Working fast, I searched online until I'd found a certain e-mail address. Then, I forwarded one message after another from Byzantine's account.
The next time I looked up, the zombies were less than six feet away.
Typing like a lunatic, I churned out a message of my own and hit "send." Then, I hopped up and found my favorite zombie, the scrawny girl I thought I could knock over without too much trouble.
I turned the chair toward her and took a breath. And then I charged.
As I plowed my way through the ring of zombies, I thought of the e-mail I'd just sent. I thought of it arriving at its destination, landing in the inbox of someone who didn't know the first thing about journalism, someone who hated me as much as I hated her. But how could she turn her nose up at an e-mail from a dead star, especially when she'd conducted his last interview before his so-called death?
Susan F., the network morning show host, was a total bitch, but she might just be crazy enough to pay attention.
*****
I made it past the zombies and into the elevator without a problem. Just as the door started to close, the mist hanging over the room suddenly condensed into the twin tendrils I knew so well. As they shot through the closing door to join me, I saw the zombies speed up behind them, lunging at the desk as if I were still there.
Then the door shut all the way, and the elevator leaped upward.
When the door opened again at the end of the ride, the tendrils zipped out in front of me. They paused at a corner and waited for me to follow, which I did. Without them, I had no idea how to get anywhere in the maze of Byzantine's estate.
Just as they'd led me to the laptop in that zombie-infested sub-level, they led me all the way back to the party in the ballroom, which was still in full swing. They stared at me for a moment with their long, black eyes, and then they spiraled up through the ceiling and disappeared.
Leaving me to rejoin the so-called fun.
*****
It felt like it took an eternity for the party to wind down--and another eternity for Byzantine to stop talking my ear off and send me home. But eventually, I made it back to my apartment.
The bed awaited. After ages without a good night's rest, I was weighed down with crushing sleep debt, exhausted beyond belief. I threw myself down on the mattress without taking off my shoes or anything else, dying for unconsciousness. If only I could get some rest, maybe I'd be able to think things through in the morning.
But wouldn't you know it, I couldn't fall asleep. My muscles ached, my eyes burned, I kept yawning again and again...but my mind wouldn't stop racing. I couldn't stop obsessing about what I'd learned from the laptop, and what it meant.
I couldn't stop wondering what the hell I should do next.
The mist entities had shown me the laptop for a reason. But what was it? What did they expect me to do? And was it something I wanted to do?
I knew some of the secrets behind this place. I knew enough to realize someone should do something. But I was only one man in over his head, caught between the Rapture, the Heaven Liberation Front, the entities, and Future Me. I wasn't even sure whose side I was on anymore. They all seemed to want me to work for them, but why? What difference could I make?
As if on cue, a doorway suddenly appeared in my wall, and M.J. moonwalked his way into the room.
He made his patented crotch-grab move and rolled his hat down his arm with a flourish. "Hey, Stag." Then, with a high-pitched whoop, he flipped the hat back on his head and ran his finger and thumb around the brim. "How's it going?"
"Other than the zombies?" I sat up and smirked. "Just awesome, M.J."
"Zombies? Where?" He did a pop and lock kind of move, then dropped down on the end of the bed. "You know I'm thrilled by zombies."
I considered telling him where I'd been and what I'd learned, then thought better of it. "Never mind. What brings you to my humble abode? Did you sense I was about to finally get a good night's sleep and decide you couldn't stand not to ruin it?"
M.J. sighed and shook his head. "We heard about Stag Lincoln Day. The other guys are wondering why you did the opposite of what they asked you to do."
"What about you?" I drew up my legs and wrapped my arms around my knees. "Are you wondering the same thing?"
M.J. smiled shyly and looked away. When he looked back, he was wincing. "I have to admit, the thought occurred to me."
I leaned back against the cushioned headboard and wondered what I should say. There was something childlike and guileless about M.J., something that made it hard to lie to him. "Between you and me," I said finally, "I'm not sure why I did it. Why I saved Byzantine."
"Instinct, maybe?"
"Something like that." I shrugged. "But if the other guys ask, tell 'em it's all part of my master plan, okay?"
M.J.'s laugh was sincere. "Okay, Stag. You got it."
"Letting a man die..." I blew out my breath and gazed up at the ceiling. "It's harder than I thought." Harder than I remember, I should have said. Or maybe I was a different man than I'd been during the A.E. incident. Was it possible, without meaning to, that I'd grown a conscience since then?
"I hear what you're saying," M.J. said softly. "But you know it's for a good cause, right? Taking Byzantine out of the picture will help free thousands of people."
"I get it." I reached up to rub my aching eyes. "But honestly, I'm not sure I wouldn't do the same thing if it happened again."
M.J. looked at me with a very serious expression. "That's what I thought."
Suddenly, I wondered if I should be worried. It didn't seem possible that my friend, gentle M.J., had come to hurt me--but as I'd learned, life in Heaven wasn't very predictable most of the time.
He moved a little closer, and I tensed.
"That's really why I came here tonight, Stag," said M.J. "To help you out. To give you another option."
Another option? I liked the sound of that. "What is it?"
"Something big is happening in two days." M.J. held up two fingers. "Byzantine has to be out of the way by then. But I don't think it'll matter if he's dead or just...out of the way."
"No killing? Is that what you're saying?"
M.J. reached into the palm of one glittering glove and drew out a folded slip of paper. "Can you get him somewhere by dawn?" He held out the slip.
I just stared at it. "You do realize he runs the show around here, don't you? He's the one telling me what to do."
"He adores you, Stag. Why do you think he pays so much attention to you?" M.J. shook the slip at me.
I snatched it from his fingers and opened it up. "I don't even know where this place is." I read it again and shook my head. "What's the Bestiary, anyway?"
"It's where they develop all the creatures, Stag," said M.J. "Where do you think Thundercloud came from?"
I thought about it a moment. If anyone other than M.J. had made the offer, I would have been leery. Even so, was it the best thing to do? And what was coming in two days that made getting Byzantine out of the way so important?
I dropped the slip of paper beside me and folded my arms across my chest. "What did you mean when you said something big is about to happen?"
"What do you think?" M.J. winked and sprang up off the bed.
U4's impending plane crash and abduction leaped to mind, but I kept it to myself.
"Just get him there by dawn, Stag. I know you can do it." M.J. crossed the room with a flurry of quick dance moves, then stopped at the wall. He bowed his head and closed his eyes, and a doorway suddenly appeared.
"Say I manage to do it," I said. "What happens after that?"
M.J. spun around, tugged his hat down over his eyes, and smiled. "You leave that part to me."
Then, he moonwalked out the way he'd moonwalked in and was gone.
Leaving me sitting on the bed with the slip of paper.
As the door faded back into the wall, I threw myself down on my side. Why was it that when I'd had the chance to sleep, my racing mind had kept me up, and now that I was con
sidering staying up all night, I felt like I could pass out on the spot?
"Screw it," I said, shutting my eyes. How much longer was I going to let people lead me around? Wasn't I supposed to get some rest and think things through?
Then again, if I could get Byzantine out of the mix, maybe I could stop the Rapture from reeling in my buddies in U4.
With a loud groan, I rolled over and sat up. My decision, as stupid-crazy as it seemed, was made.
Now all I had to do was figure out how to reach Byzantine and talk him into meeting me at the Bestiary.
*****
It all started with a phone call.
There was a golden phone on the nightstand, an old-fashioned model with a dial on the face. Taking a chance, I dialed "O" for operator and ended up with a person on the line. I asked if she could put me through to Byzantine, which she wouldn't do, but she did connect me to my next choice, the one I thought might be able to help me.
"Hello?" Lillian's voice was a hoarse croak on the other end of the line. I could tell she'd been awakened from the deepest of deep sleeps.
"I need your help," I told her. "It's a matter of life and death."
She sighed loudly. "We're already dead, Stag."
Not so much, I thought. "You know what I mean. It's really important. Heavenwood movie-making important."
Lillian was silent for a long moment. "You called me about a movie?"
Time to trot out the acting chops again. I had to make her believe this wasn't a line of B.S., in spite of its high B.S. content. "The movie I'm making with Byzantine, yeah. You told me how important movie-making is to my not getting tortured, so I'm taking it very seriously."
"Too seriously." She let out a long, loud yawn. "It can wait till tomorrow morning."
"No it can't," I said with breathless insistence. "It has to be tonight. I need to do a location shoot."
Lillian yawned again. "See you in the morning. G'night, Dad."
"No, no, please." I added notes of forcefulness and desperation to my performance. "I heard about a place, and it inspired me. But I need to shoot it at sunrise." I paused. "And I need him to be there, too."
"This just gets better," muttered Lillian. "Are you talking about Byzantine?"
"We're costarring," I told her. "So yeah. Trust me, he needs to be part of this shot." I cleared my throat. "And he needs to bring a camera crew and gear."
Lillian let out a sarcastic little laugh. "So you want me to wake up Byzantine in the middle of the night and try to drag him out to a spur-of-the-moment location shoot?" She laughed again. "Great plan."
"So you do know how to reach him? You can do this?"
"Let's not go there, Stag," she said. "No way am I going to be that person."
"Would you rather be the person who's responsible for Byzantine missing the greatest shot of all time for his movie?" I took a deep breath before saying the next words, because I knew the weight they would carry. "Because I will throw you under the bus on this one if push comes to shove. I'll tell him it was your fault."
Lillian was quiet for a long time. Eventually, I started to wonder if she'd hung up the phone...but then I heard her faint breathing as if from a distance.
And then, finally, I heard her voice. "All right." And it was bitterly cold. "Let's do it. But just remember, I can throw you under the bus, too."
I didn't answer. I'd won, but I'd burned a bridge in the process. Better not push my luck any farther.
"So where is this location?" said Lillian.
When I told her, she laughed again. And then she muttered something under her breath and hung up on me.
*****
For a while, I wasn't sure Lillian was going to come through. I paced my apartment, worrying that I'd used up all her goodwill for no reason, that it hadn't been enough to get the job done.
But, eventually, a doorway opened in the wall, and there she was. She wasn't smiling, didn't look remotely glad to see me--but there she was.
Her long dark hair looked freshly washed, her diagonally-striped black-and-white lipstick looked freshly applied. Her outfit looked impeccable as always, the white blazer, blouse, tie, and slacks freshly washed and ironed.
But the look on her face was not fresh at all. I could practically feel the frost from across the room.
"Mr. Byzantine will meet us there," she said. "He's looking forward to seeing what you have in mind."
"That's great." I nodded and headed for the doorway. "I can't thank you enough."
Lillian didn't answer or even look at me. I paused in front of her, and she turned her head to look away.
So that was where I stood--as grade-A dog shit. But at least I was working things out, solving two problems at once: ending my hit man assignment and saving the biggest rock band in the world from the Rapture.
If everything worked out the way it should, that is.
So I hung my head and got on with it, walking past Lillian without another word. Hoping that maybe somehow I could still bring her around when this was all over.
*****
Lillian drove us out of the dome and down the beach in a golden hovercar. The whole time, she never said a word to me...and I knew better than to try to say a word to her.
As we glided over the sand, the cool breeze off the ocean ruffled my hair. Looking up, I saw a sharp-edged crescent moon perched amid a crowd of glittering stars.
A beautiful night. It felt so tranquil, so unspoiled, as if no kind of chaos could ever disturb it. As if no kind of human maneuverings could ever distract from it.
Yet there we were, heading for an uncertain rendezvous.
A mile or so down the beach, Lillian turned inland. At first, I didn't see what she was heading for--but them I caught sight of a high fence running along the treeline. Moonlight glowed on the metal chain links, tracing the fence's outline high above the tops of the trees.
As Lillian drove toward it, I saw another golden hover-vehicle already parked inside, the size of a large bus. Apparently, Byzantine and his crew had already beaten us there.
We rushed up to a gate, and it swung open to admit us. When we'd passed through to the other side, it clanged shut behind us.
Lillian parked, and we both got out of the car. As soon as our feet hit the ground, Byzantine hurried over from the golden bus.
"Bro! What took you so long?" He grinned and rubbed his hands together. "I can't wait to see this brainstorm of yours in action!"
"You won't be disappointed, dude." As I said it, I glanced around for traces of M.J. or the others--but I saw none of them. Just the three of us and the film crew over by the bus. "So this is the Bestiary, huh?"
Byzantine spread his arms wide. "The one and only, bro. Jam-packed with every kind of creature you can imagine."
Up ahead, there was a dirt walkway with heavy duty metal fencing on either side. Behind the fencing, I could see only brush and shadows. "Can we look around? I'd like to pick out just the right spot." And find M.J. and his people, hopefully.
Byzantine clapped an arm around my shoulders. "Only if you tell me more about your idea on the way."
As we wandered down the walkway with the camera crew in tow, I stared between the bars of the fence on either side. Whatever was hiding in the brush and shadows, I saw no sign of it except an occasional shaking branch.
"So what's this shoot about?" said Byzantine. "How does it fit into the movie about the star who saves the director and helps him bring order to a city under siege?"
I stopped at a gate in the fence and walked up to it. "I had a vision of this amazing scene." Peering between the bars, I thought I glimpsed a dark form hulking in the vegetation...but then it was gone. "The star has been kidnapped and kept here by the rebels. But the director rescues him from captivity. Just as the star saved his life, the director saves the star."
"I like it." Byzantine nodded, stroking his chin. "And then what?"
"Well..." Just as I was forming my next thought, I heard a booming sound in the distance, like thunde
r.
Then another, even louder. The ground shook under my feet. The shrieks and roars of animals filled the air.
Instantly, Byzantine scowled. "What was that?"
Another boom rang out from afar. Then a lesser one, then a greater one.
"What the hell?" said Byzantine.
"It's coming from the domes," said Lillian.
No sooner had the words left her mouth than I heard another sound over the cries of the hidden beasts. And I took a step back from the gate.
Because it was slowly swinging toward me. The sound I'd heard had been the clack of its lock sliding open.
There was another boom in the distance, the loudest yet. The ground shook so hard, it knocked me off my feet.
I went down hard, sending a shock through my tailbone. I cried out and winced my eyes shut at the stab of pain.
When I opened them again, all I could see was an enormous maw gaping over me, filled with concentric rings of jagged teeth. A bellow like the howl of a storm burst from the depths of its glistening scarlet throat.
And then it lunged at me...
*****
Chapter 10
Teeth gleaming in the moonlight, the creature bellowed and lunged. I flung myself to one side, barely rolling out of the way in time.
As the beast came down hard on a mouthful of dirt, I finally got a look at more than its teeth. It was some kind of giant shark thing with a rubbery black hide, mounted on hyper-muscular Tyrannosaurus Rex-style legs.
Adrenaline blazing through my bloodstream, I scrambled to my feet and whipped around to run away. But I only managed to take two steps before the ground shook from another distant blast. I tumbled awkwardly off my feet, ending up in a tangled pile of limbs.
Then, I heard the shark-thing's familiar bellow and looked up to see it charging toward me. There was another explosion from the direction of the domes, the biggest yet, but I paid no attention; all I could focus on at that moment was the massive, toothy maw hurtling toward me. I hadn't been dead when I'd first come to Heaven, but it looked like I was finally going to get that way.
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