Mengliad (The Mengliad Series Book 1)

by Jana Janeway

  Thirty minutes later, they pulled into the loading docks behind an out of the way grocery store, a man in the only vehicle parked there stepping out when they drove into view.

  Crying steadily from the moment they had backed out of the garage at the safe house, Jessica sought comfort in Craddock’s arms for the entire time Jeramey was their driver, since she knew him well enough to feel she could. But with the introduction of a new guy, she felt uneasy about displaying that kind of emotion, so she quickly composed herself before exiting the green van and approaching the white one, and the man who Jeramey was speaking with quietly.

  Pleasantries were exchanged after the man introduced himself only as Ethan, but with time being of the essence, they were all implored to hurry and leave by Jeramey, who was nervously watching any and all activity surrounding them, as little as there was.

  His anxiety being somewhat contagious, Jessica glanced around them as Jeramey was doing, before extending her hand to shake his. “Thank you, for all your help with this. And thank Marcy for me too, okay? And everyone involved.”

  “I will,” he promised her, then smiled as he whispered, “It was a pleasure meeting you. Something I’ll tell my kids and grandkids about one day.”

  It was an odd statement, Jessica decided, but she smiled politely all the same, then followed Craddock’s prompt and climbed into the vehicle to her left. She settled in up against him when he slipped inside immediately after her, almost oblivious to Bibi and Josiah as they entered seconds later.

  The van was just pulling out of the lot and onto the street, when Jessica asked Craddock in a whisper, “What does that mean? He’ll tell his kids and grandkids about me?”

  He spoke into her hair as he leaned against her. “Remember before, when I told you your conversion was history making? Accidental conversion is the rarest of the rare. You’re only the tenth case ever. That’s a big deal, to Mengliad kind.”

  “So, the Registry sees me as important, and the Purists see me as a threat,” she mused. “Talk about completely different viewpoints.”

  “Yeah,” Craddock agreed, acknowledging Bibi with a slight upnod when she inched forward in her seat and leaned in to whisper something to him.

  “We don’t know how much this guy’s been told.” Her eyes shifted up to the driver briefly. “You might want to wait to talk about stuff.”

  Everyone being in agreement, the atmosphere in the vehicle became strained, and deathly quiet, the only sound being the hum of the tires as they droned down the road, and the occasional cough from someone as they attempted to break the deafening silence with some kind of noise. It was eventually Bibi, more than an hour into the trip, who spoke up again; her concern was immediately noticeable to Craddock, and even Jessica, as she uttered the cryptic words.

  “Something seems wrong.”

  “What do you mean?” Craddock whispered back, keeping his voice as quiet as she had.

  “Granted,” she explained herself, “I don’t know exactly where we’re going, but this just seems wrong somehow.”

  “In what way?” Jessica asked, fear and tension filling her, even without the full understanding of the situation as Bibi saw it.

  “It’s too desolate out here.” She kept one eye on the driver, what little she could see of him in the rearview mirror. “I know a little about how this kind of thing usually goes, and it seems weird to me, that they would make the transfer to a new driver out in the middle of nowhere like this.”

  “Maybe they’re just doing things differently this time?” Jessica tried to sound optimistic but failed; the alarm she was feeling leaked into her tone.

  “I’ll ask,” Craddock volunteered, then cleared his throat as he called out to Ethan, their driver, “Hey, um, where is it we’re going, exactly?”

  “You’ll see,” he answered vaguely, glancing at Craddock in the mirror for a second only before returning his eyes to the road.

  “I don’t think you telling us—us knowing—breaks any kind of code you’re supposed to keep to,” Bibi addressed Ethan directly, and somewhat firmly. “Could you tell us where we’re going, please?”

  “We’ll be there soon enough, and then you’ll know,” he snapped in response, instantly setting the four passengers on edge.

  “Yeah, this is bad,” Bibi whispered towards Craddock, scooting to allow Josiah room. He shifted to the front of his seat, to join in the conversation.

  “Bad, like, we’re about to die, bad?” Jessica’s voice was lowered, but not enough to stop Ethan from hearing her.

  “You brought it on yourself.”

  Adrenalin shot through Craddock in an instant, realizing then for sure that Bibi’s suspicions had been right. “Oh God,” he whispered, turning in his seat to face Bibi. “Double agent.”

  “Shit!” Josiah cursed, throwing himself back into his seat, his head against the headrest as he stared up at the van’s ceiling.

  “He’s taking us somewhere remote to kill us, isn’t he?” Jessica asked.

  He nodded solemnly. “Or to meet up with others who will.” He faced forward, pulling her to him once again, his mind racing with thoughts and ideas on how to get out of their deadly predicament.

  “If we bash him over the head,” Josiah slid up to the edge of his seat once again, “he could crash the car and kill us anyway.”

  Suddenly, an idea coming to him, Craddock said to Ethan, “Look, they cleared out my bank account for me, ya’know? We could pay you!”

  “I’m not interested in money,” he called over his shoulder. “Besides, no amount of money in the world would protect me from these people, if I were to cross them.”

  “Oh my God,” Jessica cried in a whisper, the true and cruel reality sinking in, “we’re going to die anyway! Even after everything we’ve been through!”

  “Well, I for one ain’t goin’ down without a fight!” Josiah announced, purposefully loud enough for Ethan to hear.

  “Yeah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he warned. “They’re prepared to do it quick and painless. Make trouble, they’ll make you suffer, just for the principle of the thing.”

  “Craddock?” Jessica whimpered, and he held her tighter in response to her rhetorical questioning of his name, knowing she wasn’t planning on saying anything beyond it.

  “Jessica,” Bibi whispered, “how fast can you climb over that seat and take control of the vehicle, if Craddock were to grab the guy?”

  Before Jessica could even think to answer, Ethan shot back, “If you’re planning a mutiny, you’re too late. We’re here.”

  They all glanced past him and up ahead, spotting at least a dozen people milling about in the near distance. The only light in the area was being provided by the headlights of the several vehicles parked askew around them.

  They seemed to be pulling into some kind of abandoned rock quarry, Craddock realized, trembling as Jessica was when it appeared that their fates were sealed, and that there was no getting away from it by being rescued this time.

  “Whatever happens,” he promised her, holding her desperately, “I won’t leave you.”

  When the van drifted to a stop a few feet away from the majority of the vehicles, the people just outside converged on them as Ethan cut the engine and jumped out to greet them.

  Jessica startled as the sliding door was yanked open, but she didn’t look up to see who had done it, until the eerily familiar snapping of fingers caught her attention.

  “Out of the vehicle, now!”

  It was like time and actions were moving in slow motion, as Jessica shakily did as she was ordered. Following Craddock, her hand reached for his as she stepped out onto the loose gravel that was everywhere all around them. Fighting off tears and the sheer terror that threatened to consume him, Craddock wrapped his arm around Jessica and pulled her to his side, making room for Bibi and Josiah to climb out after her, trying to ignore the gun that was pointed at them.

  “Move!” The man they knew and remembered from the Purists’ headquart
ers waved his gun menacingly, directing them towards a large rock a few feet away.

  They walked like there were lead weights strapped to their ankles, knowing what was next. As Craddock continued to hold Jessica, Bibi grasped Josiah’s hand in hers, just wanting some kind of physical connection to a loved one during her final moments on Earth.

  Upon reaching the large rock wall, they were pushed into position, lined up in a row, and then the man doing the physical redirecting stepped away as the man in charge snapped his fingers once again.

  “Separate!” he barked at them, which prompted an angry, out of character response from Craddock.

  “Fuck you! What are you going to do if we don’t,” he spat at him, “kill us?”

  “Whatever.” The man rolled his eyes before giving the order to shoot on his count.

  Hearing the guns cocking, Jessica began crying harder, her words choking out choppily. “I—don’t—want to—die.”

  There was nothing he could say in response, so he only nodded weakly instead, holding her tighter as the countdown began.

  “One. . .”

  Adrenalin pushed the declaration from his lips when he realized, in a flash of a second, that he was facing his last chance to do so. “Jessica, I’m in love with you.”

  “Two. . .”

  Tears streamed like a river, despite the fact that her eyes were closed as tight as they literally could be. “I know,” she whispered, but before she could respond further, a loud noise shattered the near silence, echoing around them, causing everyone to jump and startle at the sound of it.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The sudden disruption effectively stopped their execution, though they were certain that it was just a temporary stay. When she realized the sound wasn’t gunshots, and that she wasn’t hurt, dying, or dead, Jessica’s eyes flew open; as everyone else had, she spotted the three cars on rapid approach. The dust and gravel being kicked up was accentuated by the glare of the headlights as they neared, their blaring horns becoming louder and harsher on the ears as they pulled up and screeched to a stop, just a few feet away from the already parked cars.

  Several people jumped from each vehicle, all with guns drawn, but one man stepped up ahead of the rest, his focus of attention on the Purist in charge.

  “Tell your men to stand down, Carter!” the man ordered, his weapon pointed directly at the Purist’s head, glaring hard as they stared back at one another.

  “Liam Becket,” Carter sneered, almost laughing. “Left your high and mighty office of the rich and powerful to come dirty your hands with this, eh?”

  “I’m not playing with you, Carter!” Liam shouted, demanding once again, “Weapons down! Now! Or you’ll be dead within five seconds!”

  “You’re willing to start a war over her?” Carter waved at his subordinates to lower their guns, himself complying at virtually the same moment.

  “You started it!” Liam snapped. “We’re just finishing it!”

  “And with violence.” Carter mocked him, making a ‘tsk’ing sound. “So much for peaceful solutions, eh, Liam?”

  “You create the need to defend ourselves! We certainly weren’t going to come here unarmed! Now, toss the weapons this way! And no funny business, or you’ll be the first to die, before all hell breaks loose!”

  Obviously irritated, Carter sighed dramatically, giving the order in the form of a brief gesture. After carefully tossing his weapon to Liam, his men followed his lead. “So,” he asked hotly, “now what?”

  Without answering directly, Liam called out in the general direction of behind him, “Hampton! Get them out of here!”

  “Guys! C’mon!” Marcy yelled to the stunned foursome, waving them over when they only stared back, cemented in place.

  “You’re only prolonging the inevitable,” Carter said, self-assured. “Eventually, we will find her, regardless of where you hide her.”

  “Why does this one LC matter so much to you, anyway?” Liam challenged, the question evoking a rise in anger from Carter.

  “You know as well as I do, whether you want to admit to it or not, that the more this happens, the more our very existence is in danger!”

  “She’s not looking to out us, Carter! You’re being paranoid!”

  “You’re willing to take that risk? All of Mengliad kind would have you to thank, if because of her, we’re handed over to the government! Basically driven to extinction! Our spouses, our children, forced to undergo cruel experiments by Human scientists! I’m being paranoid?” He laughed, the sound filled with bitter indignation. “Hardly! It’s a simple matter of mathematics! One LC, or all of Mengliad kind!”

  Liam scoffed. “You’ve lost your mind! And it’s not just one LC you’re attempting to murder here! You have four people lined up execution style!” He pointed in their direction for emphasis. “Three of whom are upstanding Mengliad citizens!”

  “They ceased to be that when they started helping her!” Carter snapped, but then he calmed himself. “Fine, Liam, I’ll tell’ya what. You give me the LC, and the others can go.”

  When Jessica gasped, Craddock held her tighter, prepared to argue, but it proved unnecessary.

  “No, Carter,” Liam declined with rigid composure. “No more bloodshed. Hampton!” he called to her again; she knew instantly what he was asking of her.

  “Guys! Now!” she shouted at them. Finally, the shock lifted enough for them to move towards her.

  Picking up pace as they closed the distance, Craddock asked once they were near enough to her, “What the hell happened?”

  “How did you know we were here?” Jessica struggled to keep up as Marcy ushered them to the car farthest from them, the one she had been driving when she arrived minutes before.

  “Lilith gave her life, to get us the information.” Marcy sounded both frazzled and regretful, her steps never faltering. . . until she heard Bibi react behind her.

  “You bastard!” Bibi turned abruptly, racing with purpose towards Carter, who only sneered back at her.

  “She took a really long time to die,” he baited her, laughing evilly when Josiah darted up behind her and physically lifted her into his arms, stopping her from reaching him.

  “You’re a sadistic fuck!” Josiah shot at him, pulling Bibi away, struggling to move with her towards the waiting car as she cried and fought for her release.

  “She was all I had left!” Bibi wailed angrily, pushing against Josiah’s strong hold futilely.

  “Bibi!” Marcy shouted. “She will have died for nothing, if you don’t get in the car!”

  Relenting, almost collapsing, Bibi allowed Josiah to drag her with him, assisting little to not in her own escape, crying inconsolably as she slid into the front passenger seat of the older station wagon that Craddock and Jessica were already sitting in.

  “Take this.” Marcy thrust a cell phone at Craddock. “Turn right at the end of the dirt road, and just keep driving until you hear from us.”

  Craddock nodded, slamming his door as Josiah jumped into the driver’s seat. Wrapping an arm around Jessica, he then reached out to place a hand on Bibi’s shoulder, all while Josiah started the car, threw it in drive, and sped away from the scene like their lives depended on it. Because, quite literally, it did.

  Each of them offered Bibi their condolences, though the words sounded inadequate to their own ears. Still, she accepted them with a silent nod, save her soft sobs.

  “Turn right,” Craddock said to Josiah, when they got to the end of the dirt road. He murmured in the affirmative.

  “Are they going to be okay?” Jessica’s tears still flowed, though she was able to compose herself a little.

  “Probably,” was all Craddock could think of to say. His hand left Bibi’s shoulder to wrap around Jessica, it entwining with his other when they met. “I can’t believe the Liam Becket showed up!”

  “Who is he, anyway?” Jessica had noted as the stand-off was going down that he seemed like a man of importance.

  “He�
�s the top official within the Registry,” Craddock answered, his tone indicating just how awestruck he truly was. “For him to involve himself directly, it just goes to show how important you are!”

  “I don’t want to be important!” Jessica snapped, obviously and rightfully distraught. “People are dying because of me! At least five now, by my count! Those two agents, my parents, and now Lilith!”

  Bibi took several deep breaths, in an effort to calm herself enough to speak without her voice failing. “Whether you want to be or not, you are. To shirk that responsibility now would mean all those people died in vain. And all the people risking their lives for you would be for naught.”

  “What responsibility?” Jessica lifted her head away from Craddock to look at Bibi, but she could only see her in profile.

  “Bibi, now is not the time—”

  “For now,” Bibi interrupted Craddock, continuing despite his warning, “your responsibility is to stay alive. Listen to what you’re told, and allow us to get you safely to your relocation site. After that—”

  “Bibi!” Craddock cut her off, almost barking her name. “Not now! You’re upset, I understand that, but I won’t allow you to take it out on her!”

  “Being honest with her is a form of vengeance?” Bibi’s rising anger now replaced her sorrow as she engaged him in the conflict that had begun between them.

  “You’re not just being honest with her, Bibi,” he said, still attempting civility. “Overwhelming her won’t bring Lilith back!”

  Before Bibi could open her mouth to retort, the cell phone Marcy gave Craddock started ringing, breaking the tension between them instantly. He quickly fished it out of his coat pocket, his eyes remaining locked on hers as he answered it.

  “Hello?”

  An agonizing minute ticked by while he only listened or occasionally nodded, bringing anxiety to a frenzied level within Jessica’s mind and body. One look at Bibi showed she was feeling the same.

  “Okay, so, what does that mean, exactly?” He fell silent once again, listening. “I don’t know. I’ll look.” Pulling the phone away, he glanced at the LCD screen, and then put it back to his ear. “Two bars.—Yeah, okay, we can do that.—Oh my God.”