by Bryan Cohen
Dhiraj walked over to take the supplies. "Sheriff, I think you really pulled off that wayward drifter costume."
The sheriff shook his head. "I'm not quite sure that was a compliment."
As Jennifer began to laugh, another buzz shot through the air. The four of them froze and turned toward the monitor in sync. Jennifer blinked a few times to make sure the image before her was real.
Dhiraj slapped a metal pipe beside him. "I don't like this, guys. I think we've gotta leave them out there."
Jennifer weighed the options. "They might do more damage out there then they would in here."
Travis put a hand on her on the shoulder. "Do you really think we can trust them?"
Jennifer didn't know. She truly didn't. There was certainly a chance that this decision could end the mission well before it started.
"I hope so."
Jennifer's walked up to the red button. Her hand hovered over it for a moment before she pushed it firmly.
Dhiraj's voice wavered. "I hope you know what you're doing."
She sighed. "I hope so, too."
Jennifer's pulse pounded as the door to the lair opened with a creak.
Chapter 13
Try as she might, Natalie couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t because of the ship – the ride was smoother than any airplane trip she’d ever taken. What bothered her was the destination. Natalie was starting to get a feel for this world. The village had been on the outskirts of the dark soul territory. Now they were headed into the belly of the beast, and she doubted the Army would be as forgiving as Razellia and Vella had been. Natalie leaned her back on the dark green wall her bed was pushed up against. The room was bigger than their village holding cell, but not by much. She imagined the designers of the craft were more concerned with weapon systems than they were prisoner comfort. She ran her hand along the metal of the wall and tapped it with her knuckles. From the sound it made, the wall seemed solid all the way through.
It's like a flying tank.
Despite the cramped quarters, she wasn’t surprised Ted was fast asleep in the adjacent bed. After all, a building had almost come down on top of him. Even though they’d slept huddled together the previous night, Natalie didn’t even consider the same sleeping arrangements. Last night they were alone. Tonight their every move was being tracked.
Natalie closed the door to their room behind her as she walked into the hall. Her shoes made light clanking noises with every step along the criss-crossing metal grates below. Her head was only a foot from the ceiling, which made her surroundings feel more like a submarine than some alien jet. The only thing that made it clear they were far above water was a reinforced circular window that displayed the pure darkness of the night sky. As Natalie sat on the windowsill, the cold metal sent a chill through her legs.
She sighed. “We didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye.”
Men in heavy armor had surrounded Ted and Natalie in the alley. Their tall, muscular build made it almost impossible to see through the wall they’d formed. In the small space between the dark souls, there was a flicker of a wave from a woman who could’ve been Razellia, but it was impossible to tell. Vella had been in an underground bunker with the other children. She was hiding from the light souls, who were Natalie's supposed allies. It still didn’t make much sense.
A door slammed down the hall, followed by the loud, metallic noise of heel against floor.
Natalie shook her head. “Please tell me you were trying to stomp like 30 bugs, because otherwise that’s the worst sneaking in human history.”
Ted peered out from around the corner. “I tripped.” He rubbed some sleep out of his eyes. “I didn’t know where you were.”
Natalie patted the spot beside her and shifted to create more room. “You’re the neediest superhero I know.”
Ted sat down beside her. “Can’t a guy worry about his… international travel partner?”
Natalie ignored him and looked back out the window. They sat there for several minutes in silence, until Ted got Natalie’s attention with his eyes.
Something inside her told Natalie to lash out, but she pushed it down. “Didn’t your mom ever tell you it was impolite to stare?”
He laughed. “You know she has.” Ted leaned back against the side of the frame. “I just wanted to say I'm sorry.”
“For what?”
Ted smirked. “Oh, come on.” He quieted his voice to a whisper. “We almost kissed.”
Natalie raised her eyebrows. “No, you almost kissed me.”
Ted put up his hands. “Fine. Fine. I almost kissed you and I’m sorry. It was just a heat of the moment kind of–“
“I forgive you.” She put her hands over her eyes and groaned. “Gah! We need to get home.”
The plane lurched slightly at that very moment. Natalie could feel the aircraft beginning to descend. They both pressed their faces against the window. Flickering lights pierced through the total darkness. Far below, a massive castle came into view. Fear pricked her stomach.
Ted’s breath quickened. “You know, there’s a whole city of people who want to kill me down there.”
Natalie looked up at him. “Do you think they’ll leave me out of things if I say I’m your ex?”
Ted’s nervous laugh wasn’t comforting. “You’re welcome to try.”
As the ship neared its destination, it became clear just how large the castle was. The walls were set a skyscraper’s height above the ground. There were dozens of towers in view, with several as wide as her entire house. Unless the stronghold held a million fighters, it was likely a city with a military barracks somewhere in the middle.
Let’s hope it’s the latter.
The ship descended faster and faster until it came to a halt atop one of the wider towers. It was difficult to tell in the dark, but their view through the window appeared to be a giant statue of some kind. It was the biggest work of art she'd ever seen, not that she was keeping track of that sort of thing. Natalie wondered if it was a monument to some dark soul god. Or did it have something to do with that General she kept hearing about? She had a feeling the actual General would be a lot more frightening than some oversized piece of rock.
Ted gestured for Natalie to go back toward their room. She complied, and they sat on the edge of her bed in silence. When he took her hand, she didn’t resist. As her heartbeat grew faster, she squeezed his fingers.
The door to the room opened with a jolt, and three guards stomped inside. They smelled of sweat and weaponry. The biggest of the three looked like he was straight out of the professional wrestling ring, sporting arms as big as her legs. Despite his size, he moved across the room with ease and wrapped his gargantuan hand around her wrist. When he yanked, she was lucky the force didn’t pull her shoulder back out of its socket.
She gritted her teeth to deal with the pain. “You know, you could just ask.”
The gorilla of a guard ignored her comment and tossed her to the other men. One had a wide pumpkin of a face, while the other guard's cheeks and nose reminded her of a rat.
The rat man smiled to reveal his yellow teeth. “It’s time to go, pretty thing.”
Natalie shuddered as his clammy hand gripped her arm. When the pumpkin and the rat pulled her toward the exit, her stomach dropped again.
They’re only taking me.
Natalie slipped out of the rat's grasp and pushed the other guard back toward the wall. The massive guard who'd wrenched her arm blocked the door as Ted reached his hand through. She grazed his fingers as the guard shoved her back.
Ted shouted at the hulk of a guard. “She’s staying with me!”
Natalie tried to push the guard out of the way, but he was just too solid.
The brute laughed. “You may look like him, but we don’t take orders from you.” With that, the guard slammed his boot into Ted’s chest.
Natalie watched Ted's backside skid against the floor before the guard shut the entrance and locked it.
“Ted!”
> The rat took her shoulder once again. “You better cooperate. You’re already getting special treatment.”
Natalie wanted to take all three of them out, but she knew any one of them could draw their weapons and burn her to a crisp. She looked at the rat and pictured slicing off his grotesque head. Natalie relaxed her posture and got into pace with the three guards. As she took the final few steps, a voice entered her head. Natalie almost grinned as it danced through her brain.
I’ll find you. Stay safe.
Natalie couldn’t see much of her surroundings in the darkness of night. Everything around her had a stony, medieval feel, though the dim lights that lined the halls seemed to run on some sort of electricity. The air was brisk, even when she entered through the large entrance to the inside of the castle. Wind whistled through the window. She passed by at least five other sentries as they walked down multiple corridors, each of them looking exactly alike. Natalie traced her steps and took in as many small landmarks as she could. When she noticed they’d gone down the same hallway twice, she solidified the map in her head.
I can get back to the plane if I need to. If Ted’s still there, we’ll get outta here.
When the walking came to an end, the guards led Natalie in through a door they’d passed by twice. The odor engulfed her immediately. While rotting corpses didn't seem to be in view, she could tell they'd been part of the room’s history. Natalie held back a gag as the rat man tossed her into a chair in the middle of the room. The other two strapped her tightly to the chair.
She resolved to look tough, though she didn’t feel it. Natalie made her eyes like stone as she stared down the group's leader. “This where you take all your dates?”
The rat ran his fingers down her neck. “Is that an invitation?”
Natalie’s pulse raced as the man brought his face toward hers. She slowly leaned her head back. “In a matter of speaking.”
When the rat got within a few inches, Natalie whipped her head toward him, clocking him in the nose with her forehead. She felt the bone snap against her skull and the rodent let out a scream of pain.
“You little slut!”
The other guards laughed as they held him back from assaulting the defenseless Natalie. When they pulled him away, she saw dark blood gushing down his face. “You’ll suffer. And then you’ll die.”
The guards slammed the door behind them, blocking out all sources of light. She wasn’t sure how much time went by before she started thinking of her loved ones. Her basketball team, her parents, Dhiraj and Jen, Erica, Ted and Travis. She wouldn’t see any of them again if she didn’t make it out of that chair.
Natalie pulled with all her might, but it wasn’t enough to get either of her wrists free from the restraints. She leaned back in the chair and kicked forward. Try as she might, she couldn’t get enough momentum to get the chair off its hinges. She nearly had her legs over her head to push off the back when the door opened again. Natalie rolled herself back into a sitting position to get a look at her visitor.
Somehow, the man before her was larger than any of the guards on the plane. He pulled a rope upon entering and lights came to life along the walls. There was nothing inside the room other than her chair. The walls ominously displayed streaks of blood. She couldn't see the source of the rotting corpse smell, which was probably for the best. The light showed off the man’s numerous facial scars, despite his thick beard. With every elongated step the man took toward her, Natalie felt her heart pick up at least 10 percent.
“Who are you?”
The man answered with a running slap that caused her jaw to temporarily come unhinged. Natalie shifted it back into place and scowled.
He smiled. "My name is Pluric, and I'm the one asking the questions. What does Ted know about Kit Kable and the General?”
Natalie pulled against her restraints. “What? You’re not gonna buy me dinner first?”
This time, the man slapped her with the other hand. The pain lasted for a few moments, but it was no worse than the multiple elbows she’d gotten as her team's star center.
The man cracked his knuckles. “Tell me what your friend knows.”
Natalie relaxed her body and smiled. “If what I know is so important, why don’t you just get a mind-reader in here?”
This time the man grinned before he spun through the air and his foot whipped into Natalie’s face. She hadn’t had a chance to brace for it, and the kick caught her in the side of the eye. She could already feel the shiner starting to form.
The man bowed toward her mockingly. “Actually, I am a mind-reader. I just like hurting people.”
Natale thought back to when Redican invaded her mind, and she mentally tried to scramble her thoughts. She tried to picture a pure white nothingness, squeezing her eyes shut.
The man laughed. “Don’t worry. I'm just here to make a few alterations.”
Natalie felt something slide around in her mind. It was the mental equivalent of the rat man putting his hands on her. A few moments later, her eye and shoulder hurt worse than anything she’d ever known. The stinging sensation in both body parts made her twitch.
It was so painful, she couldn’t stop herself from screaming. “What did you – do to me?”
She opened her eyes to see the man only a foot away from her face. “I took your pain tolerance down to zero and sapped all your endorphins.” He pushed a finger into the bruise forming beside her eye.
Blinding agony took over her face. She'd had a broken leg in middle school and a stab wound the previous year, but she’d never cried from pain. Until that moment.
The tears streamed down her cheek. “Please. Please stop.”
The man wore a sympathetic look. “Of course. Just tell me everything Ted knows.”
Natalie tried to focus on Ted or anything that had ever comforted her, but the memories kept slipping away. “I can’t.”
The man’s shoulders slumped. “That’s too bad.” He pulled a knife from his belt. The light from the sharp blade reflected into Natalie’s eyes. “I guess we’ll just have to keep playing, then.”
Chapter 14
Erica ripped the keycard reader out of the wall, slammed the door in Vott’s face and pulled Redican to the side. The gunfire was quick and concentrated, and the noise echoed throughout the small, dark chamber.
Erica’s eyes bore into Redican. “Thanks for the heads up.”
Redican's brow was furrowed. “It doesn’t make any sense. I can barely hear anything they’re thinking.”
Another wave of gunfire came in through the door. The bullets slammed harmlessly into the opposite wall and the door to the weapon room. Erica thought of the stacks of artillery that lay behind that wall.
“Fine. We need a diversion.”
Redican followed Erica’s eyes and nodded. “That is something I can provide.”
As one of Vott’s cohorts tried to bust down the door with his shoulder, Redican shut his eyes and gripped the wall. A few moments later, a sound like a torrential downpour streamed in through the bullet holes in the door. However he'd made it happen, the sprinkler system was in full effect in the hallway.
Erica patted Redican on the arm and made a mad dash for the door. She slammed through it and rolled to the side before the third wave of gunfire burst through. She stood up and made a quick decision, pulling a shield and what she believed was a sonic gun off the wall. The bulletproof shield easily deflected the fourth wave of gunfire as she ran back into the dark corridor.
She crouched beside Redican. “Good distraction. I got you something.”
He took the weapon and smiled. “An apple for the teacher. How nice.”
Erica rolled her eyes as she saw some of the water from the sprinklers begin to seep inside. “You start. I’ll finish.”
Redican grinned and armed the device. “Sounds like fun.”
Erica turned in the direction of the door and yanked at the handle. The door snapped off its hinges and fell into the room. Redican struck first, leapin
g into the doorway and shooting off the sonic weapon. Half the agents dropped their guns and crumpled to the ground. When the other half jumped into place, that’s where Erica came in.
She ran with the shield like a battering ram. The gunshots ricocheted off her defenses as she made contact with her assailants. As much as the men tried to hold their ground, Erica ran them over like a Mack truck. The agents tumbled to the ground and Erica kept on running. Redican followed close behind, turning to shoot off one last sonic blast before they splashed through the hallway.
Erica’s pulse reached top speed as they turned several corners and ended up in a dead end with the same wide windows beside a set of elevators on either side. She tossed the shield to the ground. “This’ll work. Where’s our lift?”
Redican put his hands on his knees. “I’m working on it.”
Erica heard the squeak of wet footsteps in the distance. “Work faster.”
As the first agent came running into the hall, Erica leapt through the air and kicked the weapon out of his hand. He didn’t even flinch at losing the gun and immediately swung for Erica’s head. She feinted the blow and pulled him straight back. His head slammed into the wall and he crumbled to the ground. She met the next two agents with a spinning kick that connected with both of their faces. As they landed face-first on the ground, Erica took one of their weapons and fired a few warning shots down the hall.
She glared back at Redican. “This is taking too long.”
He scrunched up his nose at her. “I can control people’s minds. Not space and time.”
Erica fired another shot. “You should work on that.”
The remaining agents returned the fire, and Erica ducked around the corner to avoid it. She knelt in front of one elevator.
