by Bryan Cohen
As the troll clutched at its temple, three more projectiles zipped through the air and made contact. When the beast turned toward her, Natalie could see arrows lodged deep in the creature's head.
The troll failed to provide any more wise words as it let out a death gurgle and collapsed to the ground. Green, acidic blood oozed out and seemed to sting the stone below. The beast's red shirt remained surprisingly clean.
With the battle seemingly done, Natalie's calves forced her to a kneeling position. Before she could guess who'd shot the arrows, a man with a crossbow stepped forward. She didn't recognize him, but the way he looked at her told her he recognized her. He was average height and build, though the man did walk a little bit like an ape.
When he offered Natalie a hand, she waved it away and stood up on her own. "You saved me. Who are you?"
The man grinned and stowed his weapon. "You wouldn't know me by my name here. But you might from my Earth name."
Natalie gave the man a cockeyed glance. "Elvis?"
The man laughed. "That would explain a few things about the King, now wouldn't it?" He motioned toward him. "Come with me."
Natalie remained motionless. "Who were you on Earth?"
The man sighed and stared into her eyes. "My name was Stucky."
Chapter 32
Travis' stomach still felt like crap. Since he'd arrived in another world, a fast and creepy mouse tried to make his head spin and a roller coaster of an elevator nearly made him puke a second time. And after all of that, it turned out that Natalie wasn't even there. He expected this situation might give him some comfort from the absolute hotness that was the light soul second-in-command, but he could barely hear himself think over the noise of Ted and Erica bickering like a crotchety married couple.
Erica looked torn, like she was trying to choose between slapping Ted and sticking her tongue down his throat. "I thought it'd be confusing."
Ted wasn't having it. "The fact that I'm the exact double of your fiancé?" He stomped around like a kid who'd lost his toy. "Yeah, that is confusing."
Erica didn't seem to enjoy this game. "Ex-fiancé."
"And current dark soul general."
"I'm well aware of that!"
Travis walked over to Reena's side and gave her a nudge with his shoulder. "I'd give 3 to 1 odds on the scrawny guy."
Reena gave a playful huff. "Never bet against a woman."
The olive-skinned goddess reminded Travis of Natalie. He cursed himself for not even being able to flirt without thinking of the rude, hot-headed hoopster who'd completely whipped him.
Travis stepped in between the feuding lovers. "This is all very interesting. I'd love to listen to it for hours." He glared at Ted. "But I'd like to know where the hell my girlfriend is. Okay?"
Ted shrunk from the confrontation and seemed to remember himself. "We had a plan to escape. The two of us were going to meet up." He looked toward the wall. "But the light souls shot up the place before we could find each other."
Travis' blood boiled. "So you left without her?"
Ted threw up his hands. "I was unconscious. They took me against my will."
Reena didn't take too kindly to the boney accuser and got right up in his face. Travis was almost jealous of Ted.
"Against your will? You were powerless. They could've killed you at any moment. Then where would we be?"
Ted didn't back down an inch. "You know, I never exactly signed the permission slip to get turned into what I am." His voice deepened. "And you just left her there. It should've been me."
Travis wanted to punch something, or someone. He knew that wouldn't exactly get him anywhere, so he stepped between Ted and Reena instead. "None of this is helping. It seems like we know where she is. So let's go back and get her."
"I'm afraid that's not possible."
The words came from a hulking defensive lineman of a man who took up nearly the entire doorframe he stood within. The gargantuan man in the uniform acted as if their argument was nothing but a nuisance. The way Erica stood at attention made Travis know this meathead meant business.
Despite a gesture from his traveling partner to salute the man, Travis folded his arms instead. "Says who?"
The man smirked like he could crush Travis between his fingers. "General Gan, the leader of the light soul army." He looked toward the hallway as if he had a more pressing matter elsewhere. "Breaching the defenses of the dark souls couldn't have been done without careful planning. They won't let us through the same way twice, and our soldiers are too important to risk for the life of a human. End of story."
Gan left as nonchalantly as he'd come, and Travis stormed over to Erica. "Who does that dickbag think he is?" He shook his head. "The life of a human? That's Natalie we're talking about."
Erica nodded. "I'll work on him."
Reena stepped forward, absent of the tension the previous confrontation had presented. "You must be tired." She looked between Ted and Erica. "And if you can stop arguing, I imagine you have a lot to catch up on. Can I take you to your quarters?"
The reunited trio nodded in agreement and walked in silence down several hallways. Between the white walls and the constant light, Travis felt like he was in an insane asylum. He practically expected to see padded walls when they entered their room, but it more closely resembled a college dorm room than a holding cell. Ted looked like he was about to launch into another argument when Erica put up her hands before he could speak.
"Obviously we've got some things to hash out here, but we need to get on the same page."
Ted let out the tension in his shoulders. "Okay."
Erica sat down on the edge of a bed, and the other two did the same. "Kable's still alive. He's taken over the DHS and he's primed to win the election. Jen and Dhiraj are trying to come up with a solution."
Ted's face strained as he took it all in. "Can't Redican work some mind control or something? Maybe the sheriff can–"
Travis put his hand on Ted's shoulder. "Redican and the sheriff are dead, man."
The light went out of Ted's eyes. "Oh." He sighed. "Damn."
Erica and Travis explained everything from the covert missions at the DHS and the Treasure Sheriff's Department to the portal they were able to open from Earth. Whatever bad blood existed between Ted and Erica from the previous argument faded away, and before long they were holding hands. When she leaned her head on his shoulder, Travis felt his desire to punch something rise again. Without a word, he stormed off into the hallway.
Once he was out of the room, he screamed. A few light souls looked up at him briefly, but they quickly went back to what they were doing. Travis slammed a fist into the white, metallic wall. The pain cut through his knuckles, but at least it took some of the edge off his emotions. When a tap came on the shoulder, Travis whirled around and prepared to strike.
Ted stood before him, with a sheepish look on his face. "Hey."
Travis lowered his defenses, though he did still kind of want to punch the living soul in the eye. "Hey."
"I just wanted you to know..." Ted put his hands in his pockets. "Natalie wouldn't stop talking about you."
Travis let out a laugh. "Oh yeah? What'd she say?"
Ted grinned. "That you were a heroic idiot."
"She really said that?"
Ted shifted his head from side to side. "Not in that order. But I know that's how she meant it."
Travis leaned his back against the wall and slunk to the floor, where he wrapped his arms around his knees. "I love her, Ted. I feel like a pansy saying it, but I know it's the truth."
Ted joined him on the floor. "She does, too."
Travis raised his eyebrows. "No, she doesn't. I appreciate you saying that, though."
Ted put his arm around Travis' shoulder. "When we find her, and we will find her, she's gonna see that you literally left Earth to rescue her. There's no way she doesn't drop the L bomb after that."
Travis let his head bump against the wall behind him a few times. "I don't care if she says it."
He looked into Ted's eyes. "I don't even care if she feels it. I'm gonna find her. Or I'm gonna die trying."
Chapter 33
Jennifer had a strong sense of deja vu as she and Dhiraj drove to the Midwest. On both the revenge trip up north to Deputy Daly's and their current endeavor, they were alone on a long stretch of highway. At the end of each mission, she'd wanted someone to suffer for what they'd done. Then again, there were many differences, too. This time, she and Dhiraj were romantically involved and he was in on the planning from square one. The unfortunate difference was that after the trip, there'd be nobody to come home to.
Instead of driving straight through, they decided to make the trip in two days. Jennifer was against stopping at a motel, but a few sleep-deprived swerves of the wheel on her part made Dhiraj put his foot down. She disguised herself before checking in, even though the clerk at the front looked far too old to have an Internet connection.
The inside of the motel room looked as dingy as she felt. As long as they were safe, she supposed, it wouldn't matter if they shared a room with the roaches.
She pulled at her shirt, which wasn't getting any fresher after two days of wear. "I hope I haven't been stinking up the car."
Dhiraj rolled his eyes and brought in the only bag they had. "Jen, you smell better than most perfumes. I'm surprised you aren't bottling that up and making a fortune."
Jennifer laughed. She couldn't believe that Dhiraj still had a sense of humor after all of this. Would she be able to cope as well as he had with the death of a parent?
She patted the spot on the bedspread beside her, and Dhiraj didn't hesitate. "I've got something serious to ask you. And I don't want you to take it the wrong way."
Dhiraj stroked at his chin. "Look, if you need my help bottling up your aroma, you know I'd be happy to help."
Jennifer smiled and shook her head. "Dhiraj."
"Sorry, sorry. Entrepreneurial humor is my defense mechanism."
Jennifer nodded. "Believe me, I know." She put her hand on his leg. "Can I ask you something? How'd you recover after you lost your mom?"
Dhiraj had a look like he knew this was coming. His grin went from goofy to restrained. "It's definitely weird. At first, it was a lot of pain. It faded after a while, but every so often you wake up in the morning and forget." His eyes darted away from hers. "You think that you can't wait to tell your mom about something. Then you remember, and it's like finding out all over again."
She felt ashamed for making Dhiraj relive those memories, but aside from a few moments of discomfort, he seemed peaceful.
"Does it get better?" she asked.
Dhiraj let out a deep breath. "A little bit. But some of the pain will never go away."
Jen felt her breath catch in her throat, and Dhiraj took her hand. She thought she might cry again, but the tears didn't come this time. Instead, they just sat there in silence, each one comforting the other.
The next day, they made good time into the Chicago suburbs. They hadn't spoken again about her father. She resolved to do her mourning after the mission was complete, and she focused on the road with heightened intensity. After a quick lunch, they pulled into the parking lot of the retirement home where Adam's mom lived. Jennifer didn't expect the giddy look on Dhiraj's face. "What're you so happy about?"
Dhiraj chuckled. "Sorry. It's just that I love old people."
Jennifer didn't know how to react. Of course, she'd loved her grandparents and enjoyed watching older actors and actresses killing it on screen. But she didn't know anyone who liked old people in general.
"Aren't most people kind of skeeved out by these places?"
Dhiraj opened the driver's side door. "As you've probably found out by this point, I'm not most people."
Jennifer followed suit and they walked up to the building's front door. "So what do you like about 'em so much?"
Dhiraj listed out the reasons as if they were practiced. "1. The stories. They can tell you so much more than any book can. 2. The wisdom. I've gotten a million ideas from talking to retired businesspeople." They stepped through the automatic sliding doors and into the lobby. "3. Old people don't take crap. They say what they mean. It's the end of the line, so there's no beating around the bush."
Jennifer took a long look at her boyfriend. "You really are something."
Dhiraj's eyebrows danced. "I know." He spoke to the receptionist up front. "Hi, miss. Two visitors to see Mrs. Crammond. Our grandparents are family friends and she's not expecting us."
Within minutes, they were led into Mrs. Crammond's room. It was bright and colorful, seemingly trying to fight off the sadness of the place. She moved slowly and with the help of a walker, but her smile further lit up the room.
"My, my, I haven't had guests in quite a while." She looked around as if she couldn't remember how to respond to company. "Can I get you anything?"
Dhiraj smiled. "Thank you, Mrs. Crammond, but we're fine." He took her hand and helped her to sit down across from them. "We're doing a report on your son in school. Can we ask you a few questions?"
Jennifer's stomach churned. She wasn't sure exactly how an elderly stranger would respond to a request to talk about her purportedly dead son. But Mrs. Crammond didn't even hesitate as she started in on the story.
"Oh, Adam. The joy of our lives. It was hard for so many years to think about the accident, but my husband and I resolved to remember the good times." She winked at Jennifer. "Never would've gotten through it otherwise."
Jennifer nodded, wondering if Mrs. Crammond could detect her loss as well.
Adam's mother continued. "When Adam moved to Chicago, we were worried the big city would crush him." Her smile turned devilish. "We didn't expect it to be so literal."
Dhiraj laughed hard. Tears actually came to his eyes and Mrs. Crammond joined in.
Jennifer smiled politely.
Weirdos.
Mrs. Crammond coughed a few times to end her laughter. "It was just one of those freak things, I guess."
Jennifer leaned forward. "Mrs. Crammond, did you ever see your son do anything strange? Something you couldn't explain?"
Mrs. Crammond took her time, seeming to go through and index all the memories she still retained. Jennifer couldn't read the look on the woman's face when she caught her eye.
"You know, there was one time I thought I saw him hovering off the ground." When she squinted in an attempt to remember, the wrinkles became even more pronounced on her face. "It was the strangest thing. I never asked him about it. I was three sheets to the wind at the time, so I figured it was just that fourth glass of wine I'd had."
Mrs. Crammond guffawed at her own joke and Dhiraj laughed just as loud. With her story done, she offered to let them look through a box of Adam's old stuff. Aside from a classic baseball card that Dhiraj suggested she pawn off, the box contained nothing of interest.
They thanked Mrs. Crammond for their time, and they were about to go when she grabbed Jennifer's sleeve. The teen tried to hide her nervousness as she turned back toward the old woman.
Mrs. Crammond's face was as relaxed as Jennifer had seen. "Thank you. Thank you for keeping my son's name alive."
Jennifer had a hard time shaking the encounter.
Dhiraj looked like he was trying to get a read on her as they opened the doors to the van. "What?"
Jennifer chewed on her lip. "We just lied to an old woman."
Dhiraj took her hand above the gearshift and shut the door behind him. "Trust me when I say our visit was the best time she's had in years." He locked his fingers with hers. "We may have lied, but it was much better than the truth."
Jennifer knew Dhiraj was right. Nobody wanted to hear that their son was a homicidal supervillain bent on taking over the country.
She nodded and shut her door as well. "So, what do we do now?"
The click of a gun in the backseat kept Dhiraj from answering. Jennifer looked up to the rear-view mirror and saw that a man she didn't recognize sat there with his weapon d
rawn.
He breathed heavily, as if he'd been holding his breath since they'd entered. "How about you turn on the car and drive?"
Chapter 34
Ted ate his lunch alone in the room. Even though he was technically among allies and friends at this point, he couldn't help but feel like he'd gone from one prison to another to a third since he'd gone through that portal. He immediately felt guilty for the thought, as there was no way of knowing what kind of conditions Natalie was in. Or if she was still alive at all.
I heard her. She has to be okay.
There was a knock on the door. When Ted opened it, Erica stood there holding her lunch tray. She bit her lip.
"Hey. I couldn't find you in the mess hall."
Ted's stomach flipped. Since his argument with Erica, they hadn't had a moment alone. He wasn't sure if he was ready to have this conversation.
Ted let too much time go by and sniffled a few times to cover his tracks. "Sorry. I just wanted to be – do you wanna sit with me?"
She nodded, though there were a few beats of hesitation before she approached. She allowed a foot of space between them as she sat down.
Ted let himself look at her face. She was beauty personified. But he knew that hadn't been her only face. Her only life. He realized the war meant secrets needed to be kept, but why'd they need to stay secret from him?
"Erica–"
"Ny name was Cora." Erica looked straight into his eyes. "I met William when I was 14. I didn't know much about him, but back then, if you had the slightest hint of a crush, you considered marriage."
Ted placed his lunch tray down on the bed and gave Erica his full attention.
She sighed, like speaking about this took a great deal of effort. "The day before our wedding, the dark souls killed him and took over. When I got to the altar, he tried to slice my throat."
Ted didn't know how to respond. After all, this wasn't exactly your typical jilted lover story. Even though he didn't like the thought of Erica marrying someone else, he opted to remain silent and listen.
