The Riser Saga

by Becca C. Smith

  Isabelle shot me a supportive smile, which I appreciated, but it was amazing how a man I despised could actually make me feel dumb.

  Ryan explained further (in a really nice non-condescending way, not like my a-hole grandpa) “That’s what makes this metal a myth. If you know the right frequency, supposedly you can walk right through it.”

  “Elisha already broke through the first barrier,” Turner addressed the group, “She’s obviously figured out how to hack the frequencies. We have to stop her here before she and the others break through. The crytonsteel surrounds the entire second level and it’s our last defense. If they get past here, it’ll be near impossible to stop her.”

  “Why didn’t you just make the whole building out of this stuff?” I asked and immediately wished I hadn’t.

  Gramps just looked at me like I was a fly he wanted to swat. “It’s a little hard to come by as you might suspect.”

  I restrained myself from imitating him with my mocking face, and decided to keep my mouth shut.

  Turner ignored me and spoke to Dean, “Here’s the frequency code, type it in here and you should be able to enter. Strictly re-con.”

  Dean nodded. He opened up the holo-com next to the doorway and punched in the code that Turner recited for him. The metal rippled outward like it was a wall of water that someone had dropped a stone into its center. A second later Dean disappeared. I couldn’t tell if he was “blending” or if he had walked through the metal. Probably both.

  I looked up at Ryan and he was practically salivating at seeing this crytonsteel in action. My adorably nerdy boyfriend. Sigh.

  A few moments later Dean re-emerged from the wall.

  “There are at least a hundred and they’re all huddled in a group,” he informed us. “None of them have weapons. Easy pickings. Elisha’s with them, chanting something in some other language.”

  “That’s Roberta’s domain,” Isabelle added.

  I had to keep reminding myself that Harry, Isabelle and probably Dean and Terence had known my grandparents for three hundred years. From the way Isabelle talked, though, it seemed like she didn’t have any clue that Gramps was a voodoo man himself. Maybe he’d kept that part of himself hidden from them, or maybe it was something Roberta got him into later. Either way, Turner wasn’t volunteering that he was an expert. It made me realize just how long Roberta had been doing her mojo black magic. Three hundred years. It gave me a little extra confidence, since Elisha was only a hundred. Then I remembered that Roberta wasn’t here and I suddenly felt the noose tightening again.

  “Roberta will be monitoring the situation.” Gramps eyed me knowingly. (Guess that meant me.) I nodded to Turner and let my mental wall down long enough for Roberta to connect with me.

  I’m here. I heard Roberta’s voice in my head. I told her everything that I knew. I can hear and see through you, just make sure Geoffrey is safe.

  Yeah, my first priority. I didn’t say that of course. I just kind of nodded internally and Roberta seemed fine with that. There was no way she didn’t know how I felt about them, him more than her, but only because Roberta had proven an ally more often than not. She was a little delusional, though, I seriously think that she believed when all this Elisha business was over and done with that we’d all be one big happy family. I didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but that was never going to happen.

  Turner started to give orders. “We’re going in and we’re going in fast. Terence you’ll stay against the wall and take down as many as you can. Isabelle, you’ll concentrate on Elisha, she’ll have some kind of protection spell barrier around her so bullets won’t harm her, but you should be able to break through that.”

  I could tell Isabelle didn’t put much credence in the words protection spell. Even with her own innate powers, the girl did not believe in rituals or spells. I wouldn’t have either if I hadn’t experienced it first hand. Hello?! How I got my powers in the first place! Though you’d think watching Turner inhabit a shredded corpse would be a serious clue about the reality of black magic, but I think she thought that was all me and my power. How do you convince someone that doesn’t want to be convinced? Headache!

  Turner continued, “Dean, you’ll take position on the upper level balcony and shoot down from above. They won’t see you so you’ll have the best cover.”

  That’s when Gramps walked directly over to me and Ryan. He placed his hand on my shoulder so we were eye to eye. Intense. “Do not let Elisha into your brain. I don’t want to give her any access to Roberta. You hear me?”

  “I won’t,” I kind of stuttered out. Pressure much? Besides, the last thing I wanted in the world was Elisha in my head! Seriously!

  Don’t listen to him, you’ll be fine. I heard Roberta try and comfort me. Oy.

  Gramps turned his attention to Ryan. “Listen to me very carefully: when the I.Q. kids were stuck in your head, you were the one who kept them there. You. You were controlling them. Any time you had a migraine or seizure was when they were trying to escape. All Elisha did was relax your defenses enough for them to leave your head. Do you know what that means?”

  Ryan looked shell-shocked, but he nodded. “I can connect to them.”

  “Yes. I’m not sure how, but once we’re in there, do everything you can to communicate with them.” Gramps was looking at Ryan like he was his son, overprotective and concerned.

  With me he kind of grimaced. Strangely enough, it seemed kind of affectionate.

  Turner faced the assassin squad. “We ready?”

  The group of four locked and loaded their guns in response.

  Guess so.

  “Everyone stand in a line against the wall,” Gramps ordered.

  We all obeyed, Ryan and I the only ones holding hands. Ryan was beside himself with worry, but I could tell he was excited to try out this crytonsteel experience too.

  Turner continued, “Once we’re inside I’m locking down the exit, so Elisha can’t control any of you to aid her escape plan.Isabelle, take Elisha out fast. Harry, Dean, Terence, shoot until you’re out of bullets,” Gramps said cold-heartedly.

  I had to admit it, I couldn’t stomach what was about to happen. We were going to walk through that door and hundreds of my dad were going to be slaughtered. It was making my heart race.

  Calm down, Roberta’s voice tried to soothe my fears, If you had spent the years Geoffrey and I have with these clones the decision wouldn’t be as difficult. They aren’t Franklin, they’re evil. Worse than Elisha. No emotion. No souls. The worst of humanity because they aren’t human.

  I couldn’t believe her. They were made from my genes. They were a part of me.

  We kept them alive in the hopes that we’d be able to fix them some day. But they aren’t fixable, Chelsan. You know I would never agree to kill them if I thought there was an ounce of my Franklin inside them.

  I heard her, and I knew she was right, but seeing my father… I’d never met him. I wanted desperately to know him and not just in other people’s memories. I wanted my own memories of him. Maybe if we could just keep one of them alive. Maybe we could fix him and let him grow up and I’d have my dad. I knew I shouldn’t be thinking about all this right before…well…battle, but I couldn’t help it. I’d lost my mom and now I had a chance to get my dad back. Sort of.

  “Now!” Turner commanded and we all stepped forward.

  It was the weirdest sensation I’ve ever experienced, like walking into a cold waterfall where the water was a thick paste. I was too scared to breathe for fear of sucking up a nose full of metal. But I soon realized that, even though the metal was fluid, it was solid as well, shifting itself to let us pass while caressing us at the same time. I found myself shivering from the feeling, exhilarated just from the pure absurdity of it all.

  And just as quickly, we were in the cloning room. Over a hundred open modules in perfect rows spread out in front of us. Above us a metal-framed catwalk surrounded the entire room. All four walls were crytonsteel.

 
It was the noise that caught my attention first.

  In the center of the room were at least a hundred children, all the same child, my dad, humming a yoga-like chant, their high-pitched voices a reminder of the age Turner forced them to stay at with Age-pro. In their center was Elisha. She was definitely speaking a different language, maybe Latin or some kind of Creole. There was serious mojo going on.

  Upon seeing all the clones of my father, I nearly froze. I could feel the lump in my throat getting bigger. Dad. They were him. All of them. In front of me. Real. Not just a vision or a conversation, but real. I didn’t want them dead. I just wanted them to be not psychotic. Was that too much to ask?

  The seven of us stood out like sore thumbs, but Elisha and the clones didn’t seem to notice. Or care. Elisha concentrated on whatever spell she was trying to perform.

  Time to mess her up.

  “Hey!” I yelled before I could think better of it.

  Elisha didn’t stop her chanting, but she looked up and made eye contact with me.

  And she smiled.

  Uh oh.

  Elisha smiling was never a good thing.

  It meant she wasn’t surprised.

  Then she stopped.

  “It’s about time you showed up. We’ve been waiting for you,” Elisha chuckled.

  I hated it when she did that.

  Gunfire everywhere.

  Dean had already disappeared, probably on his way up to the catwalk, while Harry and Terence aimed and fired at all the clones.

  Their bullets hit harmlessly on… on air.

  Elisha had created some kind of invisible force field surrounding them all.

  Turner’s little mini-army stopped firing.

  All the Franklins turned to us at the exact same time.

  So creepy.

  The I.Q. kids/clones stopped humming. With faces identical to my father, Franklin, they stared at us like we were cockroaches waiting to be squashed.

  Isabelle dropped to the floor, holding her chest. “Some kind of feedback loop. I almost stopped my own heart,” she gasped. A few seconds later she recovered, but was still catching her breath as she stood up.

  “Nice trick, huh?” Elisha was positively beaming.

  I really hated that.

  Elisha looked at me, her eyes were alight, “I was afraid I’d lost you. Eva has been properly punished for failing me, but it looks like your grandpa has delivered you to me with a bow on top.”

  Gramps had apparently had enough, “You still can’t get past the crytonsteel, you little brat.”

  Elisha returned his gaze. “Can’t I?”

  Gulp.

  Elisha clapped her hands.

  WHOOOOOMP!

  The room shook with such force that our little group fell to our knees.

  Elisha and the clones remained unfazed, the bubble she’d surrounded them with protecting them from everything.

  I looked behind me and saw the walls of crytonsteel rippling like crazy. The metal was giving off a sound that made me think the whole room was going to explode.

  “What have you done?” Gramps actually looked scared.

  Harry did the only thing he knew how to do: he started firing his gun at Elisha.

  When he ran out of bullets and she was still unharmed, he turned to his team.

  “Let’s get out of here,” he ordered.

  Elisha’s grin grew even bigger, if that were possible. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Harry.”

  Harry stopped, not a man to ignore a psychopath.

  “There’s no way out, only in,” Elisha said cryptically.

  Huh?

  Why would she trap herself and the clones inside? Wasn’t their goal to…I don’t know… escape!

  I searched for anything dead. I know, Elisha and the clones had my same power, but searching for potential weapons was somehow a comfort for me. I’d overpowered Elisha and Eva before maybe I could overpower these reject clones and her if I concentrated hard enough.

  Nothing.

  When Elisha could tell that none of us had figured out what she was up to, she looked me directly in the eye. “Haven’t you been wondering why you haven’t heard a peep out of your dear old Grams since you walked in here?”

  Double gulp.

  Turner snapped. He launched himself at the invisible barrier only to be shot back with enough force to slam him into Terence. The two of them fell to the ground, almost hitting the crytonsteel wall behind them. The metal’s ripples were moving faster and faster, the vibrating noise growing louder and louder. We were either going to be sucked in and swallowed alive by living metal, or trapped inside this chamber forever.

  Roberta! I screamed in my head, but I knew Elisha was right. Something had happened and I’d been too distracted to notice.

  From the opposite wall of where we were standing Roberta walked into the room followed by a small army of dead soldiers. As soon as they entered, the walls stopped rippling and the noise stopped.

  Elisha smirked at Gramps. “As long as she’s within the four mile radius, right Turner? Not even your protective metals and spells can keep your precious wife from my control.”

  Roberta’s eyes were screaming for help, but her body was being controlled by Elisha.

  “Do something!” Gramps screamed at me.

  “I’m trying!” I yelled back.

  I squeezed my little brain as hard as I could, but there were two hundred clones all with my power controlling Roberta and the dead army. I just couldn’t break through. It was like a giant wall of cryptocrap blocking me from using my ability.

  The Franklins parted, making way for Roberta to walk to Elisha’s side. The dead army stood in formation at the far wall.

  “They’re not protected! Fire!” Harry ordered.

  Harry and Terence all fired at the dead soldiers.

  Really? They still didn’t believe it? Even after everything they’d witnessed?

  “They’re dead, you morons!” Turner shouted, so enraged that I instinctively stepped in front of Ryan. If he was going to attack, I’d rather it be me than my boyfriend.

  Isabelle flashed me a look that said she had my back, which both surprised and comforted me. I figured with everything that was happening, she was finally starting to trust me and everything I had told her.

  When the dead soldiers just stood there with their newly Swiss-cheesed bodies, it finally clicked in Harry’s brain. “I just can’t believe it.”

  Gramps ignored Harry and focused on Elisha. “I’ll give you whatever you want, just let Roberta go.”

  His Achilles heel. My Grams.

  “Exactly the words I wanted to hear.” Elisha grinned, Roberta at her side. “We want out.”

  Turner stood there staring at Roberta, conflicted.

  “You can’t!” Isabelle protested to Gramps. “Elisha will kill millions with her army. It’s not worth one life. Roberta would agree.”

  I don’t know about that.

  “No she wouldn’t,” Turner pretty much confirmed what I knew. My grandparents were possibly the biggest self-preservationists I had ever met. Roberta was in a dead body for goodness sake…

  Wait a minute…

  “You can’t kill someone who is already dead,” I said as if I was the smartest person in the world.

  Elisha couldn’t resist making me feel like a buffoon. “Of course not, but I can rip out their soul, isn’t that right, Turner?”

  Could she do that?

  Then I remembered how Elisha had ripped out the I.Q. kids from Ryan’s brain. But that was with the computer. Wasn’t it?

  From the expression on Turner’s face, I knew what the answer was: Elisha could absolutely do that.

  “No ritual could save her then, could it, Turner? Your precious Roberta would be dead forever.” Elisha was having way too much fun.

  “Get ready,” Ryan whispered to me.

  I looked up at him. His face was so intense I almost let go of his hand. “Ready for what?” I whispered back.
r />   Ryan didn’t answer. He was concentrating too hard, so I had to assume it had something to do with the clones. If he could distract them long enough for me to get a hold of Roberta and the dead army, maybe we could win here.

  Ryan must have been doing something because I started to feel myself able to tug at their collective grip on Grams. Elisha’s grin showed that she sensed nothing, but that wouldn’t last the harder I tried to gain control.

  Gramps wasn’t about to risk losing Roberta a second time. “I’ll have you escorted out of the building. I assume you have transportation?”

  “Of course. They’ll be waiting at the north east corner in about ten minutes.” Elisha was so cocky, it made me want to punch her.

  Come on Ryan, do your thing.

  The clones’ hold on Roberta and the dead army was definitely weakening. A little more and I was in.

  CLICK.

  Dean materialized directly behind Elisha and cocked his gun to her head.

  Yes! Go Dean.

  Elisha’s face dropped.

  Finally! Someone took this girl off guard!

  Dean wrapped his arm around Elisha’s throat and kept his gun pressed against her forehead.

  “What are you waiting for? Shoot her!” Gramps barked.

  Elisha looked scared for the first time. Really scared.

  Before Dean could pull the trigger all of the dead army raised their guns and started firing.

  Elisha was faster than I imagined as she reached down and squeezed Dean in the you-know-what. Ouch. And then she ran, escaping into the crowd of Franklins.

  “Now!” Ryan shouted over the gunfire.

  SLAM!

  I connected to all of the dead army and made them stop shooting. More importantly, I connected to Roberta and made her push her way through the clones to Turner’s side. I kept my grip on her, but allowed her to move and act on her own. She embraced Gramps and the poor sap actually looked like a teddy bear when he hugged her back. If I didn’t know them I’d say it was adorable.

  “I’m losing them,” Ryan informed me. I began to feel my grip slipping away.

  Dean shoved Franklin clones aside like rag dolls trying to get an aim on Elisha, but she was keeping her head down.