by J. T. Stoll
“Nah, tonight’ll be great.” His voice faltered. “It’s just that Steve’s in town.”
“Steve…”
“My brother.”
“Oh, right. Steve.”
“He showed up today and tried staying with Mom. She turned him down, for once.”
“And now?”
“He’s somewhere around town.”
His car idled at a red light. She put her hand on his on top of the gear shift and squeezed sympathetically.
“I just wish he’d get his life together,” Pieter said. “Anyways, I’m glad to have plans for tonight. Feels good to get out.”
They parked in front of a hole-in-the-wall shop called Thai This. It shared a strip mall with a guitar shop, liquor store, and Mexican restaurant.
Vero stepped out and glanced around. “You see them?”
Pieter pulled out his phone, then laughed.
“What?”
Pieter showed her the screen. It read, “I can hav grl in car! grl!”
A teal Honda cautiously turned into a nearby spot. Neil climbed out in a light-blue, button-down shirt and black slacks. He almost looked classy, except for the tennis shoes.
Gloria, in jeans and a sweater, with black hair about to her shoulders, stepped out of the passenger’s side. She followed Neil at a distance, her footsteps a little cautious. Vero recognized her, though she wasn’t sure from where.
Vero gave Neil a friendly hug. “It’s good to see you again!”
Neil’s body went rigid. “H-Hi. Good to see you too, Veronica.”
She twitched at the sound of her full name.
“Hi, I’m Gloria,” said Neil’s date.
“Vero,” Vero said with a glare at Neil. She embraced Gloria and remembered, midhug, where she recognized the girl from. “We have sixth period together, don’t we?”
“Um, yeah, we do,” Gloria replied.
Silence hung in the air.
“What took you so long?” Pieter barked at his friend.
“A raid. We had a bad pull, and it took a while to escape.”
The words sounded like a foreign language. Vero made a puzzled sound. “Huh?”
“Oh, sorry, that’s WoW. Uh, World of Warcraft. I’m the raid leader for the Army of Pwn.”
“Hey, let’s get some Thai food, okay?” Pieter said.
Vero tried her best to smile. They always made the best stories, later.
Pieter held open the door, and Vero and the others walked out. Two smiling Thai men waved to them amid the aromas of curry and garlic.
A cold breeze slapped Vero’s bare legs. Behind her, Neil laughed. He seemed to think the night had gone well. Vero eyed Pieter’s car like a bank robber eyes a getaway ride.
“All right, where to?” Pieter asked. “Night’s still young.”
Vero locked on his eyes and begged through her gaze for him to put this thing out of its misery. He blinked and turned away.
“No preference,” Neil said.
“How about you, Gloria?” Pieter asked. “Anywhere you want to go?”
“Oh, anywhere, I guess,” she said. Four words, about as many as she spoke during the entire dinner.
“No, come on,” he said. “You have any favorite spots?”
Gloria paused and looked at each of them in turn. “Well, there’s the bike path near here.”
“Bike path?” Pieter asked.
“The one by the railroad tracks. It’s quiet. I like walking it sometimes.”
“Sounds good,” Pieter said. “Vero?”
No, they needed to part ways, right now. Besides, what kind hangout was a bike path? It was probably a good place to get mugged. Though that was her upbringing in the Central Valley. Even the sketchy parts of SLO were safe, compared to where she used to live. It was the company she wanted to part ways with.
“Sure,” she said, a little too cheery. “Sounds great!”
They walked out of the shopping center and around the corner. Some condos rose in the distance. Unlike most of the housing in SLO—single story and dating back at least half a century—these were modern, skinny, and tall. SLO, far as Vero could tell, had some kind of development war between grandmas wanting to keep it a small town and Cal Poly graduates wanting to start businesses and live in new homes like those.
On the right, they passed an empty lot with a large For Sale sign. Trees surrounded the lot on three sides, and a creek bed ran between it and the shopping center. The creek was silent after the long, rainless summer.
“You see that?” Gloria asked.
Vero glanced over and noticed some flickering light toward the back of the lot. A group of trees hid the source.
“Probably some homeless,” Neil said.
“No, they wouldn’t light a fire where people would notice.” Pieter pointed to the condos.
The light vanished.
“And a fire wouldn’t just vanish like that,” Pieter said. “You guys want to check it out?”
“Sure,” Neil said.
“Go check out a homeless camp? No,” Vero said.
“Oh, come on,” Pieter said. “This is SLO. The homeless population is actually pretty friendly, though grungy.”
“I’d rather not,” Gloria said.
Pieter stepped in front of her. “Come on. What’s the worst that could happen?”
“Worst? Probably kidnapping,” Neil replied.
“Pieter, I am not going in that field,” Vero said.
“Come on,” Pieter said. “I’ll keep you safe. And Neil’s secretly a ninja, you know.”
Neil rolled his eyes. “Sure, just because I’m Japanese, that means I emerge from the womb with a katana. Pieter, that joke got old in middle school.”
Pieter grabbed Vero’s hand and began to walk into the field. She planted her feet in the ground.
“Pieter…”
He kept walking until her arm pulled taut. From the time he had first asked her out, Vero knew that with Pieter, she’d wind up in some impulsive, bizarre situations. That field didn’t seem appealing, but he sure did. Pieter turned and gave a friendly grin; his light tug dragged her forward. Neil followed; Gloria trailed farthest behind.
The hard, dry dirt crunched beneath Vero’s step. Short, prickly grass tickled the tops of her feet. The moon and some lights across the street illuminated enough to show forms and shapes. They rounded a cluster of trees and walked toward where the light had vanished. The plants concealed the street.
“Why are we doing this, again?” Vero asked.
“Come on, you really want to end up walking down a bike path?” Pieter replied.
In other words, a last-ditch effort to salvage the date.
“Does Pieter really need a reason for the things he does?” Neil asked.
“Resisting boredom, usually,” Pieter said.
Neil opened his mouth as though about to say something. Instead, he fell backward with an “Ack!”
“You all right there?” Pieter asked.
“I ran into something,” Neil said.
Despite the darkness, Vero could see that there was nothing for Neil to run into.
“Watch out for those air molecules,” Pieter said. “They can be mean in a gang.”
Something floating in the air caught Vero’s attention. She moved toward it, and it became a… a tunnel. The inside looked like rock, but it cut straight into the air. She moved her head around to the back, and the tunnel vanished.
“Come around this side,” she said.
Neil came around. “What in the world? How is this…” He reached forward and touched the inner edge. “It’s some kind of optical illusion. It’s… invisible from the back. The back—that’s what I ran into.”
Vero stared straight into the tunnel. It was a bit taller than her and extended about a hundred feet. At least, it looked like it extended about a hundred feet, but that was impossible; they’d have seen it earlier. Something lurched through it. On the far side, a fire burned.
She pointed down t
he… the whatever it was. “Someone’s coming.”
2. The Field
For the first time in years, Vero considered the reality of Hell. She seemed to be staring down a tunnel leading there.
The silhouette looked like a man. He stooped in the tunnel, which put him well over six feet. One hand held his stomach, the other a backpack.
Vero stepped back. She’d have run, but Pieter held her hand. The same quality that compelled him to explore empty fields kept him from doing the sane thing and dashing for his car. In most people, she’d call it bravery. In Pieter, stupidity. Gloria backed slowly toward the street.
The man emerged into the moonlight. His clothing looked… well, a bit formal. Not quite what she expected for a man—or demon—walking out of Hell. Metal buttons fastened his long-sleeve shirt together down the front, and a dark stain spread where he held his hand. An axe blade peeked over his back. Again, Vero tried to back away. Pieter didn’t budge.
“We’d take you to our leader, but the Secret Service probably wouldn’t let us get close,” Pieter said. Half a smirk emerged from an otherwise serious face.
Vero tried to wiggle free of her boyfriend. She considered punching him.
“I don’t catch your meaning,” the figure said. He spoke perfect English, with no accent.
He didn’t seem like demon material. He looked too human. And his face seemed kind, though tensed in pain.
Maybe this was some kind of science experiment or secret technology. But if someone had invented some kind of teleporter, no way it would appear in an empty field in SLO. That left, what… aliens? Magic? Another world?
Pieter gave a little bow. “Forgive me for not introducing myself. I am Pieter Walters the Third, king of Emptyfield. Here is my queen, Veronica Mendoza. And this is my loyal chambermaid, Neil Matsumoto with his mistress, Gloria Stone.”
“Chambermaid?” Neil said.
The figure appeared dumbfounded. “King? Then… you’re aware of this place? How did you know to be here?”
For just an instant, Pieter’s grin faltered. He waved his hand as though tossing something behind his back. “Your name, first, fair traveler?”
“James. James Weatherton. Your… Highness.”
Somehow, it didn’t really surprise Vero that Pieter’s reaction would be humor. Running still seemed like a better idea to her.
Reality TV. That might explain it. In the dark, maybe they simulated that tunnel with mirrors… or something. She had no idea how to create a tunnel in midair, but if anyone could do it, Hollywood could.
“Does that tunnel lead to another world?” Neil asked. He sounded almost hopeful. “Or just somewhere else on earth?”
The man stared at him. “Who are you all, really?”
“King of this plot,” Pieter replied. “Don’t question me again. We came here in answer to the prophecy.”
James’s jaw dropped open. “Prophecy?”
“Of course,” Pieter said. For an instant, Vero believed him. Except for that smirk. “Now, tell us, thou traveler from another world, why hast thou cometh?”
James stared at Pieter for a moment with a bewildered look. He bowed his head slightly. “I apologize for my appearance, Your… uh… Your Highness.” Half a smile curled on James’s lips. “But I’m here with a warning for your world. I need sanctuary. Will you help me?”
“No problem,” Pieter said.
“You’re hurt,” Gloria said. She stepped forward, bolder than Vero had seen her all night. “Do you need me to call an ambulance?”
“A what?”
“An, uh… a doctor.”
James wavered for a moment. “I…”
A voice echoed from the tunnel in a nasally, singsong voice. Vero heard something like James’s name—it sounded more like “Jamasu”—but she couldn’t understand the other words.
“We have to go now. Those are enemies,” James said. Under his breath, he muttered, “Dirk…”
“Into the bushes, shall we?” Pieter asked.
He let go of Vero’s hand and headed for the dry creek. As soon as he released her, she nearly bolted. But he waved her on, and she followed, unsure what he had planned. He had something planned, right?
“That man’s really hurt,” Gloria said.
“You coming with?” Vero asked.
Gloria glanced across the field. Her voice trembled. “I don’t want to run off by myself. Not if there’s more of them coming through.”
“Me, neither,” Vero said. “Look, it’s probably some TV show or something. Just… keep your head low. Don’t say anything dumb, yeah?”
“This is so awesome,” Neil said.
“You think this is a game?” Vero snapped at Neil, who shrugged.
“Maybe. Could be LARPers. But either way, we’re neutral. James is the one they’re after, not us. But man, if this is real, this is the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Turned out Neil was mildly insane. Or else… No. He was in on it. He and Pieter. A practical joke. That made as much sense as anything else. Only, Pieter didn’t seem smart enough to engineer that tunnel… thing. Maybe Neil had.
The others jumped into the dense bushes. Vero paused outside.
“Come on, pretty girl,” Pieter said.
“But there’s ticks in there,” Vero replied.
James groaned.
The voice again called from inside the tunnel, and hiding in the bushes suddenly didn’t sound like a bad idea. The crackly branches scratched her on the way in.
“Having fun yet?” Pieter whispered.
“This some practical joke?” Vero asked.
“Nah,” Pieter replied. “You think I could make something that sophisticated?”
“Then how? What? Prophecy?”
James stood near enough to hear their conversation, but he gave no reaction.
“Thanks. I thought the prophecy was a nice touch, don’t you think? Anyways, this is way more interesting than some bike trail, yeah? But if it gets sketchy, we bail.”
He didn’t consider this sketchy? Vero nestled against a tree branch and stared at his silhouette. Unbelievable.
Though, given what Vero knew of him, this reaction seemed about right. The only thing she’d seen him serious about—sometimes—was their relationship. Usually, she loved that humor. It’s how he first stuck out from everyone else at school. But right now, she wanted to strangle him.
“This is actually dangerous,” Vero whispered.
“Come on, you think something that dangerous could really happen in SLO? And wouldn’t you rather face it with a laugh anyways?”
Two men stepped out of the portal and into the moonlight. A tall one, pale skinned like James, held a sword. The other, short and dark skinned, walked with a slight slouch. He held some kind of metal club.
“That’s Jed. This is bad,” James whispered. He glanced at the four of them and sighed. “I should have jumped for it before they came through.”
The tall one, Jed, called out something incomprehensible in his nasally voice. Again, he mentioned James’s name.
James gave Pieter a desperate look. “Are you sure you’ll help me?”
“For sure,” Pieter whispered.
James opened a button on his backpack and muttered to himself, nearly too faint to hear, “This is a bad idea.”
Without a word, the little guy leaped straight up. Vero lost sight of him through the trees. She gasped.
“Ignore them,” James whispered. He removed a metal band of some kind from his backpack—it looked like an enormous bracelet—and handed it to Pieter. “Don’t let these fall into their hands, whatever happens. Put this on.”
“What’s it do?” Pieter asked.
“It’s a soul armor,” James said, pulling a metal rod out of the pack.
The short one landed, about where he’d jumped from. He said something to Jed in a low voice.
“Soul armor, great,” Pieter said. “That totally explains it.”
James pulled o
n the rod, flipped it over, and pulled again. It grew with each tug. It had to be some kind of telescoping rod. When he’d finished, it looked like a sword. That’s all that could explain that. Yet with every weird occurrence—the tunnel, the jump, now some expanding sword—the sinking fear in Vero’s stomach got worse and worse.
James handed the sword to Pieter.
He handed a bigger band to Neil—a leather belt with a large metal buckle—and told him to put it around his waist. Neil eagerly did so. With a quivering hand, Gloria took a thin band and strapped it around her chest, just above her breasts. James pulled out another rod and spent about fifteen seconds pulling it out into some kind of club with a circle of wings at the top. The two men searched the perimeter of the field.
“It that a mace?” Neil asked.
James nodded. “The soul armor will give you unimaginable strength once activated. That’s what makes them so strong, able to jump so high. Concentrate on the band—but not yet.” As he spoke, he pulled on another small rod and extended it into a long stick. “They’ll see you as soon as you turn it on. The weapon and band work together.”
He handed the stick to Gloria.
“Gloria,” James whispered. “That band has to touch your skin, to press against your heart. You need it under your clothing.”
Gloria looked around at them, then held up her hand. “Eww, creepy. No.”
“That’s important.”
She backed into the bushes a little. “Look, no, I’m not taking off my shirt…”
James ignored her and faced out toward the field. Jed was stomping toward them, whacking bushes with his sword. “Listen,” James said. “Once I go to fight, focus on those bands. Feel the energy flow inside you. Then help me. I don’t think I can beat them alone. Your world… it’s in danger.”
“Umm, what?” Neil said.
“Wait a few moments, then activate the armors. Come, Sir Matsumoto. You seem a noble man just waiting for some kind of real challenge in this life.”
The taller man, Jed, moved close enough to hear them. Neil shut up.
James took a deep breath. As he did, a slight gust came from him and hit Vero’s legs. He seemed more alert, standing straighter, less focused on the cut in his gut. He gripped his axe and charged toward Jed, his body shaking the bushes on the way out.
