She reached into her pocket and ran her fingers over the cool jade. The same reassuring presence blanketed her as she'd felt back in Auntie Bai Wei's shop.
The market thinned when she drew close to the river. A few merchants catered to the dock workers, but most stayed closer to the apartment buildings and shops back towards the OldTown's center. Jin kept her face hidden behind her collar, head down. They smelled of the river, Liu had said. It wasn't much to go on. The river wound through the center of the city, kilometers long, and she might have to search both banks, although she'd never crossed to the far side, where the tech-runners' sleek, glistening towers speared the skyline.
Keeping to the shadows, Jin slunk to the river's edge. A reeking miasma hung over it like fog. The stinking refuse that clogged the water's edge, and the persistent odor of sweat from the dockhands who worked day and night loading and unloading cargo mingled with a stale hint of urine from along the base of the nearest building. Jin took a step away, still clinging to the shadows.
Downstream, electric lights blazed at a slip where a barge crammed to overflowing with crates sat at anchor. Men swarmed like ants, boxes balanced on heads or cradled in muscular arms.
Jin closed her eyes. She needed a plan. Wandering aimlessly along the riverbank would do nothing but give her blisters, and maybe get her arrested for trespassing into freight company property. There had to be some way to narrow the search.
She reached into her pocket and grasped the jade lion. It throbbed with heat.
"All right." Jin took a steadying breath. "Can you help me find Auntie Bai Wei?"
Two pulses.
Fine. If trusting a spirit was the only way to find her friend, that was what she'd do. What would Yao think if she ever told him? His head was so filled with facts and theorems, he'd probably laugh and say she was as superstitious as the rest of the OldTown folk.
"Let's try this," Jin said. "I'm going to turn in a circle. When I'm pointing the right way, give me a sign."
She held the figurine in front of her, then slowly pirouetted until a flash of warmth stopped her. Peering into the darkness along the upstream path down which she was pointed, Jin swallowed hard. No light, but the dim glow from the freight slip and the glimmering towers on the opposite bank. So be it.
After following the lion's compass for what felt like hours, Jin stopped at the base of an abandoned warehouse and stared at what lay ahead. The black bulk of the prison that housed accused spirit hosts. As she'd crept along the river's edge, she'd begun to suspect the jade lion might lead her to this place. Although she'd seen it before from a distance, she'd never had a reason to come close. It loomed overhead, blotting out the few stars that managed to shine through thin tears in the cloud cover.
No windows. No doors. How was she supposed to get inside? Even if she could, what would await her there? Stories whispered in dark corners told of crazed spirit hosts, caged and chained-of screams loud enough to be heard even through the heavy cinder block walls. If Auntie Bai Wei had been taken to this place, did it mean she was a spirit host? And if she were, was she dangerous? How did the men, whoever they had been, subdue her? Liu hadn't said anything about syringes or quarantine suits.
It didn't matter. Jin was committed. She'd find a way inside, no matter what waited there. Besides, the lion figurine still hummed with residual heat and it reassured her. She wasn't alone.
A chain link fence topped with razor wire encircled the prison. There were no lights, so Jin slipped out from hiding and darted towards the fence. While she'd have no difficulty scaling the chain links, the razor wire was a problem. No matter how small or how flexible she was, she didn't see a way she'd be able to get through it without serious injury. Instead, she followed the fence around the building's perimeter, looking for any weak spots.
On the far side from where she'd begun, she found what she was looking for. In the stretch between two poles, a section of chain had been warped inward. It wasn't much, but Jin doubted she'd find better.
She lay flat on the concrete and pressed forward, her head and shoulder further bending the fence until they burst free on the far side. Wriggling like a snake, Jin scooted forward, despite tearing her jacket on the rough ground. An edge of chain caught in the back pocket of her jeans. Panic surged through her veins, but she backed up, readjusted her hips, and tried again.
At last, she was through, and she raced toward the shelter of the prison's shadow, where she leaned up against the cinder blocks and gasped for breath.
The easy part was done. When she stopped panting, she rose and ran her fingers along the wall, like she did to find the entry to Auntie Bai Wei's shop. Maybe the same sort of hidden door served this place. Maybe, if she was lucky, she'd find the seam before the sun rose.
A sudden squeal of metal on metal froze Jin in place. Somewhere up ahead, around the corner of the building, the gate was opening. Jin inched forward on silent feet, then ducked low and peered around the corner, keeping her face in shadow.
Two men in black business suits walked through the open gate, leading someone between them. For a moment, Jin's heart leapt at the thought it might be Auntie Bai Wei, but the person was much too small. Once inside, the nearest man stepped away to close the gate behind them.
A moonbeam pierced through the thin clouds and illuminated the scene.
Jin stopped breathing. Yao.
Before she could react, the man was back and they led Yao towards the wall at a brisk pace. He followed without protest, awkward and stiff.
Her years of petty theft told her to wait and watch. See how the suits got inside. Follow when it was safe.
But that was her brother.
With a howl, Jin leapt from the shadows and barreled into the nearest man. She rammed her head into his gut and he staggered back, gasping for breath. In his moment of disorientation, Jin swept her leg behind the other man's, knocking his feet out from under him. He crashed to the ground.
"Yao, run!" she shouted.
She turned her attention back to the first man, who had recovered his wind and lunged forward, fists swinging. Jin ducked and dodged close enough to smell his cologne, then slammed her heel down on the top of his foot. He staggered away with a grunt.
Jin turned back, but Yao hadn't so much as turned his head. "Yao?" She grabbed his hand and yanked. If they could get outside the fence the way she'd come in, the men were too big to follow. They'd have a head start while the others wrestled with the locks on the gate.
Yao remained immobile, as stiff as a statue, but his eyes followed her with a pleading stare. Just like Liu had described Auntie Bai Wei.
Jin slapped him, hard. Smarting pain bloomed in her hand, but Yao didn't move. His eyes went wide, looking past her left shoulder.
She spun in time to see the second man's fist just before it crashed into the side of her head. The world went black.
Jin's eyes blinked open in a dimly-lit cell. Her head throbbed where the man in the suit had clobbered her. A sick sensation hung in the back of her throat. She swallowed back the nausea.
Where was Yao?
A quick glance told her she was alone, with nothing save the rickety cot on which she lay and a toilet in the far corner. The back wall was bare cinder-blocks. A sharp chill emanated through it into the cell. Iron bars formed the other three walls. Another row of cells lay on the far side of a central hallway. The only light came from a bare bulb glowing over the hall.
The cells to either side of her were empty, but across the way, a dark figure hugged the shadows. Jin swung her feet to the floor and sat up. Dizziness swept over her in waves. She probed the lump on the back of her head. Her fingers came away bloody, but from what she could tell, her skull was in one piece, only the scalp split. Jin wiped her hand on her jeans.
She lurched upright and stumbled forward, catching herself on the bars of the door. Clinging there, she closed her eyes and waited for the world to stop spinning.
When she was fairly certain she wouldn't collapse
if she let go, she straightened and dug in the breast pocket of her jacket for her lock picking tools. When her fingers closed around them, she let out a relieved breath. The men in suits must not have worried too much about her-or else they had something much bigger to think about-if they hadn't taken the time to search her. The pick wasn't well-hidden.
With deft motions, she set to work.
The figure across the hall inched forward, crouched low, until it was pressed up against the bars. "Shouldn't do that." The voice was high and light. A woman. "They won't like it."
Using the tension wrench to turn the cylinder gently counter-clockwise, Jin felt the pick catch one tumbler after another. When the last tumbler fell into place, she turned the cylinder further counter-clockwise. The bolt slid back with a welcome thunk.
Moving smoothly, less dizzy with each passing breath, Jin pushed the door open.
It creaked, as if it hadn't been oiled in decades. She paused and waited, not breathing. When nobody came to investigate, she slipped out of the cell, crossed the hall, and knelt in front of her fellow prisoner. "Did you see who brought me? Was there a boy with them?"
The figure giggled. "Boy, boy, plays with toys!"
Jin plunged a hand between the bars and grabbed the stranger's plain black T-shirt, yanking the woman forward until the bars dented her skin. Jin pressed her own face close enough she could feel the other's breath on her skin. "Did you see?"
The woman shied away, breaking free of Jin's grasp. "Never see anything." She slid back on all fours. "Not safe to see."
Jin rose and backed away. The stranger was crazy. Maybe she was a spirit host. Maybe whatever rode her had shattered her mind. Further talk wouldn't bring her any closer to finding Yao. Or Auntie Bai Wei, a small voice reminded her.
Jin pushed the thought away. If she found Bai Wei, she would try to help her, but Yao came first. Her hand slid into her pocket, and when she found the jade lion still resting there, she nearly sobbed. She pulled it free and cradled it in front of her lips. Help me find Yao, she begged silently. Help me find my brother.
She swung the lion first to her left, then to her right, where it flared with heat. With catlike steps she padded down the hallway's length to the closed door at its end. She pulled it open. The woman she'd left behind began to wail, throwing herself against the bars. "Take me with you! Don't leave me!"
Jin shut the door behind her, muffling the woman's cries. Her heart thudded against her ribs. The figurine's warmth centered her, and she followed its lead into a maze of winding corridors.
As she crept through the bowels of the prison, Jin became aware of a low, steady thrum, like the building had its own beating heart. She felt it reverberating in her chest, only barely able to pick it up at the lower spectrum of her hearing. Her hand tightened around the jade lion.
She passed cellblocks full of prisoners, mostly sleeping, some pacing their cells from end to end like caged beasts, others chained to the walls. Most ignored her, although a few hid like rats when she approached, and other reached through the bars, begging her to release them.
Time and again, she shook her head and walked on. What good could it do to undo the cages? With a contingent of prisoners tromping at her heels, or running loose through the prison, it would not be long before someone, or something, noticed. Besides, she still had no idea how to get into the building, never mind out.
So she left the wretched souls behind and blocked out the sobs of the few who begged her to set them free. She held the lion in her left hand, its amber glow hidden in her palm, and the lock pick in her right, ready to use as a weapon if she were forced to fight.
More than once, the lion led her through doors into stairwells leading down, deep below ground level. The lower she climbed, the stronger the skeletal building's throbbing pulse, until she felt her teeth rattling against each other as her feet touched the floor.
The stairwell led past several doors with small rectangular windows. Jin glanced through when she passed. Wide rooms, lit by blue-tinged fluorescents, stretched as far as she could see. The tubes illuminated stacks of electronics, humming with energy.
She'd seen illustrations like this in the textbooks Auntie Bai Wei gathered for Yao. Some deep tech that Jin couldn't hope to comprehend. What it was doing on this side of the river was a mystery, but one she wasn't interested in solving. All she wanted was to find her brother.
Two more floors, then the lion gave a sharp surge of heat. Jin glanced through the window. This floor was dark. No light, save what shone in through the stairwell window.
So be it. Cautiously, Jin pulled open the door. It opened without a sound. She slipped into the darkness.
The jade lion led her into the black, beyond the arc of the stairwell's glow. Unable to see so much as her hand in front of her face, Jin opened her fingers, allowing the figurine's amber radiance to light the way.
Heavy metal doors without windows lined the hallway on either side. Was Yao in this place? What sort of terror must he be enduring? Jin increased her pace.
When the hallway dead-ended at the wall, the lion flared bright. A low groan emanated from behind the right hand door. Jin knew that voice. Auntie Bai Wei.
Frustration coursed through her. She'd asked the guardian to lead her to Yao, not Bai Wei. Still, she was here. She would do what she could.
She tried the door, but, as she expected, it was locked. Once more, she went to work with the pick. Auntie's voice went silent.
After several long moments, the lock clicked open and Jin pulled the door wide.
Auntie Bai Wei stood with her back to the wall, crouched in a fighting stance. When the figurine lit the room, Bai Wei squinted. "Stay back, demon," she growled. "You surprised me once. Never again."
"Auntie Bai Wei, it's me, Jin."
Bai Wei's arms drooped to her sides. "Jin?" She blinked and rubbed her eyes.
"It's me, Auntie. Liu sent me."
Auntie Bai Wei's gaze settled on the figurine clutched in Jin's hand. A look of wonder spread across her face. "Is that. the guardian?"
"Yes. At least, that's what Liu said."
Auntie Bai Wei straightened and she clasped a hand against her chest. "Spirits be blessed," she breathed. "We may yet get out of this alive."
The coin nestled beneath Jin's shirt throbbed, in time with the building's strange pulse. "Auntie," she said. "They have Yao."
Bai Wei looked down, piercing Jin with her dark gaze. "They took your brother?"
"I tried to stop them, but they hit me over the head and threw me in a cell. I don't know where they took him."
Bai Wei stalked forward, looming over Jin. "Those fiends are fools to have left you in possession of the guardian. It must have been Yao's presence that protected you. His spirit guest is powerful, though meek. They couldn't see past it to your own strength."
"Yao's a spirit host?"
"Of course, foolish girl. Why else do you think I pulled the two of you from the orphanage? His spirit guest and your innate sensitivity shine like beacons to those who have eyes to see."
"Please," Jin said, "I need my brother back."
"I'll help you," said Auntie Bai Wei, "but you'll need the guardian as well."
"It didn't help when I attacked the men who had Yao."
Bai Wei stepped out of her cell and into the darkness.
Jin scurried out behind her, holding the jade lion high.
"That's because they were men," Bai Wei said. "Against men, the guardian can do nothing. Against spirits, though, it will be your best hope. Ask it to find your brother."
"I already did," Jin said, shadowing Bai Wei along the corridor. "It brought me to you."
"You need me, girl." Bai Wei's voice hid grim laughter behind it. "The guardian isn't stupid."
"All right." Jin closed her eyes and drew Yao's image on the back of her eyelids, his slight frame and intelligent gaze. "Find him," she said, "before it's too late."
Back into the stairwell, then once more down. The building'
s pulse hammered at Jin's eardrums. Auntie Bai Wei didn't seem to notice, or she was better at ignoring. Neither spoke another word while they descended into the prison's depths. They were deep enough now that Jin wondered if they were beneath even the river's floor.
At last, they reached the bottom. The guardian flared, but there was no need. Only one way remained. A black door painted with red calligraphy, in an old style Jin couldn't read.
The building's pulse drowned out her own. Sweat slicked her hands and her legs trembled. Her bravery fled in the face of that door and its incomprehensible scrawl.
Auntie Bai Wei clapped a hand to her shoulder. Jin looked up. Bai Wei gave her a lopsided grin. It heartened her. She smiled back.
Bai Wei put her hand to the doorknob and pushed. It made no sound. Nothing stirred on the other side. Jin followed Bai Wei through. The lights on this level looked like the fluorescent tubes above, but they were as red as the calligraphy on the door, reminding Jin far too much of blood.
Together, Jin and Bai Wei crossed the room, the guardian once again within Jin's closed fist. The disturbing lights were enough to see by. There was no reason to announce their presence.
A piercing shriek echoed down the hallway. Jin sucked in a harsh breath. Yao.
She would have rushed forward, but Auntie Bai Wei wrapped a strong hand around her wrist.
"Carefully," Bai Wei whispered.
The wail died off. Jin squeezed her eyes shut, trying to ignore it. Impossible. She opened her eyes and pressed forward.
As they followed the blood-red corridor, a heavy, moist scent wafted towards them. The painted concrete walls gave way to natural stone that arced away to either side, opening into a vast cavern. Jin and Bai Wei hugged the wall, circling towards a brilliant, scarlet light that brightened and dimmed in time with the overwhelming pulse.
When they drew closer, it resolved itself into a massive garnet, the size of the noodle seller's cart, throbbing red to black and back again.
Grantville Gazette 45 gg-45 Page 22
