Deadly Designs

by Dale Mayer

  Giving Eric a quick explanation, she slipped through the trees until she was as close as she could get to the cliff. She chose the first outcropping of rock, hoping it partially hid her from above. Checking the cliff wall carefully for Louers patrolling the top, she darted to the projection of rock and flattened against the cold stone. And froze. Did she hear something?

  From the corner of her eye she could see Eric hiding in the trees. He gave her a smile. Okay. She’d made it. Relief rippled down her back.

  The cliff appeared pockmarked like a lava rock but not as porous. Parts of the rock were smooth, others sharp. Varied in color and texture, the rock reminded her of the southwestern part of the States. Interesting.

  She moved silently along the rock face, hugging the wall. In a moment, Eric joined her. Unless someone stood outside and stared straight down, they wouldn’t be seen. They kept it up for another fifty odd feet when she stopped. Leaning her head close to the wall, she saw a pattern in the rock.

  Could it be that easy? The pattern started at the rock ahead. Interesting. After giving her eyes a few moments to adjust to the multiple colors, she saw the beginning of the steps. With just a couple of steps, she’d climbed a good ten feet upwards. She heard Eric’s gasp of surprise but kept going, knowing they were vulnerable on the open rock face. Besides he’d be following on her heels.

  If anyone approached the caves from the woods or meadow as she and Eric had, they’d be spotted immediately. With that thought, she grabbed her courage and ran up the hidden staircase. Knowing Eric would be right behind her, she made it to the lowest plateau, where the first of the caves started. Ducking out of sight into the first cave, she gasped for air. Her heart slammed against her ribcage. She hated this. They could be found out any moment.

  Eric joined her in seconds. The cave was huge. And empty.

  They looked at each other. “I wonder if they’re connected?” she whispered.

  Knowing they could be found any time, they explored the caves with an eye to finding their way through the labyrinth of tunnels. The entire bottom row of caves appeared empty. There were connecting passages, and Storey couldn’t believe how spacious the area appeared. If the weather stayed warm, the new inhabitants might actually have a cool place to live, temporarily or permanently. She thought it would be fun to spend a summer here.

  But not with the Louers.

  At the last cave on that level, noises finally penetrated the silence. Someone was close by. Working their way quietly through the tunnels, they tracked the noise deep within the cliff. Darkness shadowed the area. Maybe that worked in their favor too.

  Walking slowly in the dark, the noise finally became recognizable. “That has to be Tammy.”

  “Or another child?”

  “No.” Storey knew that voice already like she knew her own voice. The noise was horrible. And Storey had nothing to give her to keep her quiet and happy. Damn. No one appeared to be rushing to keep her quiet either.

  With the noise at an all-time high, Storey stuck her head around the corner of the last wall. Tammy, still wearing Storey’s t-shirt, lay curled in the far corner. Alone.

  Storey motioned at Eric to take a look. As she took a second look, Tammy’s pet poked its head out from her arms and saw them. It raced toward Storey chattering in a loud voice. It still wore the harness and had a lead attached. Even as they watched, the rodent hit the end of the lead at full power and snapped back. It was enough to shake Tammy out of her crying jag. She sat up, and for the first time, Storey saw tear tracks on the little girl’s cheeks. Tammy looked toward them, but Storey thought the girl probably couldn’t see them in the dark cave. Storey took a step closer so her outline separated from the wall.

  Tammy stared, her mouth dropped open as if to start screaming again. Storey slapped her hands over her ears in preparation. Instead Tammy scrambled to her feet and ran toward her. Eric stepped up beside Storey and grinned. Tammy opened her arms and launched herself at them both.

  It almost took both of them to stop her assault. Still, for all her excitement and happiness at seeing them again, she was silent.

  A wonderful blessing. Tammy squeezed hard, her arms wrapped around both of their necks in a group hug that Eric and Storey couldn’t possibly escape. Eric spluttered several times. Storey looked over and started to laugh silently. She didn’t dare make a sound, but it was hard to stay quiet. Skorky was jumping on Eric’s head. Obviously he was happy to see them too.

  Untangling herself from Tammy’s arms, Storey walked over quickly to where Tammy had been lying on the ground, hoping some of her supplies might be there. There was nothing. Damn. Just one more break – that’s all they needed – one lousy break and they’d be gone.

  Back to Paxton. Back to her home. Anywhere was better than here.

  “Storey.” Eric’s hoarse whisper had her walking quickly back to them.

  “What?”

  “Look.” He held up a folded piece of paper. “This was in Tammy’s pocket.”

  Excitement raced through her. Storey opened it up. “It’s a portal to my house.”

  “Let’s go.” He almost jumped with impatience. “Just spread it out and I’ll go through now. I think I hear someone coming. It’s probably because she quit wailing.”

  Storey laid the portal on the cave floor. She didn’t know if the dense rock would affect the portal’s function or not. They didn’t have much choice. They’d have to try it. As soon as she had the paper spread out properly, Eric, Tammy and the rodent still in his arms, stepped through and disappeared.

  A loud shout sounded from the shadows. Shit. They were out of time. She snatched up the corner of the paper and jumped, making sure she took the drawing through with her. The last thing she saw were two of the big Louers coming out of the shadows.

  Chapter 12

  “Shit.”

  Muffled groans and an odd shriek greeted her softer than expected landing. Tammy and Eric had cushioned her fall. She didn’t even want to contemplate having squished the skorl. She scrambled to her feet and turned around, frowning. It looked like her dimension – sort of. If you expected to arrive in a storeroom of some kind.

  At least they were alone.

  “Where the hell are we?” Eric sat on the cement floor and stared.

  Storey wished she had some idea. “It should have been my house, but…” she pivoted slowly, staring, “apparently not.”

  Eric hopped to his feet. “Oh great.”

  His voice sounded so disgusted and pissed; she fell immediately into apologizing. “Well, I’m sorry. I didn’t exactly plan this. I don’t know if something happened to the portal. Maybe they did something to it and gave it back to her, hoping we’d use it.”

  He spun around, astonishment on his face. “I’m not criticizing you. I’m simply wishing that for once things would go our way.”

  She waited a long moment for them both to calm down. “We could look on this turn of events as having gone very well.” She let him consider that. “Just think, we snuck in, grabbed Tammy, and escaped – unscathed. Personally, I’d consider that things are going our way.”

  He shot her a frustrated look. “I know. It just seems like we go one step forward but then two steps backwards. Why? Why couldn’t we have landed in your bedroom or Paxton’s lab? Why here?” He gestured to the inside of a large empty room they were in.

  “Why not here?” she laughed. “Okay, I know this isn’t where we want to be, but it is much better than where we were.”

  Tammy made an odd sound, almost a prelude to her wailing. Both of them started. “Please not.” Storey had nothing to appease her with if she started screaming. She walked over and hugged her. “It is okay, Tammy. We’ll be fine.”

  “Will we?” murmured Eric. She shot him a warning look, nodding at Tammy.

  He rolled his eyes at her. But restated in a perkier voice, “We will.”

  Tammy’s lower lip trembled but the wailing appeared to have been averted for the moment, as if she under
stood what they were saying.

  Keeping a hand on Tammy’s shoulders, Storey stood up. “Good. Now, can we see about going home?”

  Tammy looked up expectantly at both of them. Storey pointed at the door. “Let’s see what’s out there.” Together the three of them trooped to the door. Eric pulled it open.

  Outside, daylight shone bright and clear. Storey stepped out first. They appeared to be in a commercial storage unit where people could store their personal belongings. A couple of older trucks were parked outside the smaller sheds at the far end.

  Storey searched the horizon for landmarks. Something to identify where they were. Casually, they walked through the front gates, not drawing any attention or curious glances. In fact, they were pretty much ignored. That worked for her.

  Outside she found a sidewalk traveling in both directions on an average looking street. It could be any small town in North America. Or, it could be a street in Eric’s dimension for all she knew – having never seen any.

  A large blue pickup drove past, reaffirming her assumption that they were in her dimension. Tammy squealed at the noise, her arms wrapping tight about Storey. Right. This was probably the first time the child had seen anything even close to this. Storey hugged her tight for a long moment. Murmuring comforting words, she took a firm hold on Tammy’s hand and led her forward.

  Inside, her heart leapt with joy. This resembled home. Even that mountain in the distance looked familiar. A little different because of the angle but so close, she wanted to jump for joy. Ahead was a standard streetlight. She had to be home.

  Maybe not home-home, but somewhere close. At least she hoped so. Even the street signs looked normal. They stopped at the corner of Main and Collingwood. That was an intersection in her town of Bankhead, but not an area she knew well.

  “We’ll go this way.” She motioned toward Main Street.

  “Do you know where we are?” Eric asked, staring at the lights and signs in confusion.

  Glancing around again, she said, “I can’t be sure yet, but I think we’re in my home town.”

  Eric laughed. “This is nothing like your home.”

  She grinned at him. “You’ve only seen my house, the school, the mine and pathways in between. This could be the other side of town where the mill is. I don’t spend a lot of time over here, so I’m not exactly sure yet. We need to keep walking so I can recognize more landmarks.”

  “Like those mountains?” He pointed to several snow capped peaks off the left.

  “Yes, exactly like those.” They walked in companionable silence for the rest of the block. Tammy never made a sound but her eyes were huge as she tried to take it all in. Her head swiveled from side to side. For her, this had to be a huge shock, but she was handling it well. Eric appeared to take it all in stride.

  “Do you have towns like this, Eric?”

  “Not like this.” He grinned as an old van rattled by, large painted flowers in bright colors decorating its sides. “Definitely not like this.”

  She had to laugh. The next block was Cantor Street. Yes. Now that one she’d heard of for sure. She had to be several miles from home. She had to orient herself. The recreation center was over a couple of blocks and behind that was a trail to the high school. That would be the fastest way. With more energy in her step than she’d felt so far, she led them through the back way to her house.

  Tammy stumbled. Eric reached out and helped her to regain her footing. Storey stopped to check her over. Tammy had to be getting tired. She’d been incredibly strong and valiant but at this point she needed food and rest. “We’re almost home, Tammy. Just a little further. There should be food when we get there.” Although what she had no idea; they’d wiped out so much food the last time. Had her mother had time to restock? Would she have gone out and replaced it? Or would she be waiting, pissed off, for Storey to come home?

  Her house loomed ahead. Thank heaven for that. Luckily, she couldn’t see the vehicle parked out front.

  They walked to the back door of the kitchen. The door was locked.

  Storey’s switched her gaze from the closed door and back to him in amazement. “Really? We never lock our door.”

  “Yet, someone stole a whole pile of food while they were out one time, so I guess it makes sense that they’d lock it now?” Eric’s sardonic humor had her grinning.

  “Okay, fine. I’ll run around and check the front door. Stay here.”

  Giving Tammy a quick reassuring grin, she ran around the house to the front door. It too was locked. Oh hell. She tried the garage. The inside looked different. Having a father around all the time could account for that. There were tools, shelves and cans of paint stacked in one corner. The inside door was unlocked.

  Yes. She pushed it open and ran to the back door, opening it for Tammy and Eric. Ushering them inside, she said, “Take her to my room, quickly in case they come home. I’ll look for something to eat.”

  Eric nodded, grabbed Tammy’s hand and led her to the stairs. “Don’t be long. She looks ready to pass out.”

  Storey cast a worried glance at Tammy. Her normal robust color was long gone and her shoulders sagged. Even her eyes drooped. Yet she’d been a trooper throughout all this.

  “I’ll be quick.” Giving them an encouraging smile, she disappeared into the kitchen. The table was different. She hated the nervous energy bubbling in her stomach. She could only hope her mother was happier in this reality than she’d been in the other one. Personally, Storey wanted the old one back. There was nothing wrong with the other table, damn it. She’d liked it.

  The fridge had been restocked. At least one problem was solved. Under the sink was a garbage bag. Storey hauled out cheese and apples again. There was a quart of milk, she grabbed that. Ten minutes later, her bag was full and she was hauling it upstairs. The colors of the hallway were totally different. Gone was the overly bright baroque look. Instead there was a neutral beige covering the walls. Boring.

  She walked into her room, turning and locking the door behind her.

  And stopped.

  This was her room.

  But this was not her room. She didn’t recognize anything in the room. There were no personal items, no pictures on the walls, no clothes in the closet. If this was her bedroom, everything had been cleaned out and removed.

  She didn’t live here anymore.

  *

  Eric studied the look on Storey’s face, the emotions whistling across her features faster than a north wind coming through the mountains. The bedroom had been almost dehumanized. Was this normal behavior when a child didn’t return home? He’d hate to see Storey tossed from her home because of this. From what he’d seen, she’d been close to her mother. A relationship she’d valued.

  The room looked so much the same, yet different. His gaze fell on Tammy, curled into a small ball and fast asleep on the bed. The bed that had different sheets and blankets on it. A similar bed, just dressed differently.

  Her art books were missing and that could be a huge problem. She needed her paper. They needed her paper.

  The stricken look on her face was hard to gaze upon. He busied himself poking into the closet, the same closet he’d hidden in earlier. Finally he heard her speak.

  “The house is empty.”

  Her voice, low and intense, showed such control and balance, he couldn’t help but admire her. Again. He didn’t know that he could do the same if the conditions were reversed.

  “And I have food.”

  Food. Such a mundane necessity given everything else that had come to pass.

  “Thank you. Do you think we should let Tammy sleep?”

  Storey gazed at the child, her features softening. His heart warmed. If nothing else, having someone else to look after helped her forget her own troubles. Some matters had to take precedence.

  “Yes, she’s exhausted. I can’t believe how good she’s been throughout this.” Storey walked over to sit on the bed beside her. Grabbing the folded blanket at the foot of her be
d, she gently covered Tammy up. “She’s not complained once.”

  “No. She’s been surprisingly easy so far.” Eric sat in the middle of the floor. “I, however, could use something to eat.”

  She opened the bag she’d brought upstairs. “I grabbed what I could. It’s not the same as last time, but close.”

  “Good. Is there cheese?”

  He grinned when she held out a large block of white cheese, then another loaf of bread. “Tammy will be happy.”

  “That’s if we leave her any.” Storey sorted through the food she’d brought. Eric made a simple sandwich and then watched her as he ate.

  “Eric?”

  He raised an eyebrow in question, his mouth full of food.

  In a soft voice, Story asked. “What are we doing wrong? Everything seems to be getting worse.”

  *

  Storey couldn’t help the wave of depression sweeping through her. Yes, they were warm and sheltered, with food at hand and they were safe from attacking Louers. But there were so many things wrong she couldn’t begin to list them all.

  Tammy’s problem was the priority. How could she get Tammy home to her family? The stylus had at one time told her that she could delete the dimension she’d made but it would kill everyone in it. That meant all of Tammy’s family and Tammy, if she were home at the time, would be wiped out. So not a good idea. She hadn’t presented the idea to the Toran’s because she’d figured they’d approve of the idea en masse. Getting rid of their enemy in one final drawing – yeah, they’d be all over that. Maybe not Eric, as he’d come to know Tammy.

  They also had to go back and get the missing codexes. And her portals. She didn’t like to think that one of them might jump into her bedroom. That made the hair on the back of her neck stand up straight.

  “I’m thinking that maybe we should get Paxton’s advice,” Eric said.

  She pondered that. “But we’re no more welcome there than here.”

  “Did you ever consider that this…” he looked around, “might not be your room?”

  The apple stalled midway to her mouth. “How do you mean?”