by Amos Cassidy
Shit! Shit! Shit!
I took a step forward and dug in my heels.
A groan, so low I almost missed it, drifted on the air.
This time there was no digging in. I ran toward the sound, toward the building where I was sure the groan had originated. I entered through the gaping maw that had once been a doorway and skidded to a halt to allow my eyes to adjust to the dark. It was pitch in there. The air was almost viscous. I raised a hand and held it before my face and could barely make it out.
“Ryder!” I whisper-hissed. My heart was doing that hammering again. The flight or fight response was kicking in. Some primitive part of me, some sixth sense, knew that I wasn’t alone in the darkness, that there was something else in there with me—and it wasn’t just Ryder.
I reached for my baton and grasped air. Damn! “Ryder!” I whisper-shouted.
“Ashling? Dammit. Get outta here. Ouch! Fuck!”
“Ryder? Where are you? Keep talking so I can find you.” I began to move farther into the building.
“No. No talking. Get out. There’s something—”
Hissssssss.
I froze.
Something rustled to my left, too close for comfort. I held my breath—waiting. The rustle moved around me, coming to a halt somewhere in front of me. It, whatever it was, was circling me. I needed to find Ryder and get the hell out.
My lungs ached and I realised I was holding my breath and let it out in a rush. The darkness before me exploded as the thing lunged at me. I caught a glimpse of yellow reptilian eyes and lethal fangs as I dove out the way. I hit the ground hard, jarring my knee and stumbling as I got up and scrambled away. I could hear it behind me. It could have pounced, could have taken a bite, but it was toying with me. That frightened me more than anything. If it had the sense to toy with me, then it had some level of intelligence, and what the hell could I do up against an intelligent monster?
Ryder’s rope was gone. I’d dropped it. I battled with my own rope, trying to avoid getting tangled. Shit, I could cut the link, pull off the harness and—
Hissssssss.
All rational thought fled as I felt it. Scaly and dry and oh, Mother, it was wrapping itself around me. I was too frightened to move, too frightened to fight back because critters were one thing, but this . . . this was something out of a nightmare.
“Hey! Over here! You don’t want her, you want me!” Ryder called out from somewhere above us.
The monster paused for a brief moment in its movement, and I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. A diversion! If it let go of me, then maybe I could find a weapon. Maybe with its focus on Ryder, I could beat it, save us both. Ryder was obviously hurt bad. If he could have come to my rescue, he would have done so already. It was up to me. I could do this. I could fight. My pack. I just needed to get to my pack, which was squished up against my back. Dammit!
The bands around me tightened, swift and sudden. I was airborne, dangling like a piece of string. A breeze ruffled my head and yellow eyes blinked down at me. Jaws opened wide, showcasing fangs dripping with some kind of clear fluid.
I screamed.
CLAY
Clay tapped the dead UV grow light. There was something wrong somewhere in the wiring. Somewhere, a fuse was blown, but damned if he could find it. He clung to the ladder as he examined the circuit. He was high up, higher than he felt comfortable with, but he was fine as long as he didn’t look down.
Shelter had been equipped by the government to house three hundred people, mainly government officials, scientists, and the like, for up to fifteen years. It had been stocked with medical supplies, a fully equipped laboratory, food, and an underground greenhouse fitted with UV grow lights. It was a safe house that was meant to ensure that the government survived. As it stood, not a single government official or scientist had made it in. The event had occurred so suddenly and without warning that by the time the government realised what was happening and rallied troops, it was too late. So it was a bedraggled, frightened bunch of civilians who followed the Mother to Shelter, four hundred civilians, who had swelled to over five hundred during the last nineteen years. The reaping of the Cusp had helped a little, taken the edge off, but it wasn’t enough. They relied more than ever on the greenhouse for fresh produce, and now it looked like that was failing them too. The last cow had died six months ago. They were out of fresh meat, milk, eggs—the lot. This was not good.
He tapped the light and sighed. What was he going to tell Blake? What were they going to do? With one UV light dead, more would surely follow.
He couldn’t breathe; his chest ached. He quickly climbed down the ladder and leaned forward, hands on knees as he fought the panic attack. He’d never had one like this before. The only time he’d felt anything like this was when he got close to the Horizon and the thought of the Shadowlands beyond. It frightened him like nothing else. It was why he hadn’t wanted to become a Reaper. The excuse about wanting to keep his promise to their parents had been just that—an excuse. The truth was too embarrassing. No one, not even Blake, knew the truth.
That he was scared.
The tightness in his chest grew. The fear unfurled.
No, this was something else, more than an anxiety attack.
Ashling!
He didn’t know how he knew it, but he was suddenly certain that his twin was in grave danger. As soon as he accepted this, the fear subsided and he could move. He didn’t bother packing up the ladder or his tools. There was no time for that, he had to find Blake. He needed to use the Eye.
ASH
“Are you seriously going to eat that?”
The voice came out of nowhere. If I could have, I would have spun around to see who was there. But I was held immobile, about to be a monster’s supper.
The monster had paused. He snapped his mouth shut and glared at the speaker over my head.
“That was my intent.”
My mouth fell open in shock. The monster was talking, albeit without moving its mouth, but it was talking.
“Fine, go ahead, but I should warn you, they’re extremely unpalatable. Downright gnarly, actually. Digestion will be a bitch.”
The monster cocked his head. “And why do you care?”
“I don’t, but this is my place of residence, and having a twelve-foot Slider incapacitated with indigestion and being devoured by Scuttlers wouldn’t be the most pleasant viewing.”
“Scuttlers?”
“Oh, did I forget to mention? A scout caught the scent of the bleeding human a short while ago. I’m sure his colony will be along in a moment. They’re expecting a feast, and it looks like they’ll be getting one.”
What the hell were Scuttlers? I felt faint with fear.
The monster’s grip tightened on me, so tight that my bones ached, my eyes bugged, and then I was free, falling to the ground in a painful heap.
“I owe you nothing, Shade,” the monster said.
“I expect nothing.”
The darkness swallowed the monster, and there was silence.
“Come on, shiny human, get up. I wasn’t bluffing about the Scuttlers. I can’t help you any further. You must help yourself.”
I struggled to catch my breath. “Thank you.” I turned to face the speaker and found nothing but darkness.
“Ashling,” Ryder said.
I tore my gaze away from the spot where I was sure the speaker stood and pulled myself to my feet. “Where are you?” I addressed Ryder, but my eyes were fixed on the spot where the speaker should be.
“There’s a flight of stairs to your left. Careful, the third step is rotten. I’m just . . . I’m at the top, but Ash, my leg, its hurt bad. I’ve lost a lot of blood and I feel . . . I feel fuzzy. I don’t know if I can make it. You should go without me.”
Yeah, that was not happening. “We can do this.” I located the stairs and carefully made my way up.
“Hey. Can you help me?” I called out to the speaker. I knew he was still there. I could feel him.
It was Ryder who answered. “I told you, Ash, my leg—”
“I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to the other guy.”
I reached the top of the stairs and almost fell on top of Ryder. He grabbed hold of my hips to steady me.
“What other guy?”
I helped haul him up, and he slung his arm over my shoulder. I braced for his weight. I was pretty strong for a girl, mostly lean muscle, and my balance was usually great. I adjusted my own weight to compensate for his.
“The guy who called off the monster.”
We began to walk down the dodgy stairs.
“Ash, what are you talking about? There’s no one else here.”
I glanced sharply at him. Could it be that he hadn’t heard the conversation between the monster and the speaker?
“Hurry! They’re coming, dammit, stop talking and run . . . or hobble, whatever gets you away,” the voice came.
“There! Did you hear that?” I asked Ryder.
I could feel Ryder’s frown in the darkness. “We need to get you back to base. Maybe that thing poisoned you or something. Shit! You should never have come after me.”
We were at the foot of the stairs when my skin broke out in gooseflesh. Something was coming,
“Listen, Ryder, we need to move as fast as we can. The Scuttlers are coming.”
“The whatlers?”
He hadn’t heard it, hadn’t heard anything. Maybe I was going crazy, or maybe there was something else going on here. I didn’t have time to analyse it now. My gut told me to run, but running wasn’t an option, so I settled for dragging Ryder toward the door as fast as I could. We broke into the mist outside and didn’t stop. I moved as fast as I could, taking as much of his weight as possible.
“Faster, little one, faster!” the voice said.
Where the fuck was he?
The ground beneath our feet began to tremble, and I knew they were almost here. I knew we wouldn’t make it, not without a little help, and then I had an idea.
“Grab hold of me. Wrap your arms around me really tight and do not let go!” I said to Ryder.
Ryder, to his credit, didn’t ask why, just did as he was told while I grabbed the rope attached to my harness and tugged. Three times, hard and fast, then once, twice and a third time with a brief pause in between, then three times again, hard and fast.
SOS. Dammit! Please, Bernadette!
Nothing happened.
The trembling was getting worse, and I locked eyes with Ryder. He leaned in and pressed his lips to my forehead and then squeezed me tight because we both knew we were doomed.
My body lurched forward as the rope on my harness snapped taut.
Ryder’s lips curled in a grin.
“Buckle your seatbelts, this is gonna hurt like a bitch.”
We lurched forward a second later, just as the soil around us erupted and black, hairy, eight-legged creatures with faces burst up into the air.
They screeched and made for us, but we were sliding across the ground now, and the landscape was whizzing by. Bernadette was hauling us in.
CLAY
Clay burst into the Eye. “Where is she? Where’s Ashling?”
Blake spun away from the monitors scanning the landscape leading up to the Horizon. His eyes widened with shock. “Clay? What the hell?”
Clay rushed over to the screens, scanning them, trying to find the reaping team.
The hatch behind him opened, and he glanced up to see Fred storm in.
He threw his harness at the hook on the wall. “You need to put a leash on your fucking sister!”
Clay was on him before he had a chance to think about his actions. His hands curled around the Reaper’s neck, hauling him close. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Get off, you psycho!” Fred clawed at Clay’s hands.
Clay tightened his grip.
“Clay, get off him, this isn’t helping!” Blake pulled at his shoulders. “Ash is out there, this isn’t helping her. Let him speak!”
Blake was right; Fred couldn’t tell them what had happened if he couldn’t breathe.
Clay released the Reaper and stood back. “Talk.”
Fred rubbed at his throat and glared daggers at Clay.
“What happened, Fred?” Blake asked. He used his voice of authority, the one that said he was in charge, the one that said “do not mess with me.” Clay both loved and hated that voice. Right now, he loved it.
Fred rolled his shoulders. “Ryder was compromised, and instead of cutting him loose, your fucking sister decided to go after him. She almost took Bernadette down with her, and now the stupid bitch is out there somewhere, and Bernadette, the soft cow, refuses to come in while she’s still tethered.”
Clay was already climbing up toward the hatch.
“Clay! Wait!”
He ignored his lover, ignored his fear, ignored everything, and pushed up into the dead air.
His sister was in trouble; he had to help. He ran without thinking—no baton, no weapon—through the darkness in the general direction of the winch. He spotted George first then Bernadette. They were hauling something in. A dark form burst out of the Horizon.
Bernadette’s cry drifted on the wind. “Ashling!”
Clay picked up the pace, running flat out, then skidding to a halt and falling to his knees right before the dark mass—the entwined, unconscious bodies of Ash and Ryder.
She was bloody and beat up, her clothes torn to shreds in places, but a quick pulse check told him she was alive. A sob caught in his throat.
Bernadette fell to her knees beside him. “Your sister is one crazy bitch. Brave, but crazy.”
Clay reached for Ash, smoothing the hair away from her face. “Yeah, crazy brave.”
ASH
Two weeks of healing, two weeks of pain, the threat of infection, and round the clock care, but I was alive. I’d spent the hours, the days, running the events of that day through my head. The voice that only I’d heard, the voice that had saved us. Who was it, and why hadn’t Ryder been able to hear it? Was there something wrong with me? Had I had a moment of insanity? Too many questions and no answers, but the one thing I knew for certain was that I was alive.
I was safe.
Ryder was safe.
I hadn’t seen him since the day they’d hauled us in, but I’d asked about him every day. They were keeping him in the infirmary. His leg had been pretty cut up, the creature that had attacked him had narrowly missed tearing a vital artery. When Clay had told me that, I’d cried with relief, retrograde fear—I don’t know—a mixture of emotions.
“Shit, Ash, why didn’t you tell me? Does he know?” Clay had asked.
“What . . . what are you talking about?” I tried to look confused, but it was no use. My eyes welled up and he knew.
“You got to tell him how you feel. Tell him before it burns you up.”
So here I was, outside the infirmary, ready to do just that. My stomach was a flurry of nerves, but I closed my eyes and recalled how tight he’d clung to me when we’d been hurtling toward the Horizon, how he’d angled his body to protect mine from the rough terrain.
He loved me too. I just knew it.
I pressed my palm to the door and pushed. I’d only pushed it open an inch when I heard the laughter.
I froze.
“Stop. You are so bad!”
I recognised that voice—sweet and sultry at the same time. Nina. Doc Jean’s niece. Doc was training Nina to take over some day. I didn’t really know her very well, but from the sound of what I was hearing, Ryder did.
“But that’s why you love me, right?”
There was silence and a soft squelchy sound. My chest tightened with a strange kind of ache. They were kissing.
Nina sighed. “You joke now, but if Ashling hadn’t gone back for you . . . I can’t bear to think about it.”
“I know. I owe her my life.”
Silence. “You don’t think that . . .”
“What?
” Ryder asked.
“That she has feelings for you?”
“Of course she does, she’s my best friend. She loves me.”
Nina sighed. “No, I mean . . . romantic feelings.”
I felt sick as I waited for Ryder’s response. Heat climbed up my neck and stained my cheeks. Nina knew how I felt? I couldn’t bear it.
“Ash? In love with me? Don’t be silly. In fact, I can’t imagine that scamp loving anything but the thrill of the reap. She’s crazy but damn it if I’m going to question it. It’s the crazy that gave her the balls to come back for me.”
Nina chuckled. “Well then, that’s all right. Crazy I can handle, another woman in love with you I can’t.”
More squelchy sounds.
My instincts told me to turn and run, to get as far away from them as possible, to let my heart break in secret somewhere private. But my pride was stronger. Nina knew, despite what she said to placate Ryder. She knew and I couldn’t have that. I didn’t want that.
I exhaled, squared my shoulders, stuck a frown on my face and pushed the door fully open.
They broke apart in surprise as I entered, and I saw the flush of embarrassment stain Ryder’s cheeks.
“Ash! Hey. What are you doing here?”
I crossed my arms across my chest and quirked a brow. “I thought I’d come visit my invalid best friend, cheer him up and stuff. But looks like you’re being well looked after.” I shot Nina a cheeky wink.
Nina flushed and lowered her lashes.
I moved across the room and planted myself on the bed beside him. “So? How long?” I waved a finger between the two of them.
Nina bit her lip and smiled.
Ryder shook his head. “Seriously, Ash, can we save the third degree for later?”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine, but only ’cos you got your arse handed to you by a big scary monster in the Shadowlands.”
