by JA Huss
Again his head pops back up when I hesitate. "Jump down, Junco."
"No. I'm not jumping into some dark hole, you're crazy. If you want to take me somewhere go ahead, but you're not stuffing me down into a hole."
"Jump in the hole, Junco. Or I'll leave ya here and you'll wander around in the dark until the nightdogs get a hold of yer scent and eat ya alive."
Fuck.
I climb in after him, ignoring the stench of guano, the spiderwebs that flit against my cheeks, and the noises that echo off the walls. It isn't really a hole, more like a rooftop entrance into a larger cavern which opens up into a series of tall terraced steps that takes us further and further into the belly of the mountain. Eventually it morphs into a fairly well-defined tunnel.
The terraced steps are flat, which hints that someone shaped this passageway, but the sides of the tunnel are absolutely man-made. Even in the extremely dim light I can see the toolmarks left from when it was drilled. There must be more entrances, larger entrances, that can accommodate heavy machines.
We walk on like this for a while. It's hard to tell how long. All I know is that I am exhausted from tripping over various small objects that seem to present themselves under my feet at every opportunity. We cross a small stream, thankfully not too deep, and then I spot a faint light source up ahead. Tier grabs my hand and pulls me towards it. The width of the tunnel expands with the growing light until it empties into a spectacular wide-open cavern filled with so many different types of cave formations that it takes my breath away.
"All this time I've been living next to this place and I never knew it."
"You barely know anything, Junco." He takes my hand again and pulls me to the center of the cavern, spins me around a few times, and lets go.
"Hey, what the hell?"
"Look around."
I pivot on my heel and frown at what I see.
"You'll think twice about running off then, eh?"
I nod and find a seat at a camp table set up in the center of the room and the exhaustion takes over as I survey my new surroundings. He won't need to bind me or stick me in a hole here because there are three identical openings leading into the cavern, each one equidistant to the next. I have no idea which one we just came through.
"How long have you been here?" I ask as I take in the mounds of supplies layered around the central clearing.
He's pulling some stuff out of a container and piling it on the floor beside him. "Long enough for it to feel like home."
My mouth makes a little O shape as I spy a sleeping bag on the ground. I crawl over to it and sink into the surprisingly soft and buoyant blankets, watching him as he prepares some sort of food. "What's that?"
"Nutrition," is all he comes back with.
I yawn. "Doesn't look very good."
"Then don't eat it."
"I won't, believe me." And then my eyes close and I drift off.
The planks on the deck are warm under your feet and you're wearing a long thin white shirt, open in the front, that barely covers your body. The waves lap against the dock and you reach over and drag your fingers through the water. It folds against your wrist and slaps up the side of your arm. The drops bead against your oiled skin, pool together, then spring forth into a trickle which takes the liquid back to the source. The mountains are high and imposing and then they crowd in and consume you as the sunlight disappears...
No. That's not what happens.
I wake up and know immediately I am alone. There is a bowl of cold food sitting next to me and a note written in some gibberish. Did he really just do that? Write me a note in a language that I can't read? I toss it and smell the food as I consider how hungry I am.
Not enough to eat that shit.
I stand and stretch, taking in the room again. This time my head is much clearer, but my back is creaking from sleeping on the cold cave floor. I have no idea how long I was out but I feel pretty well-rested.
The chamber is large, about fifty feet long and maybe thirty feet at its widest point. It narrows where a massive stalactite and stalagmite meet to form a column the width of a sequoia trunk.
The roof of the cave is adorned with thousands of breathtaking stone icicles and there are large white crystals growing out of every crevice. My eyes follow the cave wall to the end and see hundreds of drapery formations hanging from the ceiling. Water flows down the curving rock and deposits into a small pool.
The floor is almost smooth, but there are soft mounds of rock which makes me think of flowing lava. This pitches the ground up and down like rolling hills as I walk.
I stand in the middle, half in awe of this cave being here in the first place, and half in awe because I am actually standing in it.
There are three wide tunnels that lead to this central room. That they are man-made I have no doubt. Whether they are enough to keep me from escaping is another story.
I study the three exits with a critical eye. They aren't all the same; they just looked that way at first because I was in a new place and I was exhausted. But now I can see subtle differences.
If you stand inside one there is a long dark column obstructing the view into the cave as you enter. I know I didn't see that as we passed through, so I knock that one off the list right away. Now there are only two, and if I take a chance, I have a fifty-fifty shot of picking the right one and walking right out of here and back to my house.
I study them a little more and walk a few paces into each one to see if there are other landmarks. The walls of one has a formation near the entrance that I remember from school. Moonmilk. I think I would have noticed that, even if I was delusional.
I walk over to the remaining cave and search for anything that might strike it off the list, but there is nothing there to make me hesitate. Then I search through Tier's supplies and find some flares, stuff some disgusting food into my boot, and grab some rope because rope is something you should probably have in a cave.
I take one last look around and then head into the dying light that semi-permeates the tunnel.
Chapter Eight
Finding my way back out to the world is child's play. I throw down the supplies and take in the view. First I look over at PC. It has a hold on me, that city. Not the kind that makes you move there. Something else. It draws me in. Makes me feel safe when I see it. Even from here, which is easily sixty miles from the ziggurat, I can see the terraces that swirl up the side of the mountain. It's not the tallest mountain in North America, but it's one of the most famous.
At night it's lit up like Vegas and I can say from personal experience that landing on the suborbital planet pad in Peak City beats Vegas as far as thrills go. Hands down. As if on cue a deafening boom announces an arrival as the suborbital plane breaks the sound barrier and comes in for a landing. My eyes follow the fluorescent pink contrail left over from atmosphere re-entry. I sort of have a thing for planet pad watching. Like stargazing, it's part of me.
I've landed on almost every planet pad on Earth and none of them have the same draw as the Peaks. Maybe everyone who lives by a pad feels that way, but somehow I doubt it. London's pad is crap – an afterthought, just like everything else in that old decaying city. Jersey and LA aren't much better. Only Vegas, with the open flat desert and the brilliance of the Strip creeping up alongside it, Tokyo, with its kamikaze landing pad floating out on the ocean five miles offshore, and Dallas, which built an entire city on top of a city to accommodate their pad, can come close to matching the landing in Peaks.
I turn my attention back to my own small world. If I stand on my tiptoes I can see faint lights through a break in the pine trees to the north. I continue my gaze northeast and see a line of tall pines that give way to a clearing that might be my ranch. It's not close enough to see anything in detail, so I'm not really sure, but it's in that general direction.
Definitely close enough to walk to.
But I hesitate.
I could go home. Very easily. But he'd just come get me again. There is no
chance this hiding place with its proximity to my home is a coincidence. I could make a run for it to one of the closer neighbors, probably Mr. and Mrs. Baumer from what I can tell. But that would just be a death sentence for them. He's killed several dozen people in the past few days, what's one old couple on a cattle ranch?
I could try and look in the cavern for a radio and get in touch with my Council Elder, let him know where we are. Maybe they can mount a defense? This sounds more like a dream than a reality. Even after all these people have been killed, the RR defenses have yet to show up.
My last idea is to just stay put and do what I'm told. I laugh at that, a small chuckle that develops in my throat and bubbles up to a full-blown snicker.
And yet I do stay put. I could be halfway down the mountain by now if I wanted. In the trees, hiding and moving in silence.
Getting away.
Easily.
If – and this is a big if – Aren was telling the truth, then they all want me, including the RR. They gave the MR sky privileges, for fuck's sake.
To come get me. Because I'm not human.
Again I get the urge to laugh, but it's just not funny.
Picture yourself standing on the edge of a dock...
Fuck.
Enough already, Junco.
I stare up at the sky for a long time and find Cygnus, then up to Draco, and finally over to Cassiopeia. I wish I was a constellation, high up in the sky. And everyone would look at me in the night and marvel at how beautiful and untouchable I was. In ancient times the Gods only made you a constellation if they were mad at you, or if you were too beautiful to die. So it was either a reward or a punishment, depending on your predicament. It's funny how the very same circumstance can be eternal life for one and eternal damnation for another. It makes no sense, but it does teach a lesson in perspective.
I have a stray thought as I lie there under the Milky Way, but I push it away before it can fully form.
Maybe I just need some perspective?
Maybe I'm being brainwashed?
Or maybe I just can't think straight because of all the injuries I've sustained?
Or maybe those weird alien healing chemicals are interfering with my thought process?
It doesn't matter because the idea that wants to form slips into my head anyway. Maybe it doesn't make sense because I don't know the whole story?
Maybe I'm being lied to?
And maybe I'm lying to myself.
I hear the heavy beating of wings and know that Tier is back. He lands behind me in the small clearing and walks the few paces toward my prone body.
"What's going on?" he says as he approaches.
The question hangs between us as I tip my head back as far as I can so I can see his upside-down face in the starlight. "Having a pity party. You're invited."
He lies down next to me. "Am I now?"
I force a smile and look at him. His eyes have just a faint green glow, but it doesn't bother me anymore, probably the brainwashing kicking in. His loose mop of black curls is a mess from flying in the wind and I wonder briefly at my own hair. I push that thought away quickly. His clothes are still stained with blood, as are my own. Funny how it doesn't even register even though some of it is Cole's.
That brainwashing is some powerful shit, I really need to cut back.
"What pity are we celebratin', then?" he asks.
I exhale deeply but stay quiet. He doesn't push, but instead waits patiently and looks up at the sky. "How many did ya see?"
I don't know how I know, but I know. "None," I reply.
"That's weak. I see one right now." Then he points and I find the shooting star at the end of his fingertip.
I look at him again, and give another smile and shake my head as the tears threaten to burst out.
"So what have ya been doin' out here?" He's prying now and his accent is a little thicker as well. Like he's reverting back to how he normally talks.
I let out another heavy sigh, but keep my silence.
"Is this yer human temperament and emotions coming out?"
I let out a small laugh and then the tears ride down my cheeks. I feel him turn towards me, propped up on his elbow, and then swipe a finger down my face to remove the ribbons of water.
"Do avians cry?" I ask, turning my head away to avoid his gaze.
"We do," he whispers. He leans back into the grass and leaves me that way for several seconds. "We do," he says again, but this time he's talking to himself.
Then he gets up and grabs my hand. I fly up towards him like I weigh nothing and he pulls me close. "Come on," he says. "I have something that will make us both feel better."
I let him tug me back into the cave and we make the descent back to the cavern.
The walk back is uneventful and when we reach the vaulted room I plop down on the camp chair as he fools around looking through his supplies, stuffing things in a pack as he goes.
"Are we going on a trip?" I ask.
He smiles as he pokes his head up and looks over a cave formation. I smile back at him despite myself. Is it wrong to smile when so many people are dead? I definitely think it is.
"Oh, I almost forgot," he says as he walks toward me, pulling a small bag from his coat pocket. "Human food. In case you're hungry." He hands me the little white bag and I take it. I am famished. Is it wrong to be thankful for the food a killer gives you? I definitely think it is.
He goes back and begins to mess with a collection of tech and com devices that sit on a ledge as I peek inside the crumpled bag. It's a smashed chicken sandwich from Chick-Chick-Chicken in Peak City. It's pretty cold, but I stuff it into my mouth and it tastes wonderful. Between bites I manage to talk. "How did you get a chicken sandwich from the Peaks anyway?" I look down into the empty bag and secretly wish for the fries that normally go with it. I chew and wait for his answer, but the info never materializes.
When I'm finished he comes back over and sees the empty bag and smiles. "Ya were starved then?"
I nod.
He holds up the pack that's almost bursting with supplies. "I've got something in here you'll like." Then he grabs my hand and pulls me up. "Come on."
"Where are we going?" I ask. But he just grins back at me and pulls me along behind him. We enter another tunnel and begin walking down the slope, which eventually ends in a path lined with strikingly beautiful folia formations. I recall from school that means all of this was under water, probably for thousands of years, before this tunnel was made. It's not long before he stops and turns. I look at his expression and I can tell he thinks he's pretty clever, but can't imagine I will be as excited as he is when he shows me what's beyond the next corner. My doubts must be written all over my face.
"Ye of little trust, I see."
I let out a little laugh before I can stop it.
"Darlin', this will put an end to all of yer temperamental emotions, at least for a little while."
"Really? Well, whatever it is you're going to show me, it must be really fucking spectacular."
He pushes me in front of him and we walk forward into another large cavern that looks almost exactly like the one we came from. I'm about to say something rude when I see it.
"Oh, yeah. That is definitely good." I look up and laugh at his bright smile.
"There's not much a nice hot bath won't fix. Even if it's just temporary."
Sweet Jeremiah, he is so right.
The hot spring is actually a flowing stream at one end with a fairly strong trickle of water that empties into it. The basin is surrounded by flowstone rock, which allows the water to collect there before gently spilling over and continuing along through the cave system. The steam coming up from the basin makes the cave humid and this makes me think of home.
Tier is unpacking towels, clothes, and some bottles as I spy shampoo and almost moan with longing. Some prisoner I make. Right now I would totally spill every secret I have just to wash my hair.
I wait and we approach the springs together and th
en he throws a few lightsticks into the water so it glows green from below. I look at him, unsure what to do next. He nods.
"You don't need to tell me twice. But I have no clean clothes."
"I won't let ya walk around naked. Go ahead. Get in." And then he turns around and busies himself with the pack.
I untie my boots and my knife spills out. I slip out of the thermals and whip the dress over my head. And then I am standing in my shorts. I feel ashamed that I am about to bathe with this killer, but I'm not about to give up a bath on that principle.
I check over my shoulder to see if Tier is looking, but he's still busy with the pack, so I strip off my shorts and walk towards the pool naked. I dip my toe in and give a little gasp, then look back to check on Tier and he's laughing at me. "Get in already, will ya."
I sit on the edge of the pool, then lower myself into the steaming water and find that it's deep enough so that I sink in up to my neck. A sublime moan escapes my lips.
"Your turn."
He begins peeling off his many layers of clothes and I'm fascinated, unable to pull my eyes away. He removes his coat and shirt by unsealing the seams that run under his arm and then pulling them over his head, being careful of his wings.
I see his real shape for the first time. Wings are like another set of limbs that jut out of the clavicle. It makes his upper back bulge with the extra muscle, but aside from the wings, he looks completely human. Especially when he's got them plastered flat against his back. I study his physique like a scientist, but then my eyes travel across his body to the scars. They are white, like they've been there a long time. And they are numerous. He begins to tug on his pants and I dunk my head under to shake the filth off my hair.
I try to wait underwater until I hear him get in, but I run out of breath and surface, stealing a glance at his naked form as he enters the pool. His dark curls are covering his eyes, so my intrusion goes unnoticed until he's in up to his waist and looks directly at me. He swims over and takes my hand as my heart pounds in my chest.
