooms” apart and scrunched up her nose.
“And how do you plan on doing that if it takes a few days before she’s back?”
“It won’t be.”
Lito pressed his lips together. “These people aren’t so bad, you know. When is the last time you had a meal that good?”
Colleen closed her eyes, picturing dinner. Roasted cabbage, toasted soybeans, and glazed carrots, and there had even been enough for seconds. She shook out the thought and huffed again. This all felt like something that had burned her many times.
“Of all people to talk to me about good meals. When is the last time you dined on—”
“Don’t start that already,” Lito growled, cutting his eyes at her.
“When exactly is it appropriate to mention that you used to—”
Lito tried to put a hand over her mouth, but Colleen slapped it away. “We can talk about that later, okay?”
“Whatever. I still can’t sleep tonight, not when she’s out there. You don’t know what it’s like. I spent seventeen years falling asleep the same way every night. I didn’t know any different. Then boom, I can’t sleep without her legs tangled up with mine. I love my mom and rest her soul but, she didn’t prepare me for people stuff.”
“For people stuff? I don’t think any of us really can be prepared in this world. I’m sure she taught you some things.”
“Maybe people isn’t the right word. Yeah, she taught me how to read a liar, con a con man, and get out of some sticky situations but… love, friendship, those were left off the schedule.” Colleen clasped her fingers together and put them up to her mouth.
“You mean social skills?” Lito said.
“Something like that.” She shrugged her shoulders and looked down. “We talked about love as an idea but not as a practice.”
He moved from his bed and sat down on the end of hers. “Not even between your parents?”
“Certainly not between them,” she grimaced. “I try not to think about that stuff. The way my mom talked about dad, it’s a wonder how they ever got together.”
“Wow,” Lito said, his eyes wide. He looked at her, “You never wanted someone else to share your life with?”
“I never went looking for it; I had my mom. But then—but then I met her.” Her voice cracked, and she cleared her throat. She didn’t think heartache would do this to her. “Everything changed before I knew what was happening. My insides turned inside out and laid bare for someone I barely knew. If you believed stories, then love should have taken months, even years, of building up to it. Not for me, for us. I didn’t want to be anywhere else. Her laugh, her voice, or the way she touched me put electricity through my body like I had never felt before.”
She closed her eyes and touched the nape of her neck. She inhaled and brushed the tips of her electric fingers down her cheeks to just below her chin. Her whole face felt warm, nearly on fire.
“Of all the things I thought I needed, love wasn’t one of them. I’d lost my mom just a few months before. The only person’s love I’d ever known. How could she not fill that hole but rather help patch me up?” A breath caught in the back of her throat. “It turned out I needed her more than anything else. She saved me.”
“Do you think what happened to you made you need her specifically? Or made her the one and not someone else?”
“I’m sure it did. I was blind and all.” Colleen furrowed her brow, leaning in. “And by someone else, do you mean…”
Lito fumbled over his words, “I don’t know, like a…”
“Like a guy?”
“Yeah,” He said as he lifted his left hand, palm up.
“If you’re asking if I would have fallen for a guy in the same situation, then no. You were doing so good.”
Lito cleared his throat and brusquely wrung his hands together, “I’m sorry, I—”
“As I told you, love was never something my mom talked about, and certainly not an attraction to anyone. Sure, I’d seen guys and girl
s on the rare times we visited the city, but all these feelings came late for me. I’d looked at guys thinking maybe that’s what I would like, but no offense, it did nothing for me.”
“None taken.”
“And girls? It was different, but not enough for me to know that’s who I was for certain. In this empty world, examples of love are few and far between. I think everyone has to stumble around looking for something that fits them. And you know what really stinks?”
She heard someone yell, something she couldn’t quite make out. There’s a loud thunk in the distance and a row of lights go out, then another, dominoing down the line.
“What?” He inched closer.
“None of us have long enough on this world to waste too much time figuring it out.”
Lito nodded, snorting. “I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone this, but…”
“Come on, go on. I just got done pouring my cold heart out to you. We can still talk. It’s just lights.”
“You're right.” He drummed his fingers against his forearms and then continued, “I had someone once too.”
“Did you eat her?”
“Hilarious, Colleen, and no, I didn’t eat her.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose, “I’m never going to live that down, am I?”
She reached over and punched him in the arm. “You don’t really live things like that down, but continue.”
Lito’s eyes dropped as he let out a sigh. His whole body lost all signs of confidence; his voice was weak, almost unsure of itself. “You know I told you about my parents? Same story as most anyone.”
From the front of the room, someone yells out, “Light out, keep it down.”
“Don’t mind them. That’s not for us. We’re just visiting.” Colleen stretched her arms and laid down, keeping her knees tucked up, and she motioned for him to keep going.
The Maddening: Book 2 in the Terror Saga Page 25
