ARC: The Almost Girl

by Amalie Howard

  We eye each other in silent truce for the moment, our only objective to see Caden safe despite our polar opposite endgames.

  “At least two, I think,” I say. Her eyes widen and I can see that she’s thinking about running in there no matter the cost. “Wait,” I whisper urgently. “Can you get around to the bathroom that connects your room to Caden’s?” Shae nods. “OK, on my mark, in three.” She nods but hesitates. I place a hand on her fingers and squeeze. “Don’t worry, Shae; they won’t kill him. They have orders to take him back to Murek.”

  Shae shoots me a defeated smile, and I stare at the raw cuts on her hands for a second. Her fingers twist to squeeze mine, and a strange sensation chokes my chest. We both know that she’s not at her fighting best, and if things take a turn for the worse, there’s a very real chance that she’ll die. The choking feeling spreads to my neck and paralyzes every muscle in my face. Time slows between us, and suddenly it’s as if the years – and the betrayal – separating us no longer exist. My numb fingers tighten around hers.

  “Wind at your back, sister,” Shae says. My eyes are burning so fiercely that they feel like they will catch fire at any moment.

  “And at yours,” I choke out.

  But she’s already gone in a whisper of movement. I suffocate the useless emotion inside of me, knowing it will only help my enemy, and eye the time carefully on my watch. I know that Shae’s doing the same. The seconds count down, and with a final short breath, I shove open the door. My just-drawn breath hitches at the scene before me.

  I was wrong.

  There are four of them. One’s holding Caden in a chokehold, the others are staring at us with merciless dead eyes. I haven’t faced a Vector in years, and I’d forgotten how normal they seem. They look human: extra-large military-type people, but still people. But if you look more carefully, you notice things like the unnatural pasty pallor of their skin and the bluish tinge of their eyes… their very dead eyes. The Vectors aren’t human. Not anymore.

  “Riven,” Caden wheezes. “Look out!”

  I duck and spin just as one of the Vectors slides in my direction, swinging an electro-rod to my head, and skewer him with one of my blades. For a dead creature, it’s incredibly agile for its size. It barely twitches from the impact, lunging toward me again. I spin and scissor my blades across its waist, seeing fabric and skin split apart. But there’s no blood, only a brackish gray-blue fluid.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I see that Shae has been cornered by the other two, but she’s wielding her double-edged saber like it’s a lethal piece of ribbon, wheeling and ducking with mesmerizing speed. I turn back to the Vector lurching toward me, its gashes healing before my eyes, but I follow Shae’s lead and keep slicing, opening new wounds as quickly as the old ones regenerate.

  Despite how easily I’d fought the boys earlier, with this Vector it’s only a matter of minutes before I’m out of breath and my newfound confidence wavers. The training exercises I’ve been doing are woefully inadequate, child’s play compared to fighting these things. Three years is a long time to lose my edge.

  I grit my teeth – this is what I’ve worked for, what I was born for. Sparing a glance toward Caden, his body held paralyzed by the well-placed pincer grip of the Vector beside him, there’s no way I’m going to give up. Not now.

  Pain ricochets through me as the Vector’s electro-rod catches me on the thigh, and I slam backward into another of the Vectors behind me. Without thinking, I clip my elbow backward, slamming into its head, before diving toward the first aggressor. Though I am far from out of shape, they are faster and smarter than I remember.

  The one facing me seems to anticipate my every move, forestalling every turn and bend as if it can read my mind. I need to trick it somehow, take back the advantage. I swing my swords as if I’m possessed, spinning under the Vector’s outraised arms until I see my opening.

  “Game over,” I hiss, slamming my heel against the back of its leg. The creature crumples to its knees, and I waste no time in crossing my arms together as hard as I can, the swords in each hand meeting to cleave the Vector’s head completely off its shoulders. I watch, huge gulps of searing breath filling my chest, as it keels over with a sick clump.

  Caden is watching us with horrified eyes, his gaze swinging from Shae back to me in disbelief. But he’s the least of my worries right now. The other Vector is now holding him immobile on the shoulder with one hand while tapping into a handheld computer with the other. The Vector isn’t concerned with any of us, its mission different from the others. I gasp, recognizing the device in its hands. It sets the coordinates and parameters for eversion.

  “Shae, he’s going to eve–” I begin turning toward Shae and freeze. The two Vectors have Shae up against the wall, barely a hair’s breadth from killing her. Her face is covered in blood, old wounds reopened and new ones oozing red. Her eyes lock with mine and I can see the regret in the curl of her lips. My head’s already shaking before I dart forward, arms raised and weapons out.

  “No!” I scream. “Cease! That is an order.”

  To my utter disbelief, both Vectors stop, turning in dumb submission toward me. Shae’s shock reflects my own. My brain is spinning. These must have been sent here before I defected, and are still somehow programmed to obey my orders.

  “Release her,” I say quickly, not wasting a second. Shae slumps to the floor but still manages to swing her saber into the Achilles tendons of the one closest to her. Taking no chances, even before its body collapses, her sword is already buried in the back of its neck severing its spinal column. She’s hurt badly. I can hear it in her labored breathing and see it in her eyes.

  “Riven.”

  The soft voice behind me is a whisper of a warning, but the tiny hairs on the back of my neck are already standing at stiff attention. I turn to meet the eyes of the Vector restraining Caden whose attention had been on the eversion device. That attention is now riveted on me like a laser. Its eyes are a lightless black with the familiar blue halo surrounding the pupils.

  But the similarities end there.

  There’s something different about this one, I can feel it deep in my bones. Like the others, its uniform is black, but there’s a jagged swatch of red cloth across his chest in the shape of a crescent moon. Every part of me knows that it means something terrible.

  “Kill them,” it says in a guttural growl. “That is an order, soldier.”

  I blink. It’s some kind of leader, then, a Commander. The command is directed at the remaining Vector, but its stare remains focused on me. It’s impossible. Vectors don’t speak. Speaking infers functioning brain capability, and they’re dead. A shiver of cold dread runs down my spine.

  Aren’t they?

  “Now!” it growls again.

  But the remaining Vector is motionless, staring from me to him as if confused. Its programming must not have been overridden to counter a direct order from me, its last leader, even with an order from its new one. The window of opportunity is no bigger than a sliver, but I grasp it without a second thought.

  “Kill it,” I shout, jerking my head in the big Commander Vector’s direction.

  It’s all I can do to get out of the way as the Vector launches its considerable bulk toward its commanding officer. But within the blink of an eye, its body is flung back in our direction and crashes into a bookcase. Splintered wood peppers the air like wooden darts, and I shield my eyes instinctively, covering Shae’s body with mine.

  The big Vector is motionless, still holding Caden. It flicked its attacker off like a bothersome gnat with one finger.

  “Again!” I scream at the fallen Vector. “Get up. Don’t stop until it’s destroyed.”

  Even as the words drop from my lips and the creature launches itself once more in silent submission, I pull a silver instrument shaped like a four-leafed clover from my boot and fling it toward Caden. He’s not the target; the fingers pinching into his shoulder are. My aim is true and the star clips off the Vector’s finge
rs cleanly.

  “Caden, get down!” I yell, but he doesn’t move even though thick grayish blue fluid is spraying into his face from the Vector’s severed fingers. I gnash my teeth.

  “Go…” Shae wheezes as if sensing my hesitation to leave her unprotected, “…be fine for a minute.”

  There’s no time to think as I take Caden down in a football tackle that would rival any in this world’s Super Bowl, rolling underneath the desk just as the two Vectors smash into the floor beside us. Even though the commanding Vector is pummeling the one below it, its stare is still fixated on me as if I’m the one it’s punishing. I rip my eyes away with effort and kick it in the side so that the one fighting for us gets some leverage to twist over and above it.

  “You hurt?” I ask Caden urgently.

  “No,” he rasps. “But my legs feel funny. What did that thing to do me? What is that thing? Are they going to kill us?” His voice is rising with every second and I can see the terrified panic building in his eyes as they dart toward the two grappling on the other side of the desk.

  “No. You’re going to be fine,” I say. “Can you get over to Shae?” He nods and I squeeze his hand. “Pull her into the bathroom if you can and close the door. Here, take this.” I don’t look at him. I don’t want him to see the panic in my eyes. Instead, I shove one of the swords that had fallen to the ground into his hands and push him toward Shae. “Don’t be afraid to use it.”

  I take a deep breath and turn to the two remaining Vectors. The one that obeyed me is not going to last much longer. It doesn’t have much of a face and its ribs are concave in a way that suggests imminent fatality. It’s only a matter of time before the nanobes inside of it stop communicating, and I need it alive for questioning. If it’s loyal to me, there’s no way I can let such a windfall go.

  With all the strength I can summon, I kick the Vector Commander in the face, hearing the crunch of bone as my blow dislocates its jaw. Blue liquid seeps down the side of its face as my boot tears away skin and tissue from its chin, exposing filed, jagged teeth. It turns toward me, a sick grin tugging the exposed tissue upward, and digs a heavily booted foot into the other Vector’s chest until gray-blue fluid pools around his sole.

  Emotion? Impossible.

  But it is a grin… a horrible mockery of a grin. Vectors are inanimate, robot-cell controlled hosts. They don’t think for themselves, and they certainly don’t smile.

  But this one does.

  “What are you?” I whisper as it twists its head in both hands to realign its neck, staring at me with a knowing expression. I have never felt such fear, not even when I was running for my life to escape Murek’s guard.

  “A general,” it answers. “Like you.”

  “I am no general,” I snap.

  “Yes, you were a colossal failure, weren’t you?”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re a machine. You’re dead.” I don’t know why I feel the need to defend myself against the poisonous words of this thing, but something about it reminds me of my father… judging me, even now.

  “That’s where you’re wrong,” it says. “Come home, Riven. Bring the boy. All will be well.” The Vector bends its head in a conciliatory way, which only makes it seem more macabre without half its face, but I am mesmerized by its last words. And terrified.

  “You don’t want to kill him?” The thing wavers as if reading something on my face and I deaden my expression, but it’s too late.

  “No,” it says. The word is a lie. There’s no way they’d keep Caden alive. Murek wants Cale dead. It made sense to reason that they wanted Caden dead, too. Unless… “Why do you think I didn’t kill this boy?” the Vector says, distracting my ugly train of thought. It holds a black-gloved hand up that’s easily twice the size of mine. “It would be so easy,” it says squeezing his fist.

  “So why didn’t you?” I hide the fear sliding around inside of me with bravado, but I know without a doubt that I can’t trust anything this creature says. But I need to buy time… time to think.

  “Orders are orders. I don’t ask questions.”

  “Why are you different from the others?” I say. “How can you talk?”

  “That is the question,” the Vector says taking a step toward me. It’s not aggressive, but I step back anyway and feel the bed frame against the back of my knees. I’m nearly trapped. The only way around the creature will be over the bed to the bathroom door or the window. “Your father created me after you left.”

  “Are you alive?”

  That gruesome smile again. “More than the others. Less than you.” Its cryptic words irritate me. It’s as if the thing is playing some kind of game, one that I’m sure has no rules.

  “Why would they make you?” I say. The Vector smiles again, and I can feel the bottom of my stomach drop even before it says the words. The sick pleasure on its face makes me want to retch.

  “Because the Lord King is dead.”

  “You’re lying.”

  Everything inside of me feels like it’s disappearing – bones, blood, air – until I’m nothing but a shell collapsing upon itself. I can’t even breathe. In slow motion, I fall back against the side of the bed, legs buckling, but my senses haven’t completely deserted me, and out of the corner of my eye, I see the Vector reach for a long-handled spiked weapon. On autopilot, I scramble across the bed and shove myself to the other side just as it lifts the entire bed frame with one hand and smashes it against the wall. Chunks of wood and steel explode into the exposed parts of my body.

  Before I can move, the Vector’s spike swings toward my head, and I dive forward, my swords cleaving into its calves before rolling to its left. It barely deters the creature, and I fend off another attack, sparks flying as our weapons meet in midair. The vibration echoes painfully down my arm, and I can see a detached metal spike protruding from the flesh of my upper arm. My shirt is sticky with blood. I don’t want to bleed to death by trying to pull it out, so I grit my teeth and leave it, hefting my other arm high while protecting my body with my injured arm.

  Scanning the room, I notice that the bed frame is blocking the bathroom door and the nearby window is locked, which means precious extra seconds lost trying to unlock it. The Vector’s bulk shields the bedroom door. The window is the only choice I’ve got, and if worse comes to worse, I can go through it headfirst and hope for the best. Either way, it seems that I’m facing the possibility of broken bones. I need to distract the creature to buy some time.

  I lower myself into a crouch and sweep my leg out, but the Vector moves out of the way, fast for something of such size. I switch to words, hoping beyond hope that making it think will help slow it down.

  “You know how I know you’re lying? About the king?” It watches me like a bird toying with a worm half-submerged in the dirt. “Because people, important people, know about Caden. Cale’s alive; otherwise, Murek would just forget about Caden and rule Neospes as he’s always wanted.”

  I pause again, snaking my uninjured arm out to catch it across his left flank. Blue liquid seeps through its clothing and drips to the floor. Now we’re even.

  “Did he teach you to lie?” I continue my one-sided conversation, gaining confidence with each breath. “My father? He’s very good at lying. After all, he convinced me to lead your kind. But he had a hidden agenda, didn’t he?”

  I spin and jab at my opponent’s body, but it anticipates my movements this time and dodges, only to return a blow that stuns me senseless. Something wet and warm plasters my hair to my scalp, but I can barely feel it beneath the hot welt flowering against the side of my face. I spit a mouthful of blood to the floor and lean against the wall. My vision begins to blur as the Vector morphs into three separate beings, each wavering like smoke.

  “That all you got?” I grit out, holding my sword across my body and praying that my shaking legs don’t give out. The Vector pauses with another grin, as if sensing impending victory. My only comforting thought is that Shae and Caden are
safe. She’ll get what she wanted – Caden will never return to Neospes.

  And I would have failed… in my promise to Cale. But if the Vector is right, then it won’t matter either way. I stare into its dead blue eyes, and smile. “We will never let you take him.”

  “You have no choice, General,” the thing says finally, removing the pocket device from his vest. “The boy will go back, and so will you, dead or alive. Your father wants you alive, of course. But Lord Murek has no preference. Regardless, you cannot stop me.”

  “But I can,” a voice says, just as the sound of a cannon tears through the room. The Vector pitches forward as gunfire rips through its bulk, June’s hollow-points doing what they’re designed to do. It’s a volley of bullets as Caden holds June’s semiautomatic gun with shaky calm.

  “Aim for the head, Caden,” I try to shout, but my voice is barely a whisper as I feel myself sliding downward against the wall. “It’ll only regenerate anywhere else.”

  But my words are lost beneath the sound of the exploding shells as the acrid smell of gunpowder fills my nose. I can feel my cells desperately trying to re-engage, when the incongruity of the situation hits me. Caden’s the one protecting me. I want to laugh, but only a choked gurgle takes shape in my mouth as Caden empties round after round into the monster.

  After what seems like an eternity, Caden flings the spent gun to the floor and brandishes the sword I’d handed him earlier. My eyes are on fire, but I have to see if one of the bullets has miraculously hit the Vector in the head or in the spine. It’s the only way to stop them. But instead, I watch in horrified slow motion as the Vector pushes off the wall, provoked to the point of rage, and hurls its bullet-ridden body toward Caden.

  “Caden, run!” It’s all I can manage as black stars cloud my vision, unconsciousness threatening to sweep me away. But Caden ignores my warning, darting to the left and sliding to his knees, before reaching upward and back to pierce the sword’s tip into the Vector’s exposed back. The thing stumbles forward toward me, gurgling, as the sword lodges in its spine. Game over.