A.I.R. Shattered Soul

by Amanda Booloodian

  “Right, new portal.” I started chewing on a nail. New portals are rare. No telling what might come pouring out of it. “Do we have a satellite in the area?”

  “It should be coming up as you reach the area.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Good luck and come back safe.”

  Rider wanted to come with me to help, but he hadn't been authorized yet. I asked him to stay with Gran and check in on Logan's kids. He didn't seem convinced, but agreed.

  Logan, Vincent and I, didn't waste any time getting on the road. We didn't use sirens, but Hank had already radioed ahead. Sirens alerted people. Speeders got nasty looks from other drivers. With the call in, the highway patrol would avoid pulling over our government vehicle. You'd be surprised how often this kind of thing happens with police. It's not only our agency that uses this service.

  Even with the extra speed on the highway, we weren’t there when the portal had gained enough power to open. By the time the GPS led us to the anomaly, the portal closed. If someone crossed over, there would be no way to send them back.

  We piled out of the truck. Having no idea what we would be facing, we were loaded down. We each had a backpack of supplies. We had tranquilizer rifles slung over our shoulders and guns holstered on our hips. I really hoped we didn't need our guns.

  The sun went down and a chill seeped into the air. We went through the forest as quietly as possible, listening for anything that might alert us to the presence of something that didn't belong in this dimension.

  I held tightly to the straps of my tranquilizer rifle. Logan motioned for us to stop, which made me grip harder, ready to pull the rifle from my shoulder at a moment's notice. His ears were unfurled, listening intently for any noise.

  He motioned Vincent and me toward him.

  “We aren't alone.” His voice was soft but intense.

  “What do you hear?” I whispered, hoping my voice didn't carry to sensitive ears.

  Logan shook his head. “Not sure if it's a Lost. I hear two people, maybe more, to the southwest.” He looked on the verge of saying more, but stopped and shook his head. “You two stick together. Make your way straight through the woods to the west, southwest. I'm gonna circle around to the south side. When you see people, Vincent will circle around and cover the direction they're walking. We can converge from three points. No flashlights.”

  I had decent night vision, so with the bright moon, I could see the shapes of the trees and branches. Logan's night vision was about as good. Vincent was an unknown.

  Logan slipped silently into the night. Vincent and I crunched our way forward. I felt a bit better knowing that there was at least one other person who walked normally through the woods.

  A few minutes into our walk, I noticed how very alone Vincent and I were. I bit my lower lip.

  I took a deep breath. “Thank you for the flowers.” I thought that would be a good place to start.

  Vincent cleared his throat quietly. “You're welcome. I haven't asked. Are you feeling better?”

  “I can hold up my end tonight.” My voice contained a bit of heat.

  “You know that's not what I meant.”

  I deflated. He was being nice, and once again, I tried to turn it into something else. “Sorry. You put me on edge sometimes.”

  He put out his hand and grabbed mine. Warmth spread out. I pulled in a breath. When I looked at Vincent, he held a finger to his lips and dropped his hand away from mine. He looked ghostly in the dim moonlight. He pointed and I followed his gaze.

  In the trees ahead, lights flickered.

  I nodded and leaned in. “Time to circle around.”

  Vincent took my hand once more and squeezed it before dropping it and disappearing into the darkness.

  I watched the spot where he disappeared, my chest tight. What the hell was I supposed to do with that? I watched for a few more moments before pushing the incident out of my head. I'll agonize over it later. It's time to work.

  Time seemed to slow as I moved forward. After what seemed like hours later, I could make out the voices of two men. I stayed back, giving the others time to get into place. After five minutes, I crept forward again, staying out of flashlight range, but close enough to hear what they were saying.

  “We're almost back to the truck. Quit your whining.” The man's voice sent ice through my veins. It was a familiar voice. The voice belonged to the same man that had held a gun to my head not a week ago.

  “It's not whining. I'm telling you the way it is. I'm out, after this job. I'm not dying 'cause some rich bitch wants a pet.”

  I crept forward further and pulled my rifle.

  “Shut up.” The man with the familiar voice was in the lead.

  He stopped. Had I made a noise? The other man struggled to pull a large bag behind him. He looked as if he were running out of steam.

  “Come out now!” The man in the lead said.

  “Seth, don't—”

  “You asshole.” Seth pulled a gun and moved in close to the other guy. I didn't have a shot.

  I cocked the rifle as quietly as possible and took aim. Not quiet enough. Seth pulled the trigger. I froze. He missed me, but my teammates didn't know that.

  Vincent appeared out of the darkness and moved forward, opening fire on Seth. A tranquilizer dart lodged directly into Seth's chest, and another in his arm.

  Logan charged the area. He announced himself as a federal agent and told the men to drop their weapons.

  Seth's partner raised his gun at Logan. The sound of my own shot was lost among the others. Seth’s partner fell.

  Logan fired at Seth as I emerged from the woods.

  Seth lunged forward going for Logan. He was going to use him as a shield, same as he used me.

  The tranquilizers started to take hold. Seth fell to the ground before reaching Logan, but brought his gun around. He wasn't going out without a fight. I ran forward, knowing I would never make it, but I had to try. No time!

  Seth’s gun fired. Logan dropped. My world threatened to shatter. My partner was down.

  Vincent reached Seth and had him by the arm. It was only a touch, but Seth was unconscious in moments.

  Vincent didn't let go.

  “No! Vincent, stop!” I continued my charge into the area. Vincent looked up, eyes dead black. He had a death grip on the man. I had been on the receiving end of that grasp. I didn't want a piece of that man's soul inside Vincent.

  “We need to interrogate him,” Logan said. “Let him go.”

  A tightness in my chest released at the sound of Logan's voice.

  Reluctantly, Vincent let go and stepped away. Seth’s body fell like dead weight.

  I ran to Logan. “Are you okay? Where did he shoot you?” My breathing was coarse and loud in my ears. Over and over, I thought, please don't be hurt, please don't be hurt.

  “Dodged most of the damage.” Logan's voice was strong, but he didn't get up.

  When I reached him, I started pulling his equipment away. I grabbed a flashlight from his gear and shined it over him. Blood dripped down Logan's side.

  “Vincent, I need you!” I cried out and Vincent was there. He put pressure on Logan's side, as I fumbled off my backpack and grabbed the first-aid kit.

  My mantra changed. He's okay, I can do this. I can do this. I've been through the training, so I could take care of my partner.

  Vincent held the pressure while I checked Logan's pulse. It was strong.

  “It's not a deep wound. A graze. Bandage me up already, we’ve got a job to do.”

  “I'm checking the injury first,” I snapped. I can do this, I thought wildly. I can do this.

  Logan tried to get up and winced. “I've been stabbed worse than this.”

  “It's deep enough that you're going to need stitches. Logan, you're bleeding out.”

  Logan tried to laugh, but it turned into a groan. “Girl, you have to calm down. We have a Lost out here somewhere.”

  That made me stop. Med kit in hand, I
turned to look at the bag on the ground. Whatever lay inside was motionless. Could they have a Lost in there?

  “You first, Logan,” I protested.

  “Vincent's got this, don't you, Vincent?” Logan asked.

  I looked up at Vincent, pressing down on Logan's wound. From the discarded flashlights, I could see that his eyes were back to normal. His skin however, looked pale.

  “He's never had a partner, Logan. I've got this. Vincent, cuff those men and see to the Lost.”

  “The men will not wake in the near future.”

  I didn’t argue, but was still glad to see Vincent pull out zip strips for cuffs. I turned my attention to Logan and put pressure on his side. The blood flow was already slowing.

  I pulled back Logan's shirt. The wound slashed straight across his side. “You're definitely going to need stitches.” I poured alcohol over the wound, wincing as Logan sucked in a shuddering breath. I set to work putting on butterfly sutures to hold the skin together. I maybe went a little overboard bandaging his side. “I think that's the best we can do out here.”

  “Nice work. I can get to my feet.”

  “Maybe you should wait till we're ready to leave.”

  “Vincent's going to need our help.” Logan nodded toward Vincent.

  The bag the men had been carrying lay open on the ground. Vincent checked the pulse of the creature inside. At least that's what I think he was doing. There were no arms, only legs. Four legs and a long tail. The creature looked like a large cat, except his head. The head was mostly feline, but had some cranial aspects of a person.

  Logan sighed deeply. “Poor kid.”

  “Kid?” I asked.

  “Go take a look,” Logan said.

  Spellbound, I moved forward. The creature was larger than a bobcat, but smaller than a mountain lion. His coat was a sandy color. His eyes were closed, but his chest rose and fell. Alive, but unconscious.

  Knocked out and dragged around in a bag. I wanted to kick the men on the ground. Looking over at Seth, it was hard to see if the man breathed.

  “That guy's alive, right?” I asked.

  “He'll survive.” Vincent's voice was monotone. All emotion pushed away. “The other man did not.” He had the creature's paw in his hand and checked his watch.

  “He’s dead?” I asked.

  Vincent didn’t answer.

  “Is the Lost okay?” I asked.

  “He's going to make it. He's been drugged,” Vincent said.

  “Do you need any help with him?” I asked.

  “We’ve done as much as we can from here,” Vincent said. “I’ll continue to monitor.”

  Turning my attention to the other two men wasn’t easy. Vincent had both men cuffed with zip strips. I checked the pulse of the man nearest to me, but I knew what the result would be. His face was purple and the body was already starting to turn cool. My nose curled when I checked on Seth. I was loathe to touch the man that had held a gun to my head. He had a pulse and he wasn’t shot.

  “How long will this man remain unconscious?” I asked Vincent.

  Vincent didn’t look up from the Lost. “Not as long as I would like.”

  “Will he stay down for transport?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Vincent said. “We need to find a way to get this kid back to the truck.”

  “I'll carry him.” Logan moved to his feet.

  I started to protest, but the elf started stretching without wincing. Still, we needed more than one elf to take care of this mess.

  I pulled out my cell phone and called Hank.

  He cut out any preamble. “How'd it go?”

  “We've got a—” I paused and looked at Logan.

  “A sphinx.” Logan had a half smile.

  “We have a sphinx and two guys down. One dead, the other, well, the other is down. Logan's injured.”

  “Define injured.” Worry crept through Hank's voice.

  There had never been a day in the office that I didn't see Hank and Logan talking. I should have thought about that before I called.

  “Just a graze, but he was shot.”

  I could hear Hank’s strained breath through the phone. “Another team is en route. They should be meeting up with you in twenty.”

  The sphinx began to stir.

  “Give them our location,” I said. “Our newest Lost is waking up.”

  Chapter 16

  The sphinx mewed like a kitten. Immediately, my heart melted. I wanted to cuddle up to the cat and let it know that everything would be okay. Then his claws opened wide in a stretch. They were long and sharp. His eyes popped open. He looked stricken. Terrified. Before he could talk, Logan touched his paw, spoke a few words, and injected the kid. He fell asleep in no time. The terrified look sank away into a peaceful purr.

  The new team loaded the sphinx into the back of our truck. Vincent and I managed to get Seth into the back of the second truck. We left as the second team started to sweep the area to locate where the portal had opened and check for evidence of other Lost. We made our way back to the Farm.

  Hank met us at the door. Once he confirmed that Logan was on his feet, he went back to work. Logan's wounds were superficial, but I hovered outside the room while the doctor stitched him up.

  He stretched on the way out the room, showing no concern over his side. “You should be downstairs.”

  “I was heading that way,” I lied.

  We met up with Vincent and Hank in the main control room. Our case had finally gotten a break. We had someone in custody.

  “Have they gotten anything out of the guy we picked up?” asked Logan.

  “He won't be up for a few more days,” replied Vincent. He shrugged. “They're trying to revive him, but they won't have much luck.”

  Logan said. “Does anyone at the office have any theories yet?”

  “Everyone is waiting for the guy we picked up to regain consciousness,” Hank said. Hank seemed about as concerned as Vincent did. “They'll have to wait a bit longer.”

  Logan glared at Vincent. “Did you have to knock him out for so long?”

  “It felt necessary,” Vincent said.

  Logan looked at me and I shrugged, not wanting to add details. It would be nice if we could interrogate him, but the man was brutal. He was ready to use my partner as a shield, so I wouldn't be shedding any tears for him.

  “How's the sphinx?” Logan asked.

  “He's sleeping off the shots,” Hank said. “There's a natural portal that opens in Egypt. The Egyptian government is being contacted now.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. “They'll be able to get him home?”

  Hank smiled. “It'll take some time, but he'll make his way back home.”

  Hank pulled us into a nearby conference room.

  Logan sat down at the table. “We have a few more details to work with now.”

  We all joined him.

  Hank booted up his laptop. “Talk me through what happened.”

  We walked him through our night in the woods. When we made it to the conversation the men were having, Hank paused, his fingers no longer flying over the keyboard. “He said that someone wanted the Sphinx as a pet?”

  Vincent cracked his knuckles, his face unreadable. “His exact words were, 'I'm not dying because some rich bitch wants a pet’.”

  Hank shifted in his chair. “This changes our approach to things. We've been expecting an organization ready to expose the Lost to the world. We've had other theories, but that was our most probable lead.”

  Logan looked disgusted. “Sounds like they're selling the Lost.”

  “But tonight was different,” I said. “As far as we know, they've been picking up Lost that live here up to this point. Tonight, they were at a portal.”

  “They've stepped up their game,” Logan said.

  “With so many Lost missing—” I started.

  “And from such a wide area,” Vincent interjected.

  “The operation must be large. There has to be a way to track them,�
�� I finished.

  Hank cleared his throat. “We can start with infrared satellite sweeps. If the Lost are being kept together, we might be able to pick them up. We'll start locally and spread out our search from there.”

  Logan smiled. “I like your optimism.”

  “That'll give us some place to start,” I said. “While we're waiting for that, Logan and I can talk to the sphinx. I'd like to know what took place before we got there.”

  Logan agreed and we broke apart. Logan and I entered a viewing area and found the sphinx pacing in an interrogation room whipping his tail around in agitation.

  “Before we go in there, we need to go over a few things,” Logan said.

  I nodded, watching the sphinx.

  “Most importantly, sphinxes tell riddles. It's like a sign of intelligence and good breeding in their world. If the kid is highborn, he may try a riddle. If he does, do not respond. Do not acknowledge that you heard the riddle.”

  “Why wouldn't I acknowledge it?”

  “Since we're outsiders, most sphinxes will kill the person who doesn't answer their riddle correctly. That usually doesn't apply to juvenile sphinxes like our friend in there, but it's better to be on the safe side.”

  “And if we know the answer?”

  “Then he may feel compelled to kill himself for being outwitted by an outsider.”

  My eyes widened. “He'd kill himself for that?”

  “The young ones usually don't, but again, better safe than sorry.”

  “Anything else I should know?” I asked.

  “Remember that he's scared. Kids can lash out without thinking and this one is almost as big as you, and has bigger claws and teeth.”

  “Will he recognize our language?”

  “He may not know much of it. If he doesn't, concentrate on reading his Path.” Logan walked into the interrogation room.

  After taking a few deep breaths, I followed. Concentrate on the Path. Easier said than done.

  We entered the room. The sphinx stopped pacing and sat down in one corner of the room. His agitation was evident by the twitching of his tail. Logan sat in one of the chairs and I followed suit.

  “I'm sorry you got wrapped up in the mess,” Logan started. “We're working on a way to get you home.”