by Blair Drake
He kept himself focused. He could tell Raven was still jumpy about whatever it was that had chased them earlier. Every few steps, she glanced over her shoulder. The least he could do was help keep the lights low so they could move quietly, even if it made it difficult to see too far ahead.
The only problem was, it made it hard to tell how far they had left to go. He wanted out of this tunnel and this endless walking. Reese closed his eyes as he walked and started running in his mind, just like he had in the room with Endel. He extended his arm and used the wall to help guide him. As he moved, scenery in his mind moved so swiftly by him that he couldn’t even make out what he was looking at. He heard the hum of the electricity in the tunnel, just as he had when he’d been training with Endel.
“Reese! Stop,” Raven said quickly. “Someone will see the lights.”
Reese opened his eyes and looked ahead of them in the narrow tunnel. There was a metal door as clear as day about a hundred feet in front of them.
“Look, we don’t have that far to go. No one will see. If they do, I will protect you.”
He took Raven by the hand and noticed how much warmer it was compared to how it had been earlier when she’d been freezing in the tunnel. He moved faster until he realized he was practically dragging her behind him so they could get to the door quickly. She was having a hard time keeping up, but the look on her face said everything. She was as thrilled as he was that they’d finally made it to the first door to the city.”
Raven placed her ear close to the door. “It sounds really loud out there,” she said, backing away from the metal door.
“What is that? Grinding gears?”
Raven leaned against the metal door. “I don’t know. But it is much warmer here.”
Reese stared at Raven. She was clearly exhausted. Her movements had become clumsy, most likely from the fatigue and from walking for so long. Maybe even because she probably hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in a long time. Hiding from crazy people trying to kill you all the time was probably enough to tire a person out without the long walk they’d already done.
“We can rest here a while awhile, can’t we?”
Her eyes widened with hope and looked down the tunnel. “Do you think it’s safe? I mean. I haven’t heard anything down the tunnel in a while.”
“I’m thinking safe is a relative term just like everything else we’ve encountered so far. I’m guessing because we can still hear a lot of noise on the other side of this door, it’s probably not first bell yet. You think?”
She shrugged. “We won’t know until we open the door.”
He glanced down the tunnel and then turned to Raven. “I think we need to build up a little strength before we show ourselves out in the city. You know, in case we need to make a run for it.”
She nodded.
“This is as good a place as anywhere else to take a break.”
“A short one,” she said quickly.
“Right. If crossing that first bridge is really going to be a big deal and we need to do it quickly, then we should be rested.”
She bit her lip as her shoulders sagged. “You mean me, don’t you?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to. Don’t you think I can’t feel myself running out of steam? You’re holding yourself back so you don’t have to drag me behind you. I’m holding you back.”
“Get out. You sound as if you’ve already given up. We haven’t even gotten to the first bridge. You know a hell of a lot more than I do about this place and I’m not ready to give up. And I’m not going to unless I get to the end and there is no portal. You and I are both going to make it to the other side of the city and we’re going to find that portal. Then we’ll get out of here. I promise you that.”
Reese scanned the floor. It may be cold, but it was dry, most likely because of the heat seeping through the cracks of this metal door. He touched the door next to where Raven was leaning and felt the heat. He didn’t care what was on the other side of the door as long as they could rest in comfort.
Lowering himself to the ground, he reached his hands up to Raven. “Come here and sit down next to me. I won’t do anything. I promise you.” She sat down next to him and leaned against his outstretched arm until he was able to curl his wrist around and rested it on her shoulder.
“What do you mean?”
“You know,” he said, suddenly self-conscious. “Try something. You know, like guys sometimes do.”
He stared at her blank face. She really didn’t have a clue.
Raven was the oddest girl he’d ever met, and yet she was turning out to be the most intriguing. She said was scared, but nothing about being here and doing the things she’d done so far showed her fear. Hell, he could imagine most of the girls he knew back at the Cliffs curling into a ball, and crying in the corner. No way would they have stepped foot out of that first tunnel much less come all the way here.
He’d been a stranger to Raven. For all she knew, Reese’s sole purpose for coming here was to kill her. Yet, she had ventured out of the safety of her hiding place to help him. She didn’t have to do that. It was every man for himself. Or girl in her case. Reese was the one who’d exposed her.
“You look tired. Just sit here and sleep if you can. I’ll wake you up if there is anything to worry about.”
“Aren’t you going to sleep, too?”
He shrugged. “I’m still pretty wired. But if I do fall asleep, don’t worry. I’m a light sleeper. If there’s anything out there, I should wake up immediately. Here, just lean your head against my shoulder.”
She didn’t move.
“You don’t trust me?”
She didn’t answer.
“I’m not like other guys.”
She frowned.
“I mean, I like girls plenty. Like you. I like you. There, I said it. I think you’re really pretty.”
Her smile was slow, but when she gave into it, he could see her whole face smile from her sweet lips to her eyes. Yet, he could see she was still sizing him up as if he were giving her a line.
“Come on. You have to know how pretty you are,” he said.
Tears filled her eyes. “No one has ever said that to me before.”
“You…you’re kidding.”
She shook her head and then dipped her gaze as if trying to hide a blush.
Warmth flowed through his whole body. It was different from the energy he’d been feeling all day. He hadn’t known there was a difference. But now he could feel it.
“You are. And you can believe it.”
“Thank you,” she said softly, closing her eyes.
There was so much about Raven that intrigued Reese.
“Come and lean on my shoulder. You don’t have to stay so far away.”
Raven still kept some space between them.
“Where did you come from?” he asked.
Raven licked her lips, and closed her eyes. For a second he felt guilty for asking the question. He’d just told her to get some rest that she clearly needed and now… He wanted to know.
“Somewhere up above,” she finally said in a voice so quiet he could barely hear it. “I know what the sky looks like. Sometimes it’s blue with white streaks from clouds. Sometimes there isn’t a cloud in the sky and the blue goes on forever. Sometimes it’s gray and cloudy.”
“Yes, it is.” He didn’t know how she’d answer, but he hadn’t expected her to say something so vivid and real to him. Somehow he’d expected her to say she was from another planet. Everything about the day was so strange that he wouldn’t have been shocked if she’d said she was from Mars.
“Get some sleep. It’s okay.”
“I know,” she said, her eyes already closed and her face so serene it was as if she were already dreaming of that blue sky.
Just as his eyes were about to drift shut, he felt vibration in his pocket. He stuck his hand inside his blazer pocket and fished out the talisman. His eyes widened. The stone was glowing
blue.
“Yungin’? Are you there?”
Chapter 6
“You can’t rest there long. It will be first bell soon,” the voice coming from somewhere inside the talisman said. Reese turned the pin around and looked for a speaker or microphone and found none. If it was there, it was tiny enough that he couldn’t find it.
“Raven is tired,” Reese said.
Raven’s eyes fluttered open with the mention of her name. “What is that? Are you talking to Endel?”
He stared at Raven as she sat up straighter, as she became more awake.
“Can’t you hear him?” Reese asked.
“She can’t. Only you can,” Endel said. His voice was raspy as if he, too, were tired but had stayed up just long enough to check in with them. “You need to ready yourself. I suggest you climb into a laundry basket, if you can find one outside on the street. There are so many of them there, it will take a while for anyone to notice. Raven can push you. She is strong enough for that. Her clothes are less conspicuous than yours are. You can discard the cart somewhere down the main avenue when you get to the first bridge. Remember what I told you about the bridge.”
“Yes. But what if someone sees Raven?”
“Someone will see her. She knows how to stay inconspicuous. Your job is to keep yourself from being a neon light bulb.”
“Okay.”
“Leave soon. First bell is almost upon us.”
The talisman went dark and cold. What little heat he’d felt in his hand from the glow of the blue light was now gone.
“What did he say?” Raven asked, her eyes wide awake with interest.
“We need to leave soon.”
Her breathing quickened. Reese noticed the rise and fall of her chest as she got to her feet.
“Are you okay?”
“The blue light is gone. Endel is gone.”
“Yeah, but…he’ll come back. He checked in with us. That’s something.”
“We need to go over that first bridge.”
Raven hadn’t seemed as frightened earlier about their journey. Maybe she was just tired. He was too. He hadn’t managed to sleep at all while Raven had rested. But hopefully they could rest more later.
“Endel says this is the best time to do it,” Reese lied. He hadn’t said those exact words, but why else would Endel check in with them now?
Raven nodded. “I know. It’s just…”
“What?”
She shrugged and glanced at the door. The sounds they’d heard earlier were suddenly gone, except for the occasional shout from someone in the distance.
“I’ve heard stories about creatures. Mechanical creatures.”
“From Endel? Do you think maybe he just told you those things to keep you on the other end of the city?”
“It wasn’t from Endel. But… It’s okay. We’ll go. I trust you.”
Reese had an odd sense of satisfaction with that although he wasn’t quite sure it was earned. So far Raven had been an asset to him and he wasn’t so sure how much he had contributed to their survival. Well, there was the bread. But that was orchestrated by Endel, not him.
“Okay.” He quickly told her about what Endel had said about the laundry basket. For a fleeting moment, he wondered if Endel’s version of a laundry basket matched the kind he’d seen the cleaning lady haul through the hallways at the Gray Cliff Academy dorms. He was going to have to rely on Raven to make sure they chose the right prop.
As they opened the metal door that would bring them into the city, Reese had the strong desire to grab Raven’s hand to keep her close. He didn’t have to. Raven moved up behind him and practically clung to his shoulders as they walked onto a wide stone platform. He quickly glanced in both directions. Along the platform were arched openings that looked like corridors or alleyways leading to what he assumed were dwellings by the people who lived here. It was hot as hell where they were standing, most likely because all the heat from the city floor was rising up the wide stairway in front of them.
The few people he could see weren’t paying any attention to them.
“Come on,” he said.
He had that strange sensation of being scared and feeling like something crawling up his spine. That kind of feeling that made you so scared you practically jumped out of your skin. Reese ignored it as he moved forward with purpose, slowly trying to adjust his eyes to the light. Every so often something dark would move but it had to be an optical illusion. This wasn’t a black hole. And when he stared into the corners and the dark spaces, nothing was there.
Was that a test? Was it some way of teasing him to use whatever magic he had to turn on the lights?
If it was, Reese wasn’t falling for it.
He scanned the area on the floor below as he took each step down the long set of stairs.
“Does it look right?” he asked Raven.
“I guess. It’s hard to know when you’re looking at a map. The doorway we went through was further into the city than I thought we’d be. That’s good. It’ll take less time to make it to the first bridge.”
Just as Endel said, the few people walking the street weren’t paying attention to them. Every so often, someone would look up from whatever it was they were doing and frown as he walked by.
His blazer. It may as well have been a billboard that said shoot me.
When they got to the bottom of the stairs, he tried not to look like he was lost.
“Anything look familiar?” he asked Raven.
She shook her head. “Endel said to use a laundry cart?”
“Yes.”
“I think that’s a Laundromat a few blocks down this way. But I don’t see anything out front. I may need to go inside.”
“No,” he said quietly, but firmly. “You might raise some suspicion. Let’s just keep walking and see how far we get. If I have to take off the jacket—”
“It’s not the jacket,” Raven said quickly as she walked, pretending not to be as scared as he knew she probably was. “It’s you. You can’t hide the fact that you’re…”
“Different,” he finished for her.
“We both are. You just stick out more.”
The city street wasn’t exactly filled with activity, but it was just as Endel said it would be.
They walked with their heads high and their focus straight ahead right past the bakery and the Laundromat. He took a quick glance down the alleyway next to the Laundromat and didn’t see any laundry carts, so he decided to keep walking. Raven didn’t object. But as they went by the bakery, he noticed that the door was open. The odd mixed aroma of soap from the Laundromat and fresh bread from the bakery assaulted his nose and made his stomach growl.
Raven turned and glared up at him. “Stop,” she said through clenched teeth.
He didn’t bother to tell her if he could, he would. The succulent smell of bread only made the fact that they hadn’t eaten anything since they’d left Endel’s shop only more pronounced.
As they passed a shop where the owner was putting out a display of bottles of some kind, Reese reached down and picked up an empty crate, just to have something to carry and make it look like he was doing something. He glanced over his shoulder only once to make sure the shop owner hadn’t noticed. When the man walked back into the shop, he let out a sigh of relief.
“You shouldn’t have done that. He’ll be looking for that,” Raven warned.
“And he’ll find it whenever we get past this part of the city.”
A clock on the bottom of another concrete stairway began to chime, making Reese’s heart beat faster.
“We need to hurry,” Raven said. “Get rid of that crate.”
He dropped the crate in the next alley, making sure the shop owner didn’t notice him hanging by the door. As he walked by the window, he noticed the bright colored shoes and boots along with other clothes that looked a lot like the things Endel had in his shop, but newer.
“The bridge is ahead. Do you see the archway and the way the lights from the
city start to dim the closer you get to it?” Raven asked.
He nodded. Finally.
It was just a bridge. How hard could it be to get across it? And they needed to get over it in order to eventually get to the portal.
He felt a vibration in his pocket and then a hum. The humming increased and got louder with every step he took.
“The talisman,” he whispered. “It’s Endel again.”
Raven snapped her gaze to him. “How do you know?”
“Don’t you hear it humming?”
She shook her head.
Relief slammed him harder than he’d expected. He glanced down at his pocket and saw a white light. White, not blue this time. What did that mean?
Taking the talisman in his palm, he lifted it out of his pocket so no one could see it but him, and winced when the needle stuck into his skin. He pushed the discomfort aside and waited to see if he could hear Endel. Nothing. That had to mean something, but damned if he knew what it was.
His heart beat strong and fast the closer they came to the stone archway. The arch wasn’t nearly as high as the ceiling of city, but it was probably a good thirty to forty feet high. He saw nothing on the other side of the archway and wondered why the hell he was there, and if it were at all possible for them to avoid going over these bridges. But if the map was accurate, the tunnels prevented it.
Raven was close on his back. He glanced over his shoulder, over her head, and was amazed that no one had noticed them. No one had followed them. This was far easier than Endel had made it out to be. For God’s sake, he made it sound like the Boogie Man would be in every corner just waiting for them.
“I can’t see anything,” Raven said, grabbing the back of his blazer.
“Yeah, same here. But…you know it should be quick. It didn’t look that big on the map.” Nothing looked big on the map and none of it looked like what they’d just seen. But Raven didn’t argue. She just clung to his jacket and took a few steps under the archway, and into the darkness.
With the first few cautious steps, something came into view. Two railings and what looked like a ramp. What else could it be but the bridge?
