by Nick James
At first I think I’m still dreaming, that this is one of those blissful, sail-away-on-an-island-of-peace dreams that you never want to wake up from. But as the feeling coalesces, as the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, I know that this is no make-believe.
I sit up. Most everyone else is passed out. Bobby’s crouched on the second level, leaning on the base of one of his lookout windows. I can’t tell, but I think he’s asleep, too.
A Pearl. I’ve felt this too many times not to know what’s happening.
Careful not to disturb any of the others, I tiptoe to the door and ease it open. Without a sound, I step into the night air.
I see it instantly, hurtling down like a meteor. It leaves a line of green in the sky as it approaches. I pray it didn’t pass a Chosen City on its way down. If their scanners had enough time to pick it up, we’ll have Pearlhounds all over us. But if I break it and let the freed Drifter sail back into the air, they won’t know where to look. If they come looking at all.
I stretch out my arms like I’m about to catch a baseball. The Pearl keeps its trajectory, right toward me. I imagine alarm systems going off, like they used to at the Academy when a Pearl was this close. I picture crowds of people running from the deadly force. And here I am, waiting for it.
The Pearl begins to slow, controlled by my fingertips. I pull it closer, every inch causing more somersaults in my heart. No one else can feel this. Nobody else ever will.
Before I know it, I’m holding the green orb in my hands. I stare into the deep waves of energy. It’s been awhile since I’ve been able to luxuriate with a Pearl like this. My heart swells with the healing warmth of it. This is better than sleep.
I survey the horizon, half expecting Alkine or Madame to jump out and steal the Pearl. Instead, Bobby’s voice cuts the silence of the night.
“I didn’t want to mention it,” he whispers, “but I knew I saw you catch one last spring.”
I turn, still holding the glowing orb.
His mouth hangs open in astonishment. “I’ve never seen one so close.”
“Duck,” I say, and toss the Pearl into the air. It casts a wide arc behind me. Bobby hits the ground. I close my eyes and feel the path of the Pearl through the sky. When it’s high enough, I break it.
“Christ almighty.” Bobby stands and shields his eyes as a firework of energy blazes through the darkness. It’s brightest at the center and dissipates as it streams toward us. By the time it reaches my skin, it’s only a tingle. Like feathers brushing against me.
I grit my teeth and whisper to myself. “Please come back, please come back.”
I spin and watch the Drifter shoot into the air, away from us. “Damnit.” I kick the dirt. “They never come back. Never when you need them.” I turn to Bobby. “I think it must be instinctual or something, like caged animals. They just wanna get as far away as possible.”
His eyes are wider than ever now. He carefully brings himself to his feet, shaking his head in disbelief. “You—” He chokes on his words. “What—” I’ve never seen him tongue-tied.
“There’s a lot you don’t know,” I say. “A lot nobody does. Pearls aren’t what they seem.”
He looks toward the sky. “I guess not.”
My shoulders slump. “We’ve got a fight on our hands, from all angles. I don’t even know if I’m helping or hurting.” I lift up my shirt.
Bobby gasps as he stares at the markings scrawled across my chest. “Who did that?”
I point to the sky. “One of those. But not a good one. At least, I don’t think so.”
“You’re freaking me out, man.”
“I know.” My gaze falls to the ground. “Be thankful, Bobby. Stay here. Stay where it’s simple.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
I turn and trudge back to the lookout tower, still abuzz with the energy. “You will,” I whisper. “If we can’t stop this, everyone will.”
––––
Another hour and my eyes fly open.
The door to the room hangs ajar. A thin figure stands just outside, staring in.
I bolt up, slamming my head against an overhanging piece of wood. The others wake around me, in varying levels of disarray. The fan blades continue to whir, giving the tight space a loud hum.
I keep my eyes locked on the boy.
The eyes.
Two pools of crimson pin me to the ground. Theo stretches an arm to lean against the doorframe. Moonlight illuminates his face as he moves closer. His expression is vacant, but his eyes are unblinking. They’re all I can focus on. His head tilts slightly to the side.
Bobby jumps down from the second level. “Who the heck—”
Theo opens his mouth as if to speak, but says nothing.
It stops Bobby cold.
Arm back at his side, Theo lurches away, moving into the open like a zombie.
Eva sits up. “What’s wrong with him?”
“There was enough tranquilizer in those darts to keep him down.” Cassius stands. “I don’t understand.” He moves toward the door, watching Theo continue his steady pace away from the lookout tower. It’s like he’s taunting us. Daring us to follow him.
Cassius steps forward. I stand and grab his shoulder.
“Don’t go out there. You saw what he did to Morse and the others.”
“I’m not gonna let him.” He yanks from my grip and steps outside.
“Cassius!”
He ignores me. I glance back at the others before deciding to follow him into the darkness.
Theo’s eyes continue to pierce the moonlit Fringe landscape—pinpricks of red. He moves backward faster now, but never once looks away.
Cassius kicks up dirt in his relentless pace toward the boy. I stay a few steps behind.
Cassius’s left arm flies into the air. At first I think he’s giving me some sort of signal. I open my mouth to call out, but before I can say a word, something lifts his entire body from the ground and flings him to the side like a piece of trash. He hits the dirt several yards away. I back up as Theo’s eyes lock onto mine. My bracelet trembles. I reach over and pull it down to my side, right next to the cube of metal in my pocket.
Theo freezes. His arms lay limp at his sides. He takes short, repeated breaths. “I am already here,” he says. His eyes pulse against a backdrop of stars. “You … your brother, your friends. Everyone. They’re too late.”
I pull my bracelet behind my back. “Who are you?”
His lip trembles. “That Ridium around your arm. Your parents thought they were saving you. They were only buying you time.”
I lean in, trying to get a better look at his expression.
“Are you … are you Matigo?”
“No.”
“Then what—”
He closes his eyes. When they open again, the red flashes away. His mouth falls open. “Help me.”
I stare at him, fighting to understand what it is that I’m seeing. It’s like a switch flipped and he’s a different person again. He’s a twelve-year-old. A kid.
I take a step forward. “What do you mean?” Before he can respond, Cassius pulls himself to his feet.
Theo turns and notices him. His eyes widen. He pushes the hair from his face and balls his fists. Cassius does the same, coupled with torrents of fire that burst from his hands in bright explosions before the Fringe air swallows them up. Theo nearly loses his footing at the sight of it. He looks up to the stars, then back at Cassius. “How did you—”
Rather than finish his question, he turns and sprints away. I move forward but Cassius darts in front of me, blocking my way. “He’s mine,” he whispers. “Wait here. I’ll be back.”
“But—”
He takes off without another word. In seconds, he’s almost out of sight.
To hell with waiting. I take a deep breath and head after him.
33
Cassius watched Theo disappear into the darkness. The kid ran with incredible speed and endurance for someone who, moments before, had bee
n staggering around.
He didn’t look back to see if Fisher had followed. He couldn’t lose Theo. If the stunners weren’t having effect any longer, Cassius needed to end this. Nobody could run for long in the Fringes without passing out, even at night. The kid would eventually run out of steam. He had to.
The ground sloped until it became a gentle hill of dry vegetation and boulders—hundreds of hiding places for nasty critters. Cassius remembered struggling through this same landscape in search for Fisher. Only back then, he’d been on his last legs. It was amazing what an old can of fruit could do.
He whipped through a row of prickly bushes, scraping his ankle but refusing to let it slow him down. All the time, he kept his eye on the small figure below him. Then he had an idea.
He spotted a rock, about the size of his fist, and scooped it into his hand as he continued down the hill. His line of vision was perfect. Theo wasn’t thinking strategy.
He coughed. His lungs were already parched, and filling with dust every time he took a breath. But he had a clear shot. He concentrated.
Winding up, he chucked the rock forward and watched as it connected with Theo’s shoulder. The force sent the kid crashing to the ground. Cassius knew it wouldn’t be enough to stop him cold, but it’d slow him down. He bounded to a sprint, almost tripping several times down the hill.
Theo rolled to the side and pushed up with his legs to flip to a standing position. His dirt-stained face tensed as he watched Cassius approach. He raised his fists.
Cassius tackled him. The two toppled to the ground, bashing against the warm dirt. Cassius went for Theo’s neck. Before he could reach it, the boy bit down on the side of his hand, hard enough to rip flesh. Cassius kneed him in the gut and rolled away, grabbing his bleeding hand. He staggered to a standing position, breathing heavy.
Theo lay still for a moment before recovering and pushing to his feet. “I’ll kill you, Stevenson.”
Cassius believed him. There was something insane— feral—hidden behind those eyes. It’d been there the entire time, forcing its way out in glimpses.
Theo tossed a fistful of dirt in Cassius’s eyes and lunged forward, punching the side of his face while he was blinded. Cassius slumped sideways before bending forward to catch himself.
Theo didn’t give him time. The moment Cassius was most vulnerable, he balled his fists together and brought them down on Cassius’s spine.
Cassius fell, face forward, to the earth. He could hear Theo’s breathing above him. Then he felt the boy’s boot connect with his side, clobbering his already injured torso. Again. Again.
“You’re an idiot!” Theo cried. “You’re stupid. Worthless. You’re a joke compared to me.”
He’d kick until he couldn’t move his leg anymore. Cassius knew it without even looking at the boy. He’d attack until the wound from earlier had reopened and Cassius bled to death. He was Madame’s boy. He was a killer.
Cassius hadn’t been all that different himself, before Seattle.
So he knew what he was fighting against. His instincts were right. Nothing but death would stop this kid.
He closed his eyes and focused. Each blow weakened him further. Hand to hand was pointless in the heat. Cassius only had one trick that Theo didn’t.
He clenched his fingers at his side. He tried to ignore the kicking, forget the physical pain and focus on what was happening internally. He summoned anger. Anger had worked in the past. And with everything that had happened, it wasn’t difficult to find inspiration.
After several false starts, he felt the warmth rise inside of him. It wasn’t like the heat of the Fringes. Instead of slowing him down, it gave him energy.
The flood built up—reserves strengthened by hours without a decent episode. He felt it come to the surface, ignite the veins down his arms, and teeter at the tips of his fingers.
He rolled to the side, exposing his stomach, and extended his fingers before Theo could kick again. A burst of fire streamed from his arms, so thick that it formed a wall between them. Cassius grit his teeth, expecting to hear howls of pain as the flames consumed the boy. His Unified Party training kicked in. He knew what he had to do. For himself, and for his friends.
Theo backed off. Fire engulfed him. Cassius watched the boy’s hands flail, but he didn’t scream.
Cassius pulled up to a crouching position, his entire body bruised and throbbing. Billows of smoke engulfed the air above Theo’s head. The fire dissipated. Theo swat at his face as if there were a hive of bees buzzing around him. He dropped to the ground and rolled in the dirt, smothering his flame-eaten clothes until the fire was put out. All the while, he stayed silent. Not even a little shriek.
Cassius stood and gripped his midsection, breathing hard. He watched Theo brush the dust from his clothes and jump to a standing position. He was unburned. Not even a mark.
His eyes fell on Cassius. They were red.
Cassius stared at him. He waited for something to happen, some kind of reaction. “Why aren’t you—” He stopped himself. There was no use asking questions.
Theo took a step back. His eyes pulsed. “Madame said you were a pyro. She never said the fire came from your hands.”
Cassius frowned. “You should be burning. You should be—”
Theo shrugged. “Guess your flames are kind of wimpy, Great Cassius Stevenson.”
Cassius shook his head. He knew it had nothing to do with the fire. He’d seen what it could do too often. He’d watched the Lodge burn last spring. He’d felt the Chute explode. His fire hurt everyone—killed some. The only thing that it hadn’t burned was his own skin.
His mind flashed back to something Madame had said in Syracuse. You and Theo have a lot in common.
Did that mean he was immune to Cassius’s fire?
The glow in Theo’s eyes intensified. “You wanna fight? Come on.”
Cassius backed away. “You don’t know what you are.”
“This world … ” He paused and brushed dirt from his elbow. “You don’t belong in it. This is Matigo’s world, now.”
Cassius coughed. When he covered his mouth, he noticed spots of blood on his hand. “Do you understand what you’re saying? That name—”
Theo’s brows raised. He wiggled his fingers as if he was just getting used to them. “I’ve… I’ve never felt like this before. Back in the swarm. The heat—”
“Cassius!” Fisher’s voice called from the distance. Cassius turned to see his brother come stumbling down the hill, breathing hard.
Theo backed away, grabbing his midsection as if he was trying to protect something.
Fisher jogged to Cassius’s side. “What’s happening?” “My fire didn’t hurt him,” he responded.
Theo looked up at the stars, then brought his arms out to his sides, rippling his fingers over the air like he was about to conduct an orchestra. “It’s beneath me,” he said. “It’s everywhere.”
Cassius felt his bracelet begin to hum. Fisher’s, too. He took a step back, his shoulder colliding with his brother’s. “Do you know about the Authority?” Fisher asked. Theo closed his eyes, blotting the red energy. “Now I see it. It’s everywhere. I am already here. I have always been here.” Cassius gripped Fisher’s shoulder. “We should run.” “My bracelet’s going crazy.”
Before they could move, dark wraiths punctured the ground. Coils of blackness reached into the sky like hundreds of ghost hands joining together. Cassius spun in a circle to watch the darkness form. It spread in shadowy sheets, curving up over their heads and blocking every possible exit.
It had no depth. It was like he was slowly going blind. More and more of the world fell away. The horizon began to disappear around them as the Ridium climbed into the air. It looped and split, like vines of ivy spreading along a wall. Gaps were filled. Stars were swallowed.
A spherical room had been built around them.
Theo raised his fists in the air. Ridium blotted out the last of the sky. Only the maniacal red glow of his eyes
gave a sense of perspective.
The oily mess seeped into the dirt and rocketed forward under their feet. Cassius lifted his boot before the stuff could ensnare him in its grip.
His mind began to play tricks on him. Directions skewed. If he were to walk forward, he wasn’t sure the darkness would support him.
Black. Everywhere.
Cassius closed his eyes, then opened them again. There were no holes or chasms for the moon to poke through. This was all encompassing. It was as if his senses had shut down.
The outside breeze was little more than a memory. Walls blended with the slick, Ridium-covered floor. The blackness had become so complete that it seemed to stretch on forever. Had Cassius not seen the chamber created right in front of him, he might believe it was endless. The hairs on his arms stood on end. His bracelet settled.
Fisher pivoted, searching for an exit. His breathing quickened. Cassius grabbed his arm to steady him. It would be too easy to have a panic attack in here.
Light spilled into the chamber as spiraled holes began to carve themselves into the walls. Cassius could see Theo’s silhouette now, cast by the meager moonlight that streamed into the room.
“What have you done?” he shouted. His voice echoed along the blackness.
Theo massaged his fists, smiling. It was that same cocky smile he’d worn back at the Lodge. “You don’t belong here.” He chuckled. “You really don’t.”
Cassius grit his teeth. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“King Matigo can’t have what he wants if the two of you are here, too.”
Fisher stepped forward. “How do you know all this?”
Theo dropped his hands to his side. “Because I’m not supposed to be here, either. I’m going to take us all away.”
The ground rumbled, throwing Cassius and Fisher to the ground. The entire chamber pushed up on them, like an elevator moving ten times too fast. Cassius glanced out the nearest spiral opening to see a patchwork of stars falling.
Only they weren’t falling. The chamber, somehow, was rising. They were moving away from Earth.
A curl of blackness danced from the floor in front of Theo like a serpent. He reached out his arm and allowed it to wind around his wrist. Cassius watched, then looked down at his own hands. The bracelet. The daggers outside the swarm. All Ridium.
