Year One

by Jason Hamilton

  "Mallory!" A voice came from the entrance to the room. "Don't bother our visitors."

  Kat quickly assured her that it was okay. She had been sleeping long enough anyway. Sergio was also starting to wake.

  "Well dinner's almost ready," said Jessica. "You can do what you want of course, but you're welcome to join us."

  At the mention of food, Sergio perked up. Kat was glad to see some color had returned to his face. But he was still weak, so Kat did her best to help him to the table. The little girl, Mallory, was there, as well as a young boy, maybe twelve years old, who introduced himself as Jeremy.

  Kat and Sergio sat at the table, feeling a bit awkward as Jessica and Peter helped set out some fruit and the largest casserole Kat had ever seen. It was a good thing too, because Sergio ended up eating a lion's share.

  "So what was it like to fight a mountain lion?" asked the young boy, Jeremy.

  The boy's mother made a face at him for asking such a question, but Kat and Sergio didn't mind.

  "Oh it was absolutely terrifying but exciting at the same time," said Sergio, who seemed in much higher spirits now that he had some food in his belly. "One moment and you think you're dead, but then adrenaline kicks in and you're hacking at the thing with a machete."

  Now Kat gave him a look. The young boy was hanging on every word, however.

  "So did you kill it?"

  "Um...yeah. Yeah we killed it."

  "Awesome!"

  Peter piped in, "and you still haven't reported any of this?"

  Sergio opened his mouth, then closed it again. Getting too much into the details of why they were being secretive could make their lives a bit more complicated. Besides, Kat didn't think these people would believe them, considering the quiet life they lived. She shook her head subtly at Sergio. The others didn't seem to notice.

  "We'll be sure to do that as soon as we can," said Sergio, finally. "It's just been a rather stressful twenty-four hours."

  "Oh, of course. Well be sure to let us know if we can help in any way. Do you have a place to stay?"

  Kat shook her head. "We've been on a sort of extended vacation while we're...in-between homes."

  Peter glanced at his wife, who nodded, before he turned back to address Kat and Sergio. "Well, you're welcome to stay here for a few days, or even a few weeks until you both recover."

  "That's very generous of you."

  "Oh, think nothing of it. Besides, I think Mallory has already taken a liking to your little one there."

  Kat glanced at Alice, now awake in her carseat. The girl, Mallory, had pretty much forgotten her food and was trying her best to play with Alice. The baby wasn't enjoying it too much, having been strapped into the carseat for too long. She was stretching and starting to cry.

  Kat unstrapped Alice and held her for a while, bouncing her up and down. This seemed to calm Alice, especially when she noticed all of the new faces around the table. Her discomfort turned to curiosity, and she took to staring at each of the newcomers for long periods of time. This prompted several chuckles from the family.

  They finished their dinner in relative silence, save for Alice's occasional babbles, followed by Mallory's frequent exclamations of "She's so cute!" Kat, on the other hand, was thoughtful. She felt more like trusting this couple, despite their unusual willingness to help. Perhaps they could spend some time here.

  Two weeks later, and they were still at the Evans' house. In that time, they had grown rather close. Kat and Jessica were fast becoming friends, and she found they had a lot in common. While Kat had been a professor of English, Jessica was a self-published writer who mostly stayed at home with the kids, but spent much of her time working on new books. They would talk for long hours about literary technique and their favorite authors. Kat hadn't talked to anyone on these subjects since she had left the university for maternity leave.

  Sergio and Peter got along rather well. Upon learning that the Evans had a broken heater, Sergio offered to fix it for them. With a little support for his leg, it didn't take him long to find the problem and fix it. It was their best way of giving back for the help that Peter and Jessica had offered them.

  Everyone in the family quickly fell in love with Alice, who delighted in the newfound attention. Alice had started crawling, and she seemed to love this freedom. Kat was grateful that the girl had an actual home to explore, rather than the confined spaces of motel after motel. Still, she knew it wouldn't last forever.

  The "bishop" doctor who had helped them earlier, came by once or twice more to check up on Sergio's leg and Kat's shoulder. After a while, he admitted that the bite was probably not rabid, and Kat was safe as long as she kept taking the antibiotics.

  It was near the start of week three in the Evans' home, that Kat and Sergio decided they needed to leave. They hadn't stayed in one place this long since living with Simon, and both were worried about Invergence and their uncanny ability to track them. Thankfully, they had killed the demon that probably tracked them so far, but that didn't mean that Invergence was out of options.

  So both Kat and Sergio began making preparations to go. They began taking quick trips to nearby stores to stock up on a few supplies.

  One day, while Sergio was out purchasing a thank-you gift for the Evans, Kat found herself alone with the family. It was the weekend, and everyone was home. Alice was gone with Sergio, leaving Kat chatting alone with the family. She was going to drop the news that they needed to leave. She wasn't looking forward to the conversation, considering the kindness that these people had shown, and the genuine interest in their wellfare.

  That was when a knock sounded at the door. A very loud and steady knock.

  Kat froze. She had heard that knock once before, more of a steady banging on the door, as though it came from a beast playing the human.

  Jessica, who had been chatting with Kat at the kitchen table, stood up to answer the door. Kat was so flustered by the familiar knock, that she didn't even notice until Jessica was half-way to the door.

  "Wait, no!"

  Upon hearing Kat's voice, the beast outside of the door kicked it inward. The door flew off its hinges and straight into Jessica, who collapsed underneath it.

  A massive form stepped into the room. One foot rested on the broken door, with Jessica underneath. She cried out in fear upon seeing the beast. Neither Kat nor Sergio had told them the truth about the monster they had fought in Zion's National Park. Apparently, there were more than one.

  The beast heard Jessica's cry. It looked down at the woman, then promptly stomped a foot down on Jessica's face. Her cries cut off instantly, and her body hung limp.

  "Jessica!" Peter was there. He rushed towards his wife. The demon backhanded him almost casually, knocking him to the side, leaving an indentation in the wall. Peter fell, unconscious before the demon slashed at him fiercely. He was dead within seconds.

  Kat stood frozen in horror. She had known the danger of Invergence. But this, she had never expected this.

  Another demon followed the first through the doorway. Screams echoed through the house from Mallory and Jeremy, who were still alive and had come running to see what the commotion was about. Both demons turned to face the noise. They pounced, and Kat closed her eyes, not bearing to witness what she knew was coming.

  A snap of fingers, and the demons ground to a halt. Kat looked back at the doorway. A figure stood there in a long trench coat and greasy black hair. A man whose face bore a resemblance to her husband, Sergio, but whose character was anything but. He strode into the room, glancing briefly at the two demons who stood motionless, awaiting his next signal.

  "Well met, Katariina Rios. I was beginning to think we'd never meet again."

  He sounded cordial, almost reverent. Kat tried to say something, but her mouth kept opening and closing. Nothing came out. All she could do was stare at the limp, bloody forms of Peter and Jessica.

  Finally, sound came out of her mouth, something between a wail and a word.

  "You!"
she screamed at Anti-Sergio. More of his men were filing into the house now. "YOU!" she said again, and without thinking, she rushed the man. Hands caught her before she could make it three steps in his direction. Those hands held her fast and sat her down on a kitchen chair.

  The Evans children were still screaming, and a motion from Anti-Sergio prompted his men to round them up. They were placed in chairs next to Kat, their screaming turning into sobs. Another order from Anti-Sergio and the men were searching the house. The demons remained still, but their eyes followed the sounds of the men upstairs. Their noses sniffed the air.

  "You know, all of this could have been avoided if you had just come quietly. My superiors always wanted Alice alive, and if you had cooperated, there would have been a place for you on our world. Perhaps there still could be." Anti-Sergio looked at her, and she saw something in his eyes that unnerved her. Hope. A primal, hungering hope.

  "You think, after all this, after...them" she indicated the dead parents on the floor, "that we would ever want anything to do with you."

  "Unfortunate casualties that could have been safely avoided had you come the first time we met. The latest in a long line of casualties, in fact."

  "I thought you people respected the timeline or something, so you wouldn't change the future too much."

  "For me and my division, we are part of this present. We don't know what the future holds enough to change it. All we know is that your daughter will be part of something much larger. And we will not let that happen. Besides, contrary to some of your deplorable entertainment options here, time is a difficult thing to change. It doesn't want to be changed. Killing someone is like planting a rock in a river. The water continues to flow around it. Only when you have a great many rocks can you redirect the flow. We're not nearly there yet."

  Kat only partially heard him. She was distracted with thoughts of her husband and Alice. Where were they? She had expected Sergio to come home any time now. She kept her fingers crossed that Sergio would see the vehicles surrounding the house and know to turn around and get out of there.

  One of Anti-Sergio's soldiers returned and whispered something into his leader's ear. Anti-Sergio turned back to regard Kat. "Your husband and child are not here. Where are they?"

  Kat said nothing.

  "You know we can get it out of you eventually. It only takes time. Why go through all the trouble."

  Still Kat said nothing.

  "Very well then." Anti-Sergio waved a hand and one of his men who had been standing behind Jeremy suddenly had a knife poised at the boy's throat.

  "No!" Kat called out. Jeremy was whimpering, but his eyes met Kat's, and she could see the barest flicker of bravery there. He was a strong kid. Mallory was crying again.

  "I will spare their lives if you tell me where your daughter is." Anti-Sergio's voice was steady.

  Kat began to panic, "I don't know where they are!" It was the truth. She knew Sergio had left to get some supplies, but she didn't know the specifics.

  "That answer won't get you very far," said Anti-Sergio. "The childrens' life is in your hands. Sure, they don't have parents anymore, but this area is littered with what you would call 'good people.' They will be fine. Just tell us where your daughter is."

  Kat decided her best chance was to lie, "We split up. He took Alice and I stayed here. We figured that it would be safer if we took two separate routes."

  "But you have a way of contacting him, yes." Anti-Sergio's face had turned to stone.

  Kat shook her head. This really was true. Neither of them had used cell-phones in the last nine months. Too easy to track.

  "Well, this is just convenient for you. My beasts can track your scent, but since my blood tastes the same as your husband's, they get confused. And now you're telling me that your daughter is GONE!"

  "Yes, please, that's all I know. Please let them go."

  "YOU IDIOT!" shouted Anti-Sergio. With a snap of his fingers, the demons launched themselves at the two children. They barely had time to scream before they too lay dead and bloody on the floor next to their parents.

  Kat vomited. Her bile coated the floor beside her, mixing with blood. She couldn't look.

  Anti-Sergio growled at her. "Let that be a lesson to you. Choose to cooperate, and it will work out better for you and for those around you."

  "I told you what I know." Kat whimpered, still staring blankly into space.

  Anti-Sergio didn't seem to hear. A moment later and hands began dragging her outside the house. Someone thrust her into the back of a truck. Before they closed the door, she could see masked Invergence agents covering the place with gasoline. They were going to burn the place down.

  The door to the truck closed, and Kat was left in darkness. She curled up in a fetal position on the cold metal floor of the truck. Tears started to flow, and large sobs escaped her throat. She stared at the ceiling, at what she imagined could live beyond.

  "Why?" she cried to the heavens, "Why did they have to die? Why can't you stop this!"

  There was no answer. Of course there wasn't.

  She lay there as the truck began to move and pick up speed. She had one last, lingering hope. Maybe Sergio and Alice had escaped. She clung to that small light in her thoughts. All else was blackness.

  Episode 10

  “Can you imagine what it must be like to have a villain who looks like your own husband?”

  Kat still lay in darkness in the back of a truck as her captors rode in search of her husband. She wasn't sure how long it had been since they had imprisoned her. Days? Weeks? All she had seen was the inside of this truck. Rarely did someone check in to give her something to eat and drink. She was weak with hunger, and she was pretty sure dehydration was setting in as well. It was hot inside the truck. The year was moving on, and it was a lot cooler than before, but the sun still heated up the walls of the truck, and made the air hard to breathe.

  She didn't know why they kept her alive. Anti-Sergio hadn't said much to her after her capture. Kat guessed that they probably still needed her, possibly to help draw her husband out of hiding.

  That was the only thing that kept her sane. Her husband and her daughter were still out there. Invergence hadn't won yet. And as long as Alice remained safe, they had a chance.

  It was a fleeting hope though. She had no idea how long Sergio could keep it up. He couldn't run from Invergence forever. They had caught up to Kat, and it seemed likely that they would eventually catch up with him as well. Invergence had nothing to lose except time.

  Kat was brought out of her brooding by the sound of latches opening. A moment later and the back of the truck rose. Kat blinked in the bright light, but basked in the cool air that rushed to fill the compartment.

  A man stepped into truck. The man with Sergio's face. The man who was responsible for everything Kat hated about her life. This man had killed their friends, and other innocent people. He was the one in charge of Alice's pursuit. If it weren't for her chains, she would have attacked the man with everything she had.

  Unfortunately, she had no choice but to remain where she was. He approached closer, pulled up a chair, and removed her gag. For a brief moment she thought she might cry for help, but logic soon destroyed that idea.

  "Your husband has proven to be quiet elusive," Anti-Sergio said. "I suppose it's not that surprising, if he's anything like me, which he is."

  He smiled at her. It made her sick. She had seen that smile from her husband all the time.

  "You may have noticed that we've kept you alive. Do you know why that is?"

  Kat remained silent. She no longer wanted to acknowledge this man with a response.

  He paused, waiting for her answer. When it didn't come, he shrugged and continued.

  "I, of course, think it's best if we keep you around if only for use as leverage. But there's more to it than that. Have you noticed how the men look at you?"

  Kat frowned. She had noticed. Most of them regarded her with some unusual expression. For some
it was a sort of desire, which at first she thought was typical of men like these. But for others it was more like fear. No...respect.

  Anti-Sergio saw the confusion on her face, and chuckled. He seemed in a reasonably good mood, at least relative to what she was used to. "I'll explain it then. You see, where I come from, you were rather an important person. Well not you, exactly. The mirror-image of you. Just like I am the mirror-image of your husband. She died, and the power that she held went to another."

  Kat wondered where he was going with this, but still refused to say anything.

  "She and I were lovers," he said, and a hand reached forward to touch Kat's hair. She winced and tried to pull away, but she could only tilt her head back. His fingers brushed the side of her face and moved down her neck. If she had had any food in her stomach, she would have lost it right then. She felt nothing but repulsion for this man, and the fact that he looked something like her husband only seemed to make it worse.

  Anti-Sergio drew closer. "If you were to come with us willingly, there's a chance you could be great again," he whispered in her ear. "You would have power like no one on this puny Earth has ever imagined. You could even have your daughter to raise once we find her. You and I, we could change Invergence to fit our purposes. We could take back the power that your mirror-self once possessed."

  Kat spat in his face.

  He didn't recoil. He simply reached up with his arm and wiped the spittle off his cheek. She stared into his eyes, infusing her gaze with all the defiance she could possibly muster.

  The hand that had touched her suddenly tightened around her hair. She gasped as he pulled hard and pain ran through her scalp.

  "I'm asking nicely," he growled. "You have no idea the pain that I can cause you. No idea!"

  His grip released her hair and she brought her head up just as he backhanded her. Her cheek exploded in white-hot pain and she cried out.

  "Oh you thought that hurt?"

  Anti-Sergio grabbed the edges of the chair she was strapped to and lifted. Her chair tumbled backward with Kat still attached.