Fate: No Strings Attached

by Erik Schubach

  We all straightened up. Right. Back to reality, or more specifically, our nightmare. It was a tossup as to which it actually was. But then the serious look on her face broke for a moment as she looked quickly over to Lach and asked quickly in an embarrassed tone, “So what is it like?” Her eyes moved down to below Mother's belt and then she closed her eyes and shook her head, “You know what? Don't answer that, I don't want to know.”

  I slapped her shoulder lightly, and I said, “Monsters among us, remember?”

  I wanted to shrink away into a hole when Lach teased in her new deep baritone voice, “Why don't you ask Clotho there? She liked it so much she still prefers women.”

  I growled out as I let go of Drey's hand and stalked toward the car, “Monsters! And I don't mean the reavers!” The brats. Still, I smiled a little with them at my backs. It was true after all.

  Chapter 8 – Flight

  We discussed what we were to do next, we only knew that we had to keep moving. We could feel the hunters moving around out there and saw shadows a couple times.

  I wasn't entirely sure what Mother and Atta were doing in the car as they called threads of that silvery light from my tattoos to them and wove them into little canvases in the air that they placed their hands on. They were able to get detailed locations of the reavers.

  I should know this, and it frustrated me to no end that I didn't. I had an inkling that they were somehow seeing where the reavers paths crossed the lives of those around us. Then it hit me. Sonar. It was just like sonar. They were sending pings out into the world, into the very fabric of life around us, and were looking at the echo as it rippled back to them. It was so simple... if only I could remember how to do it, that is.

  While they played a life-size Battleship game, keeping track of hunter movements, I was going through local news reports on my cell.

  I have to tell you, that cell phones are one development over the past thirty years that I applaud. We didn't have anything like the modern cell when I was Hannah, heck we had only had home computers for a less than a decade before I died. The only portable phones back then were either the size of a briefcase in cars or the size of a brick.

  The modern cells had everything we had imagined from shows like Star Trek. All of this knowledge and information at our fingertips. Of course, the only negative aspect was that it seemed to make the world feel a little smaller and claustrophobic to me. We used to depend upon the six o'clock news on broadcast television, and the daily newspaper to be informed of local events. Quite different than this instant information.

  I smiled at myself a bit as I remembered being a girl named Amara once, in ancient Greece. News of the battles or political machinations would take weeks to reach us, and even then we only heard what the rumor mill shared or the actual proclamations from the capitol. So things have certainly progressed overt the centuries.

  I shared with the group. “There are reports of an altercation outside the Mount Vernon library. And a possible casualty, though when emergency responders arrived on scene the body was missing.”

  I cringed. “They are looking for possible victims and persons of interest who may have been involved. Pretty good descriptions of us.”

  Andreya muttered, “Fuck.”

  Then she drove with one hand as she called someone on her cell. She winced as we heard a male voice yelling at her on the other side the moment he answered. She squinted one eye and let him finish his tirade before saying, “I know Captain. I know. I'm... what? No. I'm following procedu... Yes. No, I have the two POIs in protective custody. I'll... yes sir. Imminent threat, I'll check in when I get them tucked away.”

  Then she held the cell away from her ear as the captain went into a tirade again then hung up. She grinned at us. “We're good. For now. I'm going to have to get him in the loop by the end of the day or the entire department will be looking for us.”

  She shrugged and asked almost with a pleading tone,. “Any idea just how in the hell I'm going to explain this to him?” Then she looked over at me and asked, “You said there was a body?”

  Atta assured her from behind. “The reavers clean up after themselves if we don;t do it ourselves. Leave no trace is sort of the motto of all supernaturals. If mankind had proof of any of our existence, what do you think would happen?”

  Drey sighed heavily and said, “Mass hysteria and you'd all most likely be hunted down. Mankind has a propensity to kill what it doesn't understand. Not our most admirable trait.” Then she looked in the rearview mirror. “You killed one of those things?” Then after a beat, she added with an incredulous tone. “With a pair of scissors?”

  Our resident elderly librarian gave a cagey smile and offered up in a feeble old lady voice, “But they were sharp scissors.” She squinted one eye and aimed down her hand and made little poke-y motions.

  I chuckled and explained, “It is Atropos' function to cut the threads of life. She is so feared by mankind that most of the legends don't even name her. To speak her name was to invite death. She has a thing for shears. Well, we all have, on our cycle as the Crone.”

  Then she pulled out her scissors from the library that she was still in possession of and she shrugged, saying brightly, “Not only are the eyes the window to the soul, but to the brain too.”

  She made a prodding motion with the little blades, which produced a shudder and an “Eww,” from our fearless detective. That picture would be forever etched in our minds. The practical portion of me was nodding and appreciating Atta's efficiency.

  We all looked aback at Mother as she exhaled in exasperation. “They are tracking us somehow. The noose is tightening as they are closing in.”

  Drey pulled into an alley as she cursed, then she looked at each of us and said, “Cellphones... now.”

  My eyes winded as I realized that that the same technology I was just praising was likely how the hunters were tracking us. We apparently weren't the only ones who saw the new tools of mortals as useful.

  Brett nodded once but held a finger up, as we all realized they could use our loved ones against us. She dialed a number and then was almost blushing as she said, “Hi sexy, it's me. I had to help a buddy out and take his place on a trawler. I'll be out of contact for a couple days. This would be a god time for you to go visit your family in Spokane.”

  She chuckled a masculine chuckle, “You will? Good. No, I didn't plan this so I could get out of meeting your mom again. I'll make it up to you when I get back.” She grinned and blushed as she rubbed her stubble and said quietly, like we couldn't hear anyway, “Yeah, love you too. Bye.”

  Before any of us could tease she muttered, “Shut up.” Then deftly disassembled her cell and took the battery out, handing them to Drey, who tossed it out the window into a dumpster. She looked at Atta who chuckled. “No cell. Mary wasn't up on technology. She even hated the computers that replaced her card catalog at the library.”

  Andreya smiled kindly at her like you would a grandmother who was trying to figure out how to operate an AppleTV remote. Then she turned her gaze to me and wiggled her fingers. I sadly started to hand it to her then paused, thinking I had no loved ones in my life as Sloan Tesha. I was wrong.

  I pulled it back and held up a finger and hit speed dial one. It rang a few times, and I grumbled, “Come on Enid, pick up.”

  It went to voicemail, and I said quickly, “Hi Eeen. I need you to do something for me. Don’t ask questions, just please, go down south to visit your family for a few days. I can't tell you why, just please, trust me.”

  Then I hung up and hit speed dial two. After a few rings, the secondhand store answered, a younger man by the tone of his voice. He shared that Enid had gone on break and he would have her call me when she got back in. I told him that it was ok, just to tell her to check her messages, it was important. After he had promised, I handed my phone to Drey.

  She looked at it and said, “Fuckin' iPhones.” Then she smashed it repeatedly on the side of the dumpster out her window until she could tea
r it apart and pulled the battery from it. I guess iPhones aren’t the best phones to have when you don't want to be traced since they are sealed, and you can’t get to the battery. I winced in apology to the Apple gods as she tossed the wreckage into the dumpster.

  She said to us as she one-handedly dissembled her phone and tossed it. “We'll pick up a burner cell along the way. My family has a boat down in Ilwaco. We can take to the water and head back up around the peninsula back into the Sound. They won't be thinking we'd backtrack. Until then, just how do we fight these things without innocent people getting hurt?

  I tried to remember the area. Ilwaco? I prompted, “Isn't that where the Columbia River empties into the Pacific Ocean? Down by the Washington, Oregon border?”

  She nodded. “The one and the same. When my dad died, I kept the boat since my sister in Cincinnati didn't want it. Though I haven't had time to go out on the water the past few years. Harboring fees are much more affordable down there than by the big cities in the Sound on a cop's salary. I've been thinking of selling her.”

  Lach said, “Good thing you didn't. It will give us some breathing room to come up with a plan to confront the Adumbrates.”

  Then she snorted, causing me to prompt, “What?”

  She said with humor painting her voice, “I was just imagining reavers in hot pursuit on jet skis.”

  We all shared a laugh at that, glad for the distraction from the seriousness of our situation and the endless loop our thoughts were in, trying to figure a way out of this that didn't leave us hunted not only by the Adumbrates but the humans as well. The only thing we knew for sure, was that we couldn't hold still for very long. Reavers were very good at what they did.

  We all exchanged wordless glances, then Andreya reached over to take my hand as we pulled out of the alley and headed south.

  Chapter 9 – Enid

  By the time we got to Ilwaco, it was getting late in the day. We left the reavers behind, which showed Andreya was correct in her assumption about how they were tracking us so easily. They weren't prepared for us to leave another city behind us.

  Knotted threads, was this to be our lives now? Running? Every fiber of my being wanted to turn and lean into the storm. We were Fate, and nobody dictated ours. Like she could read me, Drey gave my hand a squeeze as she navigated the streets in the little town by the water.

  She said quietly as to not wake up Atta in the back seat, who was gently snoring with her head on Lach's shoulder, “We just need to get our bearings. Face them on our terms, not theirs.”

  I turned my gaze from the back seat to her. The street lights brightening and dimming in rhythm as we passed under them lit her pale green eyes again and again. She was a spectacular woman who didn't hesitate to wade in to fight something not of her world to protect others. She had a fire in her eyes but also a touch of fear I didn't expect to see there.

  Then I realized, maybe for the first time, that she was human... mortal... and she was standing with us against that same storm. I was getting more and more used to thinking myself a Fate as my memories trickled in. For the first time, I saw my detective as something breakable. But that somehow made her that much stronger and more beautiful to me. Something... more.

  She cocked her head to the side and gave me a questioning smile, knocking me out of my epiphany. I just shook my head and turned to look out the window with a slight smile on my face.

  Ilwaco was all about the water it seemed, like so many other seaside towns. There were docks and boats everywhere in the pleasure craft port which dominated the community. I looked as we moved along the road which paralleled the huge delta where the mighty Columbia River met the Pacific Ocean. I think I had been here once when I was Hannah, but the memory was a little fuzzy.

  The Columbia Delta was immense, at least four miles wide, and Ilwaco was tucked into a protected bay between a jutting peninsula and Sand Island.

  She pulled us into a little waterside restaurant, Tim's, which proclaimed proudly on a fish-shaped sign, that they had the best fish and chips for another 4,130 miles. A big red arrow pointed west below it, and I had to chuckle, weren't the Russian Kuril Islands about that far across the Pacific from here?

  Hey, I studied as much of the world as I could at the library when trying to remember who I was, so shush.

  Atta yawned and sat up when the vehicle stopped. I smiled back at her and Drey said, “Time to fuel ourselves then the car. The Water Pixie is close. We'll be able to get a peaceful night's sleep out on the water. Then we can figure out just what the hell we're going to do next.”

  We all nodded, and I hid a smile from her by looking out the window as I opened the door. She was the mortal of our group, and she was apparently in charge by default, as none of us countered. Even though we had countless lifetimes more experience than her.

  I paused. How many lifetimes had I lived in the mortal realm before dying and returning to the loom? I was starting to remember many of them, and it was staggering.

  I grinned as I opened the door and held it for Lach as I teased out, “Sir.”

  She ruffled my hair as she stepped out, her stubbled chin held high as she bit down a smile. I slapped her large hand away and ran my fingers through my long locks to attempt to control the mess she made, and the tangle of seat hair from our three-hour drive.

  Drey offered an arm and helped Atta out the other side. Can someone tell me why everyone else looked so well put together without signs of being cooped up in a car for hours, except me? I hate them all.

  Ok, not all of them. I took the offered hand from Detective Lisbon as she passed by. I squeaked as she pulled me quickly behind her to catch up with my Mother and Atta. We stepped inside, Lach holding the door for us. Drey smirked and said, “Thank you, kind sir.” She was already comfortable teasing the Fates.

  Mother hammed it up and gave a flourish and bow, then we went into the charming little restaurant and proceeded to have what I thought were the best, flaky, beer batter fish and chips likely for the next four thousand miles or so. It was amazing the difference fresh fish makes, likely straight off a fishing boat this morning.

  Though we were much more relaxed, I felt a shadow hanging over our group, as we didn't talk as we ate. It was like the eye of a storm, a temporary reprieve while a tempest raged around us, threatening to pull us back into the chaos any moment.

  We were all quiet when we returned to the car. Content to wait until we were safe aboard the boat before discussing our situation. Drey gassed up the car at a little food mart then brought us across the road to a little parking area by the docks.

  As a group, we headed around a little shack and through a chain-link gate onto one of the long docks that stretched out into the water with pleasure craft and small fishing boats along its length as the dock branched off at right angles from time to time.

  Some of the boats had people lounging on deck, looking out into the blackness of the water at night. They likely lived on their boats judging by the grills and well-lived appearances of the accumulation of items on the decks.

  We made it to the farthest branch and turned just past a larger blue fishing vessel and froze. There at the end of a row of boats, was an older looking, mid-sized white boat with a modest cabin. The name “Water Pixie” was stenciled in black on the stern. And there on the dock in front of it were two men, infused with shadow I could almost taste.

  The shadow elongated their hands into claws and filled their mouths with animalistic fangs. If it wasn't for the wrongness I could feel in the threads of their lives, one could have mistaken the plump one as anybody's father, while the other was dressed professionally and had the well-groomed look of an accountant or realtor.

  Andreya already had her service weapon leveled at them, and my arms went wide as Lachesis and Atropos took fighting stances, pulling silver threads of light from me. As they formed their weapons and read the threads around us, I pulled cords of glittering life force from my wrists as easily as if I had done it a million times.
The cords solidified into long whiplike lashes as I watched the tattoos rush out of my sleeves to form a roiling storm of images across my hands and fingers.

  I took a defensive stance that felt natural to me as Drey called out, “Police. Turn around and place your hands on the boat.” She glanced around nervously. I understood her hesitation, there were civilians around who could get hurt.

  The two reavers just stood there smiling almost smugly, it looked almost grotesque with their distended shadow jaws. The balding weekend warrior shook a finger at us like he was scolding a child and said, “You'll want to lower your weapons. All we want is that one. Then you can be on your way.” He pointed a finger at me, the shadows twisting and elongating it like a knife instead of a fingernail at the end of it.

  I absently wondered who would allow themselves to be twisted like that, and be nothing but an obedient puppet, just for some extra years. Everything died.

  I knew why they wanted me. I had the fabric of life which was woven on the loom inside me, crawling under my skin. What the Adumbrates believed would be their salvation. But they were wrong. I raised a hand and prepared to snap one of my cords of life at them, then froze when a third reaver stepped out from the cabin of the Water Pixie with her claws at the throat of a small woman.

  My blood ran cold, as I looked at the terrified face of Enid. She squeaked out, “Sloan! What's going...” Then she glurked as the female reaver pulled her back into the cabin.

  I whispered out desperately, “Eeen?”

  The man continued as if he made demands while holding a hostage was just a normal thing to do, “So if you'll come along Maiden. You have something that belongs to our employers.”

  I knew what they wanted, and they would never get it from me. Enid was already a liability to them, a witness, and no matter what I did here and now, they were planning on killing her. I stood frozen in indecision for the briefest of moments, when we heard a scuffle inside the cabin and a loud clang.