by D. N. Leo
She smiled. “Hello there! What are you seeing?”
“Beauty.”
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Isn’t that a common saying on Earth? You see, you can do it.”
Before he could respond, her image vanished, and the pain hit him as fast and strong as an explosion. He was drifting. He heard Dinah’s voice from a distance.
“Can you hear me, Arik?”
“Yes . . .” He pounded his head on the floor.
“You’ll need some help to stay. Do you want to stay here for your friends?”
“Yes . . . but I can’t control it.” He pounded his head again.
“Don’t do it, Arik. I’ll help you. But there will be risks.”
“If I die, so be it.”
“No, death is the easy part, Arik. It’s your mind we will be working with. It might change you.”
“Okay, fine, I’ll take the chance. But you have to promise me one thing.”
“What?”
“If I’m out of control . . . in a bad way . . . put a bullet in my head.”
“Arik!”
“Promise?”
“Fine. I promise. Now can we go ahead and do this? You’re blanking out so quickly.”
He nodded.
“All right, I’m going to inject you with a formula I developed. You’ll feel a new sensation. Whatever direction the new sensation pulls you, follow it. Open your mind, relax, follow it, and you’ll be fine. Got it?”
He nodded again. He felt the prick of a needle on his neck at the jugular, and waves of coolness followed. He did what he was told. He emptied his mind, drained it of all the worries and burdens of earthly matters.
He waited.
Then the new sensation came. The surge of energy was overwhelmingly powerful. It filled his mind. Every cell in his body was bursting with the life force. It flowed in and out. In and out. The flow inside him stopped, creating a suction. His energy was strained, tense as a taut bow.
An incredible urge to connect with and exchange energy washed over him. And he responded.
He felt the cold floor, warm flesh, and soft fabric. He tasted the sweetness of feminine skin and the saltiness of sweat and tears. He smelled the tanginess of sexuality.
His mind floated. His body erupted with urges to take, give, and pass on energy like a conduit. He needed to connect. And he did just that until the sensation was sated.
Then he was drowsy. Calmness descended on him.
After a while, he opened his eyes. His mind was crystal clear. He was fully aware of his surroundings.
Now he was in control of his mind and his body as Dinah had said he would be. Where’s Dinah? he thought and sat up quickly from the floor.
He looked down at his completely naked body.
He grabbed his pants which were in a crumpled heap on the floor nearby and slid them on. He scrambled up to his feet and saw Dinah sitting on the sofa, looking at him with a smile on her face.
She was fully dressed, but her hair was tousled, her lips were slightly swollen, and the top button of her blouse was undone.
Arik looked down at his body then back at Dinah. Her smile continued.
He prowled around the room, then came back, crouching in front of the sofa. He remembered the strong force of the activity, whatever it was. He remembered his hands pressing hard into fragile skin. And he remembered the salty taste of sweat. And unmistakably, he remembered the taste of tears.
He rubbed his thumb at the corner of her eye where there was still a trace of a teardrop. “Did I hurt you?”
“No.” She jerked her face away from his hand.
He backed away and stood up. “Did we make love?”
She smiled again then leaned back into the sofa, buttoned up her blouse, and looked him in the eye.
“No, we didn’t make love. We had sex.”
13
At the end of the corridor, Madeline approached a door. She could hear Robert’s voice from within. “I told you, they’re Lucy’s friends. They’re fine.”
“Good friends would not drag you into the woods for two days and make you stand in for a play!”
“They don’t know I’m against theater, Sam.”
“You’re not against theater. You just want to protect your father’s political career. John is a danger you have to eliminate.”
“I’m a lawyer, not a politician. And eliminating an opponent doesn’t have to mean murder.”
“Since when did you go soft?”
“Don’t judge me, Sam.”
“I’m not judging. You’ll never get over Lucy, will you? Oh, for pity’s sake, she rejected you twice, and you’re still being noble?”
“This has nothing to do with Lucy. I’m not killing anyone on a hunch.”
“Robert, you always have good instincts, and you’re a great judge of character. Tonight’s rehearsal is your one and only chance to kill him. We’ve been working on this for weeks—”
“Yes, and we haven’t reached a definite decision. If I had enough evidence, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill him. But we don’t. If you can get this medicine for Lucy, it will be greatly appreciated.”
Madeline sneaked closer to the door so she could hear the conversation clearer.
“I told you, John Wilkes Booth isn’t just an ordinary actor. You know he’s up to something. You’ll regret it if you don’t kill him tonight, Robert.”
“Where is the medicine Arik gave me?”
“Hey, are you listening to me? What are you looking for?”
“A piece of paper. Arik gave me the prescribed medicine for Madeline.”
“Who’s Madeline?”
“What?”
“You just said Madeline.”
“I don’t know anyone with that name. I can’t find the damn piece of paper. I—”
“Come on, do you hear me, Robert? We’ve planned tonight’s kill for many weeks. You vanished for two days, came back with Lucy and her friends, and totally changed your mind. I thought the fact that Lucy showed affection for John would give you stronger motivation.”
“This has nothing to do with that. She’s a free woman. She can have a romance with whoever she wants. Where is that piece of paper?”
“What drugs are you looking for?”
“I’m not a doctor. How should I know?”
There was a clank sound as if a hard object was slammed on a wooden table.
“What is this?” Sam asked. “It smells like cheap perfume.”
“I don’t know. Just found it in my pocket now. I have to go back to ask Arik again for the medicine. You can keep the perfume!”
Madeline rushed into the room and smiled as graciously as she could.
“Lucy? Are you okay? I was just trying to get you the medicine. You scared the hell out of me!” Ciaran as Robert said, rushing over to her side.
“Yes, I’m fine. Thank you for bringing me here. Dinah told me. I wouldn’t care for being taken home.” She looked at Sam. “There’s no need to get the medicine for me. By the way, the perfume is mine, Sam, can I please have it back?”
Sam frowned then gave her the jar of potion Madeline knew was the primer Ciaran had taken from Mon Ciel.
“Thank you. Arik and Dinah want to talk to you about the play. They have some important information for you, Robert,” Madeline said.
“All right,” Ciaran said and was about to follow Madeline out of the room.
“Robert, we have to agree on this first,” Sam growled.
“It can wait.”
“No.”
Ciaran turned toward Madeline. “I’ll be there to talk to Arik and Dinah shortly, Lucy.”
Madeline nodded and reluctantly left the room.
She scurried back to the room where Arik and Dinah were. As she pushed the door open, she saw Arik standing topless in the middle of the room. Dinah sat on a reading chair. Madeline smelled the faint scent of sex in the air.
“What happened?” she asked.
Arik tossed his shirt
on. “Nothing, according to Dinah,” Arik muttered.
“I didn’t say it was nothing. I said you had an inaccurate understanding of the activity,” Dinah said.
“What activity?” Madeline asked.
“Never mind,” Arik murmured.
Dinah smiled. “He almost traveled back to the current time without you and Ciaran. But we have it under control now. Still, we’d better get Ciaran back here and stay in close proximity in case Arik has the urge to travel again.”
“You’re saying after all we went through, my control won’t last?” Arik exclaimed.
“People are different, Arik. You might be at the tail end of the population. We’re better safe than sorry. And for your information, nothing lasts forever.”
“What population? You’ve never tested your drug on anyone before?”
Dinah had her hands on her hips. “You agreed to it. I just wanted to help. I did test the drug, though.”
“On space creature?”
“No, on a pig.”
Arik turned around, staring at the wall as if he could eat it alive.
“Okay, that’s enough you two,” Madeline said. “I’ll get Ciaran and come back. Here’s the primer.” She put the jar on the table.
Dinah rushed over. She picked the jar up and stared at the liquid inside. “Magnificent piece of work!” she said.
At the doorway, Madeline turned back and said, “Sam and Robert were planning to kill someone named John Wilkes Booth. Does that ring any bells, Arik?”
Arik’s eyes darkened. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. He repeated it several times. It seems there’s a love triangle going on between Lucy, John, and Robert. I think John might be winning.”
“John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln,” Arik said as he strolled toward the door.
“So the assassination is the significant event we’re meant to fix? We have to stop Robert from killing his father’s assassin and let his father be killed later? What kind of twisted joke is this?” Madeline said, trailing behind Arik.
“Welcome to the club, Madeline. It’s not the first time I’ve had that kind of thought about twisted fate,” Arik said.
Dinah followed Arik and Madeline.
The trio charged down the corridor and stormed into the room where Robert and Sam were, only to find an empty room.
“If Robert kills John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln will survive that event, and that will change American history,” Arik said.
14
Charmine clutched at her stomach as the pain intensified. Sweat streamed down her forehead. Her vision blurred with the agony. She hadn’t been settled in Eudaiz long enough to know her way around. Everything in this place was different from her world. The chamber was small, the walls were like stone but felt as cool as metal. She reached up from the chair she was sitting on and braced her hands on the wall, finding the cool temperature helped ease her pain.
“You are in discomfort and your body temperature is one hundred percent higher than normal. Please place your palm on the control panel for further diagnosis,” said a monotone female voice coming from a smooth rectangular surface on the wall.
She was startled and pushed back hard from the wall. She was off balance, and the chair tipped over, dropping her to the floor.
“Dear guest SCP3, please place your palm on the control panel for further diagnosis. Preliminary calculation suggests there is a high probability you will require medical assistance.”
The thing that looked like a mirror was talking to her!
Although she was in agony, she was sure only the Winter Queen in a fairy tale she had grown up reading would talk to a mirror on the wall. With the pain in her tummy and the slowly healing wounds on her savaged leg, she didn’t need a mirror to tell her she needed help.
She loved fairy tales, but talking to a mirror was neither magical nor practical right now. She shook her head to rid herself of the idea of having a conversation with an inanimate object.
“Please verify your palm on the control panel immediately. Your medical issue has a high possibility of being terminal.”
She was on the verge of passing out because of the pain. In Scotland, when her vicious evil sister had twisted her leg and broken it, she’d thought that was the most excruciating pain she had ever experienced.
She was wrong.
The pain she was experiencing right now was much worse. If she died here, she would never get to see Jael again. What about their child?
“Where is the panel?” she asked and wasn’t surprised to hear the mirror respond.
“Please follow the light,” it said.
A rectangular green light appeared on the shiny surface of the mirror. She braced herself, stood up, and was about to place her palm on the panel. Then she stopped. “What sort of information will you need for your diagnosis?”
The monotone voice responded, “All pertinent medical data to benchmark against our healthy Eudaizian model.”
“How detailed?”
“Basic details about your make, your history, cosmos origin—”
“No,” she muttered and put her palm down. Then the pain hit her again like a storm. She fell to the floor and almost passed out.
She would rather die than have her origin exposed.
She needed to leave here. She tried to stand up with her one good leg, but she failed and flopped to the floor.
The steel door of the chamber slid open, and Sciphil Three rushed in. “I heard the report and the warning signals about your condition,” he said calmly and put her back on the chair. “I’m sorry I left you alone in the guest chamber. I should have assigned medical staff.”
“Did that mirror tell you?”
He smiled a kindhearted, honest smile, and if she weren’t committed to someone already, she thought she may have fallen for that. “Not a mirror. They call it a computer here. Its abilities are a lot more sophisticated than mere reflection. Do you mind if I place your palm on the panel for further diagnosis? The wounds on your leg are taking longer to heal than I anticipated. I don’t understand how it could cause you such pain.”
“It’s because I didn’t let you use your preferred treatment method.”
“You must have your reasons for deciding not to receive treatments. I won’t press for information you don’t want to give. But the computer diagnosis suggests that your health is deteriorating. I can assure you the tests are not invasive.”
She shook her head.
Her vision started to blur, and she could feel herself passing away. Then she felt a lift. Sciphil Three had forced her palm onto the shiny surface of the panel.
The computer streamed out lines of text that she couldn’t understand.
Sciphil Three put her back down in the chair and saw the tears gleaming in her eyes.
“I apologize for doing this to you. But I can’t let you die without knowing why.” He turned and glanced at the computer’s results. Then his deep, dark gray eyes returned to her teary face.
“I’m a traveler. Please don’t tell . . .” Exhausted and plagued with agony, she cried.
He crouched in front of her chair. “I don’t care if you’re a gypsy of the multiverse. My concern is that you are pregnant. I brought you here without knowing. In Eudaiz, the gestation terms are calculated by days. The child has to be taken out of the mother’s body on day three, or the mother will die in agony, and the child will perish.”
“What do you mean by taken out?”
“The child is removed from the mother’s body via a delicate procedure and supported by our system until the child is strong enough to return to the mother. The process is pain-free, and the success rate is ninety-nine percent if conducted in time.”
“Am I too late?”
He nodded. “I have not seen a case of survival at this late stage.” He looked into her eyes. “Any ordinary creature would have died already. You should have died instantly the moment I took you into this dimension. I should have been mo
re careful.”
“It’s a miracle.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. But I didn’t take you out of Xiilok to see you die in Eudaiz—the justice system in this multiverse be damned.”
“There is no justice even in the house of Gods!”
Sciphil Three held her right hand and snapped a square pad on her wrist. The pain subsided instantly. “I apologize again. This is the treatment you have been refusing. Being a traveler will get you killed in the wider multiverse, but I assure you, that will not happen in my universe. We don’t discriminate.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“There is nothing I can say with certainty. But I will find a way to save you and your child.”
She shook her head. Now that the pain had turned into a mist, her mind started to clear. This was the first time she’d been able to take a good look at Sciphil Three—strong, masculine face, striking gray eyes, dark hair, and the body of a warrior. He looked as young as Jael. But while Jael had an angelic gleam of light around him, Sciphil Three had an authoritative aura—one she could tell made people want to obey him.
“My origin wasn’t the only issue that held me back from receiving treatments. I know you don’t believe in magic, and Eudaiz doesn’t support magical creatures, but my child was cursed. I need to find my husband. He knows how to deal with this problem. I won’t let my child come into any world carrying a curse.”
Sciphil Three stared at her for a brief second as if he didn’t know what to say. Then he nodded. “So it’s not just a matter of belief. You come from the magical world—a dimension I am always reluctant to interact with.”
“A dimension?”
“Never mind. What does your husband do?”
She smiled to prepare him for the answer. “He’s the angel of light.”
Sciphil Three nodded. “I understand. You need to find your husband and then decide what to do with the child. I can’t help much when it comes to magic. But your painkiller will wear off very soon. I need to make sure I can take you out of Eudaiz safely.”
“Eudaiz is governed the way it is for a reason. I don’t want you harmed for breaking the rules.”
