by J. D. Dexter
Great. The beast’s blood is like acid. Exactly what we didn’t need.
The beast’s screeches of pain and anger boom through the space area, drowning out the alarms, battering my already tender hearing. I put my hands up to cover the sensitive openings. The brown-haired male moves up in a clearly coordinated move and lops off the beast’s other arm. More black acid is flung into the space, almost completely covering the opposite walls, darkness slowly consuming the pastel colors.
The female bends her legs a couple of times, and I can see her quick, rapid breathing, imaging the adrenaline pumping through her system. She dips a little lower and springs into the air, her own blade shaped more like a curve than the straight lengths of her comrades’ swords.
Flipping in mid-air, she stretches up and catches the beast in the middle of his belly with her curved blade. Using her momentum, she vaults over his shoulder, dragging her blade behind her, carving up the beast’s midsection like a well-done turkey on Thanksgiving.
The beast’s insides erupt out of his body cavity as if pumped out, slithering and sliding against the floor moments before his body falls, covering the grisly mess. The acid of his black blood begins to eat through the floor, sending more shrill sirens through the now putrid air.
I hope someone cleans that up before his acidic blood eats all the way through the floor.
A rush of movement behind us has all of us turning, only to relax as people dressed in what I can only assume are their brand of HazMat suits rush forward, fire-extinguisher-looking things poised and ready to deploy in their hands.
The female, wiping her blade off on the back of the beast, hurries toward Hunter and me, pulling us out of the way of the emergency team. The emergency team breaks off into two-man teams, each spraying a different section of the carnage. One of the crews go through two canisters each, coating the beast’s body enough that the floor is no longer being eroded by the black blood.
Once the team is done, one of the members hits an electronic pad on his arm, and the alarms turn off once again. To a one, they all stand and look at Hunter and me, removing their helmets. All of them are as short as the first three we’ve met, only varying in colors, shapes, and builds.
Hair and skin colors range from the deepest jewel tones to the palest of pastels. Their eyes are all bi-colored, as unique as the individual, no two people have the exact same color combination—at least not in this small group of ten or so.
“Anixia has been spotted. Sound the alarms,” Lady Warrior tells the gathered crowd. These people must really love their alarms.
Their shock and horror are replicas of the ones we saw earlier on the faces of our warriors. A couple of the females look ready to burst into tears.
“Now,” The black-haired warrior bellows as the emergency crew just stares at us. Scattering in all directions, some even forgetting their equipment, the clean-up team leaves, rushing down halls, disappearing through walls.
“What’s going on? Why is seeing Anixia bad?” I ask, a little terrified of their reaction to the woman who birthed me.
“She is the Darkness,” Lady Warrior replies.
I wait for more of an answer.
“And…” I motion for her to continue.
All three warriors look at me like I’m stupid. “We’re not from here. Darkness, where we’re from, is merely a time when the sun goes down. I have no idea why you said darkness with a capital ‘d,’ or why you’re horrified by the moniker,” I explain.
Braided Warrior gets a funny look on his face, “Where are you from?” he asks.
“Earth,” I tell him, not wanting to go through the geography no one knows again.
Three loud gasps are my reply. They look fascinated, a little grossed out, and like they want to show me off during Show-and-Tell at their next warrior meeting.
“Are all Earthlings as big as you?” Lady Warrior asks.
“Are all Ankarri as short as you?” I fire back.
She laughs, closes her eyes, a look of hard concentration covers her face, and before my eyes, she grows to be as tall I as I am.
The two male warriors, not wanting to be the only short kids in class, follow Lady Warrior’s example. They shoot up in height and muscles to make Brian jealous. Hunter just smiles at them.
“Yeah…we can’t do that.” I motion between Hunter’s body and my own. “I’m Finley, by the way. This is Hunter.” Hunter nods his head.
“Hello, Finley, Hunter.” Lady Warrior bows slightly, her left index finger pressed to her forehead. The other two, once again, repeat her motions.
“I am Keziry,” she says. “Captain of the House Guard.” It sounds like kez-eerie. I roll her name around in my brain a couple of times.
The black-haired giant steps forward a little bit, “I’m Brockten.” He executes the same finger to head and bow movement.
“Drake.” Braided Warrior lifts his hand to his head quickly.
“Nice to meet you all. Now what’s up with Anixia being Queen of the Damned?”
Three anxious looks are passed around the group, each one feeding the next.
“Anixia is our version of the boogeyman. For the past one hundred years, we have thought her dead.”
Keziry kept talking, but my mind was stuck on the idea that Maybe Mommy has been alive for at least one hundred years. Then again, I did just see three people grow at least ten inches in less than a second. I give myself a slight shake, and tune back in.
“We thought the prophecy had come true,” Drake adds.
“And what does the prophecy say?” Hunter asks.
“Crescent ruination conceived by Midnight / Darkness destroyed, Ashen Angel birthright” Brockten voice grave.
“All that, huh?” I run the phrase over in my mind, not understanding any of it.
“And you assume that Anixia is this Midnight/Darkness from the prophecy,” Hunter states.
“Yes, her moniker was the Midnight Queen,” Keziry adds.
“Okay.” I nod my head slowly. “So, since you thought Anixia is Midnight/Darkness, who was Ashen Angel?”
“We have no idea. Anixia had all white-haired babies killed for the last five hundred years.” This is said as if it wasn’t horrifying, but just a dry recitation of facts.
She better not lay a hand on my Ashen Angel.
Hunter tries to cover a chuckle with a cough.
“Midnight Queen sounds like a good title,” I agree.
“Do you know what the first part of the prophecy means?” Hunter asks the warriors.
“No. There are many theories about the moon and the night sky, but none that we can point to that have come true.” All three soldiers look between themselves as if making sure.
“Huh. Well, genocide notwithstanding, we’re trying to get back home. To Earth,” I clarify, just in case they’ve forgotten.
“The House Guard has a way to move between Verses,” Keziry tells us. She lifts her hand to point behind us.
Hunter and I move out of the way, letting the three weapon-wielders lead. We walk for about ten minutes, never once turning an actual corner. It seems as if the entire complex is built in a spiral. But it doesn’t appear to go up or down, since I haven’t felt any tilt under my feet. The hall colors keep changing as we walk; the slow morphing transfixing.
We finally come to a stop, the wash of colors on the walls looking like the ground layer of a forest, all shades of greens and browns. Keziry, Brockten, and Drake all lift their hands, palms out. They take a step through was looks like just another wall, and disappear.
Hunter and I turn to each other and roll our eyes. These people with their invisible doors. We lift our own hands with our palms out and take a couple steps.
We smash into a solid wall.
Rubbing my nose, I can feel the tears gathering in the corners of my eyes. I hit that wall hard. Hunter looks a little dazed, rubbing his forehead.
Keziry and Drake bump into us as they pass back through the opening that Hunter and I can’t see. M
y nose is buried in Drake’s chest, while Keziry’s smashed into Hunter’s.
Lady Warrior better watch herself.
Hunter’s silent laughter moves his shoulders slightly again.
“We apologize. We forgot that you don’t have imprints.” Taking a couple of steps back, Keziry lifts her hand once more, showing me a small brand just under her wrist on the pinkie side. Shaped like a dragon, the brand shimmers softly under the lights as she turns her hand.
“No worries,” I say, shaking my head one last time. Especially since she backed up so quickly. Drake’s still in my space…more than is comfortable. “Do we get to go in there if we don’t have imprints?” I ask, not wanting to smack into anymore walls or doors.
“Yes, but you must be escorted.” So saying, she takes my hand, Drake moves over and grabs Hunter’s, and we all step through at the same time. Their magic doors can also adjust for four people to walk through at one time. Sweet.
The lush colors of the forest floor are absent from this room. Although, thankfully, not washed in white, the color is almost as bland. Industrial gray greets me, reminding me of the walls in the FBI field office building.
At least I don’t need to wear sunglasses in here.
“What are sunglasses?” Keziry asks, her gaze fixed to a screen-looking contraption.
“You can read minds, too?” I ask, my disgust clear.
“Of course. Can you not?” She turns to look at me now, eyebrows raised in surprise.
“No, not that I know of. That is not a normal skill on Earth,” I explain.
“But Hunter can,” she points at him.
“How do you know that?” I want to know.
“Because we have been talking,” she looks at me like I’m an idiot, once again.
I turn betrayed eyes to Hunter. “Sorry, I didn’t know that you wanted me to keep it a secret,” he responds. I tamp down on my jealousy. If anyone should be talking mind to mind, it should be Hunter and me.
The soft chuckles in the room remind me that everyone here but me can read my mind.
Grrr.
“You didn’t, I’m just surprised,” I offer, trying to cover my faux pas.
“Have you tried to read someone’s mind?” Drake asks from across the room, his own screen thingy all aglow.
“No. I don’t really want to hear anyone else’s thoughts.” Josh’s face springs to mind.
Hunter’s snort calls me a liar. I stick my tongue out at him.
“It is a normal skill on Ankarrah,” Brockten offers, standing next to Drake, both of them focusing on their individual screens.
“Well, we’re going back to Earth, if you can help us. So I don’t know that we’ll need to worry about skill development,” I mention.
“Of course. We are getting the transporter ready.” She points to her screen, I nod like I understand what I’m seeing.
“Anixia implied that there are many people who move back and forth between the worlds. She said that she has many people on Earth. Is that true?” I ask.
The only sound is the clicking of keys under agile fingers.
“Not anymore,” Keziry says quietly.
“Why not?” Hunter asks.
“Anixia had spies on Earth. They reported only to her. No other people were allowed to move between worlds. Since she was thought to be dead, no one has used the transporter,” Brockten explains in his smooth voice.
“She made it sound like it was still happening,” Hunter says quietly.
Three pairs of eyes turn to look at him. Their faces are blank, not giving anything away.
“Will you guys get in trouble for sending us back?” I don’t want anyone getting in trouble with the woman who killed all the white-haired babies.
“No. She has been locked out of the system since her supposed death. She will not be able to see that we have sent you home,” Drake reassures me. He gives me a shy smile.
“And only the House Guard is allowed to access them. We haven’t used them for ages, which is why they are taking so long to get up and running,” Keziry says offhandedly, her attention back on her screen.
“Thank you for sending us back,” I tell them.
“We are happy to help you, especially since you told us that Anixia is back on Ankarrah. We will begin searching for her as soon as we get you back to Earth,” Keziry answers.
I hear a loud whooshing sound followed by a high-pitched buzz, like a piece of electronic equipment is on, but not playing any sound.
A fuzzy shimmer starts to glow in the corner, flares of blues and greens sparking into the dimming space. An honest-to-goodness circle of light appears on the floor. Star Trek is going to be on my Netflix queue when I get back home.
Beam me up, Scotty.
“Both of you can stand in the circle and go home at the same time. Do you have a destination in mind?” Drake asks, looking at us both.
“Wichita, Kansas. Anywhere would be fine, but definitely that city, please.” Hunter says, his arm going around my waist. I look up to see his face, only to notice that his narrowed eyes are on Drake.
I wrap my arm around Hunter’s waist, lean up and kiss his cheek. Letting Drake know, without words, that I’m taken. There’s no need to shove his face in it. Hunter gives me a squeeze, his eyes hard on Drake’s.
“I’ve found the coordinates. Sending them to your stations, Kez,” Drake says, a splash of red high on his sculpted cheek bones.
“Got them. Please step inside the transporter. You might feel a slight disorientation as you move through the Multi-Verse. This is normal. To help aid in this transition, it is best if you hold your breath. As soon as you get to the other side, push the breath out of your lungs as forcefully as you can.” Her eyebrows are up, clearly wanting to know if we understand.
Hunter and I both nod at her, turn to step on the circle, and take deep breaths.
A brilliant flash of light comes from both the floor and the ceiling, enclosing us in its intense glow. A feeling, similar to motion sickness, slides through my body. A gentle stumble, and I see the Keeper of the Plains before my eyes.
Hunter and I both exhale as hard as we can, and the icky feeling goes away as quickly as it came about. We turn to see an older man and woman standing right behind us, their mouths open in shock. The woman looks like she’s about to faint; the man looks about to run.
“Sorry about that, folks. Working on a new magic trick,” I say with a laugh, tugging on Hunter’s arm. We glide around the stunned couple and make our way over to Exploration Place to use their phone.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Finley, where the hell are you and Hunter?” Josh’s anxious voice stabs at my ear through the phone.
“At Exploration Place. We got transported back from Ankarrah at the Keeper. We just walked down the sidewalk a bit,” I explain, watching the guy behind the desk give me weird looks even though he’s supposedly focused on his computer.
“You’ve been gone for two months. Stay right there. I’m coming to get you.” The line is cut off, leaving the pregnant silence of a dropped called.
“Well, that was interesting. And I think Josh is going a little crazy-pants,” I tell Hunter before turning and handing the phone back to the desk guy. “Thanks for your help. I really appreciate you.” Desk Guy’s cheeks flare with color.
Hunter and I turn to go wait outside. The day is a little warmer than I had thought it would be. Spring in Kansas either lasts for months on end, or manages a couple of days before dumping us right into summer. I feel like we only got the couple of days this time around. Summer in Kansas feels like you can swim through the humidity in the air. I don’t even bother to lift my hand and feel my hair start to frizz.
Walking across the parking lot to sit in some shade, Hunter and I find a relatively empty place where we won’t be stealing any parking slots.
“So, Ankarrah,” I begin.
“Yeah. That was the craziest thing I’ve ever experienced.” He nods.
“If Anixia
is actually my mom, and I’m not completely sold on that idea, do I tell my actual mom and dad? Are we going to tell everyone what happened to us?” I watch Hunter’s face closely, wanting to see what he believes.
“I don’t know. The multi-verse idea is more of a theory here, and that’s high-level physics or specific areas of specialty. I’m not sure how well that will go over with your family.”
I nod in agreement and turn to watch the murky waters of the Arkansas River just beyond the curve of the Exploration Place. “True, but what do we say if the FBI comes back? Considering we were abducted by Scarsman and Lockwood anyway, I’m not sure they will be back, but I think we need to have something more than alien abduction ready if they do. Speaking of which, your car is still at the FBI Field Office. We’ll need to go get that and bring it back.”
Sirens peal through the air, shattering the quiet summer day. Sounding like they’re stuck downtown somewhere, which is only a handful of blocks away. I scoot closer to Hunter, so we can hear each other without yelling.
“I’m not sure. I think we were only gone for a couple of hours, at least from the FBI office, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to get the car and everything to go back to normal,” he says, draping his arm over my shoulders.
“Works for me. Can you still read my mind?” I turn my head to look him in the eye.
“Don’t know; haven’t tried. Think at me.” He winks, a grin flirting with his mouth.
“I’m going to be a little sad if you can’t hear this…I think.” I smile back at him.
“I would be sad, too. I like knowing what’s going on in your mind.”
“I just wish it worked both ways,” I pout at him.
His head tips back with laughter, the sound of which is mostly drowned out by approaching sirens.
The muscles of his neck draw my eye, his handsome face etched with joy and humor. His head comes back down, his eyes catching mine. He pulls me closer to him, settles his lips against mine.
My whole body feels like it sinks into his, even my soul feels at home and relaxed with this man. I push my lips against his, giving as well as taking. A small groan escapes from him as he pulls back from the kiss. The next thing I know, his warm breath is against my neck as he slides the tip of his tongue up and down the length. I feel goosebumps break out on my arms, my body shuddering slightly.
