by Emma Hamm
She finally felt as though she had come home.
Which was likely why her feet dragged as she forced herself to turn around. The slow walk had meant the sun sank behind the City before she managed to find the tunnel again.
Not that it mattered to her. She was only going to have to endure another one of Luther’s lectures.
She stood in the mouth of the tunnel and held her hands up in front of her. Making duck bills out of her fingers, she wobbled them as she spoke.
“Willow! You’ve been gone far too long.” She deepened her tone to an angry grumble.
“I went outside today Luther.” Her second voice was much calmer and brighter than the first.
“Willow! You’re not supposed to go outside!”
“I met a creature unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”
“Willow! You’re not supposed to meet anything other than people.”
“I think I’d like to go home. Not live in a place where I can’t even touch the walls because I might smudge them.”
“Nag nag nag.” Her right hand chewed on the other, beating the second voice into submission.
She sighed, dropping her hands to her sides and looking back at the sands. A moonbeam lingered upon her, causing the bright spark of her hair to gleam in the night.
“I’d be happier out here.” She whispered to herself.
Closing her eyes, she lifted her face to the sky one more time. The wind rustled past her and stroked loving fingers upon her cheeks.
Everything good had to end though. She slipped back through the tunnel and rushed to the grate she had entered through. The dust had managed to build up significantly since the last time she had been in there. That was what the vents were for, she supposed.
Willow managed to get home just before Luther.
He was always late.
A mad dash of dropping her school clothes to the floor meant that she was able to squeak loudly when the front door slammed open and Luther barged into the house.
“Willow!”
The door to their bedroom started to open. In response, she yelled, “I ain’t got clothes on!”
The door then shut just as quickly as it was thrown open.
“Willow, you weren’t in school today!” There was a long pause as she waited for the rest of the sentence. “Again!”
She sighed and rested her forehead against the door. Willow did not know that her brother was doing the same thing on the other side.
“I don’t like school. They’re mean and rude.”
“They’re children. You can’t just leave school because you don’t like it.”
“They don’t understand me Luther. And when I try to stand up for meself they get angry.”
There was a long enough pause from the other side of the door that Willow leaned back from the cold metal. Her forehead had left a streak of dirt.
“You shouldn’t have to stand up for yourself.”
To add insult to the streak, she placed both dirty palms against the steel and pressed firmly. Perfect imprints of her hands remained.
“Neither should you.” She responded. “But we both do. I’m going to sleep, Luther.”
There wasn’t a response from the other side of the door, so she stepped back. A shower was in order, and then she was going to curl up in her bed. The sooner she was asleep, the sooner she could dream of the adventure today had brought.
Luther was used to having to be the “man” of the family now. He had spent much of his youth watching Jane take care of them, which mean he was capable. He had learned from the best after all.
But try as he might, his younger sister would always be a problem. She was rebellious. She was driven. She was idiotic.
She thought herself a caged creature. It was that thought that certainly didn’t help the situation.
Luther wanted her to be happy, he certainly was. The City offered so many opportunities for him. His mind was finally being challenged on a daily basis. Everyone he met had something new that they wanted to teach him.
Yet even he had to admit that there was something off about the City. Everyone was painfully happy. Almost as though the people here were scared that if they weren’t happy, they would be made to leave.
He wasn’t going to be the first one to take that chance.
Luther spent most of his days at the hospital. Away from people. He managed to get a coveted job in the labs of the hospital and was one of the shadows that followed the doctors around. No one even looked at him in the building, but he was certain that if he played his cards right, that he would eventually be noticed.
Which was why he spent the rest of the night researching the newest project the Doctor insisted everyone spend their time on. He wanted to be the person that understood how this new blood could affect humans.
Not to mention that burying his nose in a book meant he could ignore that his sister was in the other room more unhappy than she had ever been.
Instead, he focused on the task at hand. Each bit of information that he stuffed inside his brain would only help him in the long run.
He didn’t notice that time passed until he heard the buzzing of the intercom next to him.
Each intern was given a small handheld device. Wires poked out of the top and a small screen allowed people to be seen in the metal box that was nearly the size of his forearm. He had to carry it in a bag every day.
Luther’s had never gone off before.
He picked up the heavy metal device, blinking down at it with red eyes.
“Hello?”
“Penderghast, there’s someone here to see you.”
Luther could hardly see the man on the screen, black and white boxes made it difficult to tell who it was.
“What?”
“Someone at the gate. Here to see you.”
“There’s no one that would be coming to visit me.”
“Says her name is Jane Penderghast. Familial rights granted.”
“Jane’s dead.” Luther still had a hard time saying that. “I’m afraid that’s not her.”
Another voice broke through the intercom. One that made Luther’s heart freeze in his chest.
“Luther? Luther it’s me!”
That voice was hard to decipher. It could have been any female voice really. He would have wanted it to be Jane no matter who it was. The intercom made it difficult to tell if that voice could really be his sister.
“Jane’s dead.” He managed to croak. “I don’t know who you are, or what game you are playing, but it’s cruel.”
He moved to turn the intercom off but that voice broke through the silence again.
“Luther, it’s me. I’m sorry that you had to think I was dead, but I’m not.”
Crackling from the intercom cut her off. There was so much she was saying that he missed, but he managed to hear the last part.
“Luther, I missed you.”
That alone made him dash tears from his cheeks. His sister wouldn’t have said that. She was too proud, to confident to stoop so low as to say something like that in front of people.
Yet those were the words he so desperately wanted to hear.
He took a moment to clear his throat a few times. He was supposed to be contained and happy. Not crying in front of the people that ran this City.
Finally he trusted his voice to say what had to be said.
“I’ll be right down.”
His feet fairly flew through the stone streets. The gate was far away from his apartment. It would take a while for him to get to them, yet Luther hardly noticed that the time was passing quicker.
People stared as he ran past them. For the first time since arriving at the City, Luther simply didn’t care. Willow was left behind in the apartment without a thought. She would be fine.
If this wasn’t their sister, she didn’t need to feel the crushing disappointment that Luther would likely feel.
Finally he skidded to a stop in front of the guard’s office and took a deep breath. His han
ds smoothed down the soft button down shirt he wore. Then they traveled to his hair to try and tame the golden curls that stuck up in every direction.
“Come on boy, we haven’t got all day.”
The guard opened the door in front of him and held out his arm as though Luther was wasting time.
He wasn’t wasting time. If this was his sister, he needed to prove to her that they had made the right choice. He wanted her to see that they were doing well here. That Luther had done his job. That in the end, she had made the right choice.
Once more his hands followed the same pattern. Smooth the shirt, pat his hair, wipe sweaty palms upon his thighs.
The guard rolled his eyes and cleared his throat. “Boy.”
“Right.” Luther replied, and stepped into the room.
At first, he didn’t recognize her. The woman before him couldn’t be his sister. She was pale as the moon, her skin no longer the golden tan he remembered. Her eyes seemed more vivid, her hair seemed more gold, everything about her had changed.
Jane no longer looked like the poor woman who had been worn by sand and storm. Instead, the woman that stood before him was proud and beautiful.
Luther was ashamed to say he had never thought her beautiful before.
Jane was always the most masculine one of the family. He had fallen short when it came to the strong jaw of the family or the broad shoulders. He was beautiful in the way that Willow was beautiful. He was lean and delicate, the kind of person that people wanted to take care of.
But this woman in front of him was not the brute strength of a working woman. She was still too tall and had the broad shoulders of a man, but there was something in her eyes that had changed.
“Jane?” He whispered.
She stood alone in the center of the white washed room. She was so incredibly out of place.
“I’m sorry.” She said. Her tone was equally quiet, yet Luther felt those words rocket through his heart.
Three large steps and he was in her arms once again. He didn’t care that he was crying. He didn’t care that his shoulders were visibly shaking or that his knees had turned to liquid underneath him.
His older sister, the strength of his family, held him with ease.
“Shh.” She said quietly, her hands stroking his hair and spine. “I’m back. I’m so sorry.”
Tears trickled down her face as well, but she did not stop their trail. Her heart was fairly breaking to know that her death had caused so much heartbreak.
“I’m sorry, Luther.” She couldn’t stop saying it. “I’m not dead, sweetheart. I’m sorry you had to think that.”
He tried to speak, but another sob stole his words.
“Oh honey. I didn’t die. I’m fine and you did good. You brought yourself and your sister here. You made a life.”
His hands clutched at her spine harder. He had done well. He had done what they had always wanted to do. Somehow, Luther had pulled through for their entire family.
But he was so tired of having to do her job.
“Come here.” She said quietly while leading him to a seat. “Sit down.”
He sat down hard on the cold chair. It took everything within him to let go of the edge of her cloak when she moved away. His fingers clenched hard at the fabric before he forced them to release her.
She wasn’t going anywhere. Not again. Jane was only walking a few feet away from her, yet he was certain she was going to disappear in front of eyes.
“I’m not going to disappear.” She said wryly as she sank to her haunches in front of him. She held out a glass of water, courtesy of the guard who was trying very hard not to stare.
He took a gulp before clearing his throat. “You’re dead.”
“I’m not.” She wiped at the tears on her cheeks. “I never was.”
“They said you were.”
“I know.”
He let the words linger in the air before he asked the question.
“Why?”
Jane shrugged. “I didn’t have much of a choice. I was lost in a cave system and I couldn’t get out to tell you that I was okay.”
“How did you get out?” His voice didn’t sound like his own. Emotions had caused his voice to crack at every other word.
“I can’t tell you.” She wanted to. Jane wanted to tell him everything but she trusted no one in this place. “I wish I could. Is Willow here with you?”
He nodded, tears welling up once again when he thought about what his little sister would say.
“You’ll stay with us then.” He said firmly. “Our apartment is small but you can come with us.”
“I can’t.”
Luther froze. The words seemed to cut through him.
“You can’t?”
She shook her head.
“Why?” That word seemed to keep coming up in this conversation. He wanted to know why she had disappeared. He thought that he should likely be angry at her for disappearing on them. But she was home, she was back with them. Luther didn’t want to let her go. He would be angry at her later.
“I’m not allowed to.” She gestured towards the guard. “I haven’t been given sanctuary. You and Willow were given that.”
“I’ll get them to let you stay then.”
“I don’t think that’s possible Luther. I have one day. I’ll visit again.”
He was shaking his head when she leaned forward to hug him again. What Luther didn’t expect, was for his sister to press her lips against his ear and speak so softly he barely heard her.
“I need you to help me.”
She leaned back again, this time with a small shake of her head and wide eyes.
Luther’s brows furrowed. What trouble had she gotten herself into now? Jane had always avoided making waves because she wanted to take care of them. He didn’t know what she would need his help with though.
“Okay.” He said while nodding his head slowly. “Okay. You’ll visit us for one day then.”
He looked towards the guard for confirmation.
The man was ignoring them completely now. Perhaps he had forgotten them, or was likely listening intently without trying to make it obviously. Luther was going to be the talk of the town after this onslaught of emotion.
He wiped at his cheeks again.
“I’ll bring you home with me. We’ll get you fed and washed and then you can tell me your stories.”
Jane nodded, a smile on her face that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Of course.”
She linked her arms with Luther’s and they both nodded towards the guard as they left the room.
He expected her to marvel at the gleaming City once they walked through the door. The awe he had felt when he had first seen this place had made him stop breathing for almost an entire minute. He watched her face and waited for the sense of pride that would come when she felt the same.
But Jane cast only a small glance around before she was yanking him down an alleyway and pressing him against the wall.
“I need you to tell me something right now, Luther.”
Confused, he tried to push at his sister. She held him firmly against the wall with her body. One of her arms raised to press against his throat.
“Can you keep silent about what I’m going to tell you?”
“Of course!” He said angrily, still shoving at her.
She pushed back at him. “You listen to me Luther Penderghast, and you listen good. If you breathe a word about what I’m going to tell you, I will never speak to you again.”
He was confused, angry, and more than a little hurt that this was the greeting his sister was giving them.
“What is wrong with you? Let go of me!”
She stepped back enough so that he could breathe, but she held onto his shirt with both hands.
“Luther listen to me. Someone has come or is coming to this City with a person that cannot be found.”
“We don’t deal in bodies here. That was the mines.”
“Not human bodies. But this is
not human.”
His eyes searched through hers. He wondered what had gotten into her head. Jane had never spoken cryptically before. She had always been very blunt in speaking her mind.
“What has gotten into you?” He asked.
Luther had the horrible feeling that the woman in front of him wasn’t the same sister he remembered. Jane had changed in a very short amount of time.
She glanced around them before leaning in again.
“Do you remember the stories the miners used to tell? About creatures underneath the mines?”
“Those were stories Jane.” Luther said with a shaky laugh. “They aren’t real.”
The expression on her face made him question her sanity.
“Jane. They aren’t real. Those were just hallucinations brought on by sand sickness and dark mines.”
She shook her head slowly. “No. They weren’t.”
He wanted to believe her. He wanted to believe that his sister wouldn’t lie to him about something so silly. But Luther knew very well that these were just stories. The City had taught him all about the human body and other species. There was nothing left on this planet that was humanoid in any way. They would know it.
Gently, he reached out to hold onto her elbow. “Of course, Jane. But we can’t talk about that here.”
His poor sister had lost her mind. Thankfully, she was in the only place where she could find help. Luther would sneak her into the hospital and he would test her to find out what was wrong. There was medication that could help. He could steal it for her.
Jane seemed to realize that he didn’t believe her. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye but followed when he guided her.
“I would like to see Willow.” She said.
“Of course we will. We’re going to make a quick stop before that. I had to rush to come and get you.”
Jane had always been able to tell when Luther was lying.
“Willow first.” The stubborn tone was something Luther should recognize. Both of his sister’s used the same voice to try and strong arm him into doing what they wanted.
“Anyone could listen to us in the apartment.” It was the only card he had to play. The fact was also true. There were ways for everyone to listen in on their conversations here. “We should go to my work, there are places there for privacy.”
