Alone

by Holly Hook

  I have to ask.

  I stand. “Do not look down,” he instructs me. “You must have found out what happened down in that mine when you looked at them. I'm not sure how it works, but a gaze from even a single Dweller can knock an unmarked human out in seconds. They're not like us.”

  “Garrett?” I ask. I can't find any words. I make out the form of Pit out of the corner of my eye. He’s still. Watching. The orange in his eyes almost glows in the dark.

  “Step this way,” Garrett says, waving us towards a rock. “We'll be safe out here. I think. I haven't heard that Megapede howling yet tonight, so maybe it's back down in its chambers where it belongs. And your...pet here...will remain over there.” He snaps his fingers and points at Pit. Tiny feet thunder as the Dwellers pull him farther away from me. He backs onto a boulder.

  “You’re not going to hurt him, are you?” I ask.

  “No. Of course not.”

  I look around for my axe, keeping my gaze away from the seething mass around our feet. It lies on the ground between the boulders and right at the edge of the Dweller crowd. The ones around us refuse to thin. They're keeping me here. I'm a prisoner until I hear Garrett out.

  “How did you find me?”

  Garrett sits on the boulder. He glances at the axe on the ground and back to me. Is that fear? Disgust? I can't tell in the moonlight.

  I sit down next to him. No Dwellers come up onto the boulder with us, but we're surrounded. Pit remains on top of the other boulder about fifteen feet away, surrounded by pointy hats. He doesn't dare move. There are too many of them this time. Even if he does manage to snag one, the others will hold him down. The Dwellers must fear Garrett more than Pit.

  “I was told by my inferiors that you had wound up here,” he says. “It was a huge mistake. I never wanted you dragged into this, Elaine. Or your mother. She's worried sick and wants you to come home. I had to leave her alone to come find you.”

  “Your inferiors?” Maybe Garrett is just here to get me out of here. I can live with that. But I can't live with the rest. I think I'm going to throw up the squirrel I had for breakfast. “Your inferiors?”

  “Mr. Larconi and his assistant,” Garrett explains. “I don't know how much you heard or understand, but we are--”

  “The Flamestone Society,” I finish for him. This must be a nightmare. Garrett was so nice. “You grab people and force them to work for the Dwellers.” I'm betrayed. My mother's betrayed. I put as much venom into my words as I can. Garrett has been helping these people nab foster kids for who knows how long. I've lived with him. Eaten the food he's cooked. Lived in comfort and happiness for the most part while he's been out, working long hours and destroying lives. “Does my mother know?”

  “Of course not,” Garrett says. “We are very, very secret. Please. Hear me out. I have a lot to explain to you.”

  “Get explaining.” My blood roars.

  Garrett faces me again but keeps a few feet between us. My backpack hangs heavy on my back, trying to pull me down towards the Dwellers. I'm tense.

  “This world is called Selwyn,” Garrett explains. “I am not sure if this is another planet in our universe, or in a parallel universe. But it appears that there have always been gateways between this place and Earth. Mostly, they occur underground, in the presence of radioactive stone like uranium. Something gets bent in space time, and gateways form in caves and deep mines. Humans discovered the passages to Selwyn several hundred years ago when we finally mined down far enough.”

  "Keep explaining." I'm struggling not to punch him. Not to start screaming and not to shove him off the boulder. He can order the Dwellers to knock me out whenever he wants.

  “Selwyn is a magical place,” he says. “There are so many rich resources here, especially underground. Have you seen the orange ore deposits in the stone yet?”

  I nod, keeping my fists balled. I check Garrett over for any signs of a gun. There's none. He doesn't need one with this army at his command.

  “That's Flamestone. It's a very common ore here in this world. The Dwellers need it to survive. It's almost pure energy, just in a solid form. The Dwellers have to consume it in order to live. We can't, however. But it does make an excellent fuel.”

  I remember seeing some of it in the mine, waiting in that cart and abandoned. “Dwellers eat that stuff?”

  “They aren't like us,” Garrett says. Around us, the Dwellers skitter closer, like they're listening in. I don't dare look at them. “The Dwellers stay underground most of the time. Over time, they've consumed most of their Flamestone supply and their species was endangered by time the first miners came through to Selwyn by mistake. There was far more Flamestone here, of course, but it was buried in rock and the Dwellers needed help getting it out. The miners were happy to help, since Dwellers can't dig. And they risk their lives when they venture onto the surface. There are predators that make meals out of them.” He faces Pit. “Why did you bring that thing, anyway? They're aggressive. Dangerous.”

  “He's my friend,” I say, hating how lame I sound.

  “We'll see about that,” Garrett says. He speaks in a low voice and the Dwellers go quiet. “Anyway, those first miners realized there might be money to be made here. They worked for the Dwellers, mining the Flamestone in exchange for gems, which are common here. Selwyn's underground is filled with diamonds and rubies and every kind of gem you can imagine, and others that you've never heard of. This is how the Flamestone Society was born. We became rich. My six times great grandfather was one of those first miners to venture here."

  “That doesn't sound so bad," I say. "What made you switch to slavery? What made you snatch innocent people instead of doing the work yourselves?" My voice rises. I glance at the settlement across the valley. The fire's still burning inside the walls. I don't want to look at my stepfather.

  This is the real Garrett.

  In league with the Dwellers.

  Against less fortunate people like Talia.

  Garrett leans back. He's calm. I hate it. “The conditions in the Dwellers' mines are not very safe. They are even less safe than the mines back on Earth, and those are full of their own problems. The Dwellers are not the only creatures that live in the depths. There are caves in this world that descend much farther than any caves back home. There are vast networks. Things live down there. They are terrifying. If you heard that screaming over the past few nights, well, that's only one thing that's down there. I don't want to burden you with the stories, but our miners started dying. We had to come up with another way to keep our new society going. To keep our wealth going."

  I'm speechless.

  The Flamestone Society's sending kids down there to fall victim to whatever horrible monsters lurk in the dark so they can have their gems and their money.

  "I never wanted you to know about this, Elaine. I never expected you to go looking for your friend. I thought you were a girl of comfort."

  “What was I supposed to do?” I'm so angry. My chest is full of darkness. Nothing is ever going to fill it again. “She's my best friend. So that's why you told me to sit tight.” Just to make my point, I stand.

  The Dwellers around us shift. One squeaks. I don't dare look at them. Pit growls.

  Garrett stands, too. He speaks with patience. “She was in another town,” he continues. He gazes at the stars. “I thought you would be better off away from her. That's why I convinced the courts to move her to Badwater, so that you would not be around what was going to happen.”

  “You arranged for my friend to get kidnapped?” I roar. The Dwellers skitter closer as if they're waiting for a command.

  Garrett shakes his head. “Be careful, Elaine.”

  “You're the worst thing I've run into out here!” I think of the dead centipede in the forest. I wish it had stayed alive long enough to meet Garrett. He's the biggest monster here.

  Pit growls again like he's backing me up.

  “And where is my boyfriend?” I yell so loud that my lungs burn.
>
  The Dwellers all jump at my outburst.

  “Where is he?” I scream.

  Garrett puts his hands up. “We did not want to take him, Elaine. It was a horrible mistake. The Flamestone Society does not like to remove good, working citizens from society like Shawn or yourself. Only the degenerates, the ones who are going to cause trouble later on.”

  “Where is Shawn?” I ask. Tears form. “Where is Talia? And Travis?”

  I glance at the axe that lies on the ground. I'd have to go through all the Dwellers to get to it. I already feel the cold fingers of illness reaching for me as I glimpse their eyes. It's about seven feet away, between me and Pit. I might have to jump for it. I'm thinking of hurting my stepfather. It's a thought that makes me even more sick. I might be like my father after all. And what if I'm not? Am I like Garrett instead? Is anyone in my family halfway decent? Is anyone not a psycho murderer or a slave driver?

  "I am working on that," Garrett says. “Don't worry. We usually only take those that society doesn't care about. The people who aren't going to contribute. The people that no one is going to miss. I am still thinking of a way to straighten all this out for your boyfriend and your other friend."

  He's not going to let Talia go.

  “Well, I miss Talia,” I snap. “You're saying that they're still down there where those horrible things live? Where they could die?"

  "They are fed and clothed and watered,” Garrett says. His voice rises. “They are even allowed to take days off. The Dwellers are not that cruel to them. At least here, they are serving a purpose. What would Talia have done had she stayed on Earth? She would have gotten into drugs, had an early pregnancy and led a miserable life. At least here, she has something to do.”

  “She was going to go to college," I yell. "Will she ever see the sun again?” I advance on Garrett. I can't believe that I've hugged this man. Joked with him. Eaten his cooking and laughed with him. He's not the nice man he's made us think he is after all.

  Garrett stares me hard in the eye. “I have made sure that Shawn and Travis are working in one of the upper shafts until I can figure out what we're going to do with them,” Garrett says. “They're safer there. I do not want to see them harmed in any way. Larconi and Roger had to give them to the Dwellers or they were going to revolt. We can't destroy our balance. We've struck a deal with them that we've kept for hundreds of years."

  “I don't care,” I say. “You're disgusting. You're no better than the slaveholders they talked about in history class. You're worse.”

  Garrett backs away. He swallows and rolls up his sleeve. Then, he pulls out his cell phone and turns on his own flashlight app. The Dwellers shift, but he points the light at his wrist. "Elaine, look at this."

  There's a tattoo on his forearm, four inches under his hand. It's a brilliant orange flame. It appears to sparkle in the light and it's mesmerizing. I've never seen it before. Garrett has always worn long sleeved shirts, even in the summer.

  “Do you know what this is?” he asks.

  “No.” I can't stop staring at it. “Is that Flamestone under your skin?”

  “Yes,” he says. “The Dwellers tattoo us with this symbol when we join the Flamestone Society. It keeps us bound to them, and them to us. Have you noticed that I can look at the Dwellers without becoming sick? This is why. I'm not sure how it works, but it works.”

  “Yes,” I say. "I don't care about your tattoo. I want my friends!"

  Garrett turns the phone off. “It has a downside, however,” he says. “If we dare to reveal our society on Earth, the Flamestone inside ignites. And spreads through our bodies, killing us. It is a guarantee that none of us will ever, ever spill the secrets of the Society to the regular world.”

  “That's disturbing.”

  “It's necessary,.” Garrett says. “Without this, the Society would have been discovered and destroyed long ago. Flamestone is our way of life.” He pauses and steps away from me, putting his chin in his hand like he's thinking. “Don't you want to return home and see your mother? She's worried sick about you. I told her that no matter what, I would bring you home. That's what I'm here for, Elaine. I can't believe you've wandered out this far.”

  My mind spins. Garrett won't let Talia go, that's for sure. He might not even let Shawn or Travis go. What's he going to do to me? This is my stepfather here. He's going to be hard pressed to tell the police how he found me. They'll interview me for sure.

  I have a feeling I know where this is going.

  Garrett takes a step towards me. “I have to make sure that you don't reveal any of our secrets once we're home. To your mother, or to anyone else. That's why the Dwellers will be giving you one of these tattoos.”

  He holds up his wrist, facing me. The flame on it looks sinister now, sparkling in the dull moonlight. It's alive. The sparkles inside seem to move as if there is already a fire burning underneath Garrett's skin.

  A chill rushes through me.

  I'll be going home in chains.

  Forever silenced.

  Unable to do a thing for my friends.

  “We are going to bring you into the Society, Elaine. There is no choice about it for me. I'm your stepfather and this is the solution for our family. It would kill my wife if something were to happen to you. It would kill her. I love her and I won't allow that to happen. We will teach you the ways of the Society. You may find that you find it very beneficial. There is lots of money and security to be had. And you will be helping the world back home. By taking some people out of it that will only weigh all of us down. By removing people like your biological father."

  I back away.

  “You're sick,” I say. “I can't believe I ever got along with you.” I feel stupid for not seeing it sooner, for not seeing the evil underneath that perfect skin and that smile.

  “I am not sick,” Garrett says. “I am helping everyone.”

  “You really helped Talia,” I say. “I'm not joining the Flamestone Society. You can kiss my ass.” I'm running away. I'm not doing it. Never.

  “I'm afraid that you don't have a choice,” Garrett says. “You left a very big mess back on Earth. Even the news has caught on now. They care when someone rich or beautiful goes missing.”

  I want to throw up all over Garrett. “So now I'm a TV rating? Is that all? You know what, Garrett? I came from poor people. Doesn't that make me just as bad as Talia? Just as useless to society?”

  Garrett pauses like he doesn't know what to say.

  “Well, does it?” My voice rises and the Dwellers around us back away a little, skittering. I'm scaring them. I'm glad. I'm not the same girl I was when I stepped through the gateway in Lily Abner's house. I've changed.

  And I can't go back now.

  “Does it?”

  He holds up his hands. “Your father was poor,” Garrett says. “That doesn't mean that you're anything like him.”

  “Would you have worked him in the mines, too?”

  “We should have,” Garrett says. There's hatred in his voice. He leers at me. "We should have before he had the chance to do his deed!" He turns to the Dwellers. “Now, now,” he orders. “Bring her--"

  I move.

  If I don't, they're going to put one of those tattoos on me and all hope for Shawn and Talia and Travis will be lost.

  I jump for the axe on the ground. The Dwellers all swarm. I keep my eyes mostly shut. Fumble around for it. I can't look at them, or it's all over. I won't be their slave. I don't belong to them.

  My hand closes around the handle of the axe.

  “Elaine!” Garret shouts. “You don't want to be like your father. You're better than that. I know you are.”

  “You don't know anything about me.” I open my eyes, keeping my gaze from the ground. I've made my decision. “I'm not joining you. I'll die first."

  Chapter Eleven

  Gates

  Garrett moves closer. He's a blob in the darkness. Then he stops a few feet away. The Dwellers wait behind him. Behind me. “Y
ou're not going to swing,” he says. “You're not like that, Elaine. I know you aren't. Your mother needs you home. I know you're upset and you need to think about things for a while. I will find a way to get Shawn and Travis back. That is my promise to you. And I will even see if I can find a way to get Talia back, too. I know she's your friend.”

  He's trying to sway me, trying to manipulate with his words. He won't get closer until I lower the axe. I don't blame him.

  “And how will you do that?” I ask.

  He stands there like he's thinking. I keep my gaze on his face. “I can always negotiate a trade with the Dwellers,” he says. “I can offer them someone else.”

  “No,” I say. If I go with Garrett, I'll to doom three more people to the Dweller mines. I refuse. And if he does manage to let Shawn and Talia and Travis go, he's going to have them marked so they don't ever speak up. We'll all still be slaves.

  “Don't make me do this,” Garrett says. “Don't make me have to knock you out and force you to go with us. I will if I need to. I know you'll hate me, but--”

  “I already do.” I tighten my grip on the axe. I'm scaring myself. I'm about to turn into what Melissa says I am and I don't know if I can stop it.

  But I'm also not Garrett.

  “Elaine, you need to--”

  So be it.

  I swing through the air.

  Garrett screams and jumps back. I keep my gaze on his face, away from the ground to where the Dwellers swarm. They move around, a seething mass at his feet. Garrett staggers back and they catch him like a crowd in a rowdy concert.

  He's down.

  I can run.

  “Pit!” I call. The mass around him has loosened and he bounds towards me.

  I've made my decision.

  We're going for the settlement.

  It's killing me to leave my mother for now. But this is better. She wouldn't want me to be a slave.

  I run.

  The light from the settlement is even brighter now, a light against the dark expanse of the meadow below us. We're almost out of the hills. I run and he comes beside me. Garrett curses behind me and shouts a command at the Dwellers.