“Use me! Take my dreams and let them go,” Elizabeth pleaded between great gasps of breath.
Doctor One wrinkled his diseased face into a smile. “Of course we will still use your dreams, silly human.”
He crossed the cell and examined the three teens. “But we will have theirs as well.”
He stood next to Zoey and raised the bottle to her lips. “Drink this, and the pain will stop. I promise.”
Zoey blinked the tears from her eyes and gagged at his vinegar-like breath.
“Don’t drink it!” screeched Elizabeth.
Her face turned a deep shade of burgundy. “It’s a sedative. It’ll drug you.”
She gasped for breath. “Don’t do it.”
“Don’t listen to that vile human,” purred the doctor.
He tipped the bottle into her mouth. “Drink, and you and your friends will live. I promise.”
The doctor’s wet, pink eyes whirled in their sockets making Zoey dizzy.
“No, Zoey, don’t drink it,” pleaded her mother with her last breath. “He’s lying.”
But Zoey opened her mouth.
The doctor smiled as he poured some of the white substance down her throat.
Zoey swished it around in her mouth, on her tongue, and around her teeth. It tasted like strong cough syrup and burned the inside of her cheeks and gums.
Doctor One inched closer to make sure she had swallowed it. His ugly, twisted smile widened as he got nearer—and then she spit her mouthful into his face.
The doctor cursed and staggered back in surprise. The bottle slipped from his hand and crashed to the ground, spilling the contents.
“Simon! Now!” screamed Zoey. She spit again and again, trying to get the taste out of her mouth.
Simon reached into his pocket with trembling sweaty hands, pulled out his cell phone, and dropped it.
Chapter 19
Trapped
Zoey gasped at the phone on the ground. Their last hope was fading away like a dream.
Simon let out a tiny cry. “It’s not my fault! It’s these old hands! I’ve got arthritis. It slipped.”
Doctor One’s face twisted in a frightening smile, like the smile a serial killer gives before he kills. He bent over and grabbed the phone. Twisting it in his hand, he examined it.
“Now, what kind of contraption is this? Is this one of the image players?” He looked at Simon. “One of the other humans had one with him. It was a delight to watch, but it won’t play anymore.”
He shook the phone and frowned. “Tell me, old man, how does this device work?”
Simon’s face was a nasty shade of purple, and his eyes bugged out of his head like they were about to pop.
“I’ll show you,” he gasped. “But you’ll have to release the collar,” he struggled to inhale. “Can’t—breathe.”
Doctor One studied him for a moment, and then he pressed a button on his remote.
Simon fell to the ground.
“Okay. Now show me, old man,” ordered the doctor.
Simon staggered to his feet. He glanced quickly at Zoey and Tristan, and then he faced the doctor. “You have to hold it really close to your face. That’s it. Now hold it there. Good, now—”
“I still don’t see anything,” grumbled the doctor. “You better not try to fool me, human. I will kill your friends if this is a trick.”
Simon raised his hands and did the peace sign. “I’m not. I swear, Agent’s honor.”
Doctor One glanced at him distastefully but kept the phone near his face, admiring it like a new toy.
Zoey glanced over to Tristan, and he gave her an I don’t know what he’s doing look.
She looked at her mother. Her face had gone a gray color, and she could hardly keep her eyes open. Whatever Simon was planning on doing, he needed to do it fast.
“So, what now?” pressed the doctor, his lips curled. “How do I make it work?”
Simon swallowed hard. “Yes, that’s it. Hold it really close to your face, yeah, near your eyes—exactly. Perfect, that’s how it works. Now, see that tiny button on the left side? Yes, that one. You just need to press it—”
A piercing white light blasted out of the cell phone directly into the doctor’s eyes.
“AHH!” he bellowed. “I’m blind! I can’t see! You’ve blinded me!”
He staggered around, rubbing his eyes, ranting and raving, howling like a wounded animal. “I’m going to kill you all!”
Simon didn’t waste any time.
He kicked the doctor hard in the chest. The Anerak reeled backwards and landed spread eagle on the ground. The remote fell from his grip.
Simon leaped over and picked up the remote. He fumbled with it in his hands.
“Simon—hurry,” hissed Zoey. She didn’t think she’d be conscious for much longer. She could hardly keep her eyes open.
“I’m trying. I’m trying.” Simon hurriedly flipped the remote in his hand and ran his fingers over the metal.
“Simon!” yelled Tristan, “What are you waiting for? Do it! Do it now, or we’re all going to die.”
“If it were written in English, I’d know what to press,” answered Simon in a panic.
As Zoey began to slip into the darkness, she heard Simon call out, “I think I got it!”
Her collar released, and she fell to the ground next to Tristan. She could see her mother lying on the floor in the next cell. She wasn’t moving.
“Mom!” Zoey shook the bars on her cell. “Mom, can you hear me?”
She knew her mother was already weak from the experiments she had endured. Maybe this had been too much for her frail body.
As Zoey’s bottom lip trembled, her mother turned towards her.
“I’m fine,” said Elizabeth.
She tried to look brave, but she looked grim and sick. Zoey knew another violent blow would finish her. She had to get her mother out of here, out of the Nexus.
Zoey stiffened and blinked back the tears. She staggered to her feet.
Tristan leaned over Doctor One, his face was as angry as Zoey had ever seen it.
“How do we take the collars and the shackles off?” he demanded.
The doctor squirmed on the ground. “You will die for this, humans! I will kill you—”
Tristan’s boot crashed into the doctor’s abdomen. “If you don’t tell me soon, you’re the one who’s going to die!”
The doctor spit the blood from his mouth and smiled. “I’m going to enjoy seeing you die, Mysterian.”
Just as Tristan was about to stomp on the doctor, Zoey pulled him away. “You better tell us, Doctor One, or Tristan will kill you. I’m sure about that.”
The doctor scowled at them. “Even if you do leave here, you will not survive in the Nexus. Our kind do not take three young humans roaming around in our city lightly. We will kill you.”
“We’ll take our chances,” said Zoey. She loomed over the doctor. “Tell us! Or I swear this face is the last one you’ll ever see!”
Tristan raised his boot—
The doctor shrieked. “Enough! I will tell you.” He cowered as Tristan lowered his boot.
“Go on then.” Zoey turned around. Her mother sat with her back against the wall, watching them.
Doctor One’s bulbous eyes fixed on Simon. “The release lever is the green triangular button on the controls.”
Simon looked up at his friends with a do we trust this dude look on his face. But he pressed the green button anyway—
CLICK!
His collar and shackles broke apart and fell at his feet.
“Sweet.” He rushed over to Tristan, pointed the remote and pressed the green button again. Tristan’s collar and restraints fell to the ground. Smiling, Simon did the same for Zoey and then leaped over to Elizabeth’s cell and released her from her collar.
“Thank you,” she said weakly.
Zoey glared at the doctor on the ground. Kneeling beside him, she searched his pockets and drew a set of keys. She grabbed her
collar from off the ground and moved towards him.
“What are you doing?” squealed the doctor. He tried to back away, but Tristan pressed down on his chest with his boot.
“Giving you a taste of your own medicine, doctor.”
With a click, Zoey secured the collar around the doctor’s neck. Then she bound his wrists together with the metal shackles.
“There, all done. See? You didn’t even feel a thing.”
Doctor One grimaced as he tried to pull off his metal collar. “You’re going to pay for this! I’ll see to it personally that you all die a slow and painful death—”
“Not if you die first, scumbag,” said Simon. He pocketed his cell phone and the remote. He looked at his friends. “What? Might come in handy later.”
Just as the doctor tried to yell for help, Zoey hit him in the neck, and he gagged. She didn’t feel any remorse for the Anerak. He had tortured her mother.
“Stay down and be quiet,” she growled. “Good doctor.”
Zoey waited for Tristan and Simon to exit the cell and then she locked the door behind them.
Doctor One squirmed and cursed. Blood and spit flew from his mouth, and his rolling eyes made him look like a massive and ugly iguana.
Then she hurried over to her mother’s cell. After trying three different keys and kicking the door, she finally heard a satisfying click and pulled it open. She ran over to her mother and hugged her for real this time.
She pulled away and helped her mother to her feet.
“Can you walk?” As Zoey said the words, her own legs felt liquid, and she wondered if they’d support her weight.
“Yes,” answered Elizabeth. Zoey could see more purple bruises near her temples, and an angry red and purple bruise around her neck.
“I’ll run if it means getting out of here,” her mother smiled.
Zoey slipped off her backpack and pulled out the second to last water bottle. “Here, drink this. You need it.”
Her mother drank half the bottle and then gave it back. “Keep the rest for later. I have a feeling we’ll all need it.”
Zoey swung her backpack back onto her shoulders and turned to her friends. “Let’s get out of here before the other doctors start wondering what happened.”
As they made their way out the chamber door, Simon turned around and smiled at Doctor One. “Can you smell that?”
The doctor looked perplexed. “What? What smell?”
“That’s the sweet smell of revenge, my friend.” Simon smiled, “Later loser.”
Zoey shut the chamber door behind them, and together they made their way down the corridor and past the spiraling bone staircase.
They met no one. The dirt floor muffled their steps like a thick carpet.
As they passed the flesh-door of the doctors’ experiment chamber, she heard Doctor Three’s voice. “Why do you suppose it’s taking so long for Doctor One to bring us one of the humans?”
Silence, and then, “Tut, zag, heim,” answered Doctor Two.
There was a pause, as though the doctors were pondering their options.
“You stay here and I’ll go fetch him,” said Doctor Three.
Zoey froze. They all halted in the middle of the chamber like deer caught in headlights. If the doctors came out now, they’d be found. She heard the shuffling of feet coming from behind the door.
“Behind the staircase!” whispered Zoey and pulled her mother with her.
The door swung open.
They crouched behind the staircase, and Zoey knocked her head on one of the bones. The sound resonated, and she prayed the doctor hadn’t heard it or seen them. Holding her breath, she raised her head carefully and peered through a gap in the bone railing.
Doctor Three stood at the threshold of the door. His eyeless face angled slightly, as though he was trying to hear something. His large elongated mouth twitched. His green tongue flicked like a snake tasting the air. Finally, with a swing of his long coat, he scurried out the door and disappeared down the dark corridor.
Zoey let out her breath and whispered. “Hurry, before he comes back.”
In silence, the group left the staircase and made their way down the last corridor to the front door.
Just as Zoey reached out towards the skull handle, Tristan stepped forward and grabbed her arm. “Wait,” he said as he let her go. “Where are we going?”
She turned to her mother. “Do you know your way around the city?”
Elizabeth shook her head. “No, I was blindfolded when they brought me. I’ve been in this place ever since.”
“Zoey, we’re not going to find the Director,” said Tristan. “We don’t have any weapons. Our only hope is to sneak out of the city and make our way back to the portal. Our scientists have probably made more UECs by now. For all we know, there are agents already putting them in place.”
“But what if they aren’t?” said Zoey. “What if you’re wrong, and our only hope is in that bag?”
Zoey knew her mother was weak and wouldn’t be able to search around the city for a man they might never find. She might die. Zoey knew she had to decide.
“We can’t stay here,” said Tristan gently. “Your mom needs help.”
“I’m fine,” dismissed Elizabeth. “Don’t worry about me. If you need to search the city, then we search the city.”
Zoey knew what she needed to do.
“No, he’s right, mom.” The word mom felt strange on her lips, but it made her mother smile. “We’ll never find the director. The city’s too big, but we still have enough time to make it back to the portal.”
“And hopefully we won’t meet any of the Chacras again,” noted Simon.
“Or anything worse,” added Tristan.
Zoey glanced back towards the corridor. “Okay, so how do we sneak out of the city? Any great ideas?”
“I have one,” said Tristan. His skin started to shine as though it were painted with glowing sapphires.
Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “You three are full of surprises,” she laughed.
Tristan smiled at Zoey. “I’m the only mystic here—”
“Half mystic,” corrected Simon.
Tristan ignored Simon and withdrew the chained shackles from his jacket.
“Wrap these around your wrists without locking them. You’ll be my prisoners. Stay behind me in a single file and keep your heads down. With a little luck, we’ll be out of the city in less than forty minutes.”
“Handsome and smart, the dude’s got it all. Life’s not fair.”
Simon whispered, “Seriously, good plan man.”
Zoey wanted to kiss him. He was the most beautiful creature she’d ever seen.
“It’s genius,” she said.
They wrapped the chains around their wrists, stepped behind Tristan in single file, and walked through the door.
The street was crowded with every mystic from The Mystic Manual. Beasts, half-man beasts, and giant insects turned and watched as they followed Tristan. For a horrible moment, Zoey feared their great plan had failed, but the mystics ignored them. They were nothing more than prisoners on a regular transport.
Tristan did his best to retrace their route, venturing deeper and deeper into the city. The air was hot, and smelled of sulfur, burning wood, and oil. Zoey peered around without raising her eyes. The mystics didn’t give them a second look. One look at Tristan, and the rest was history. His stride was confident, and he had a mean look in his eye. It was working.
After a half hour of wandering through the city, Zoey started to feel more at ease. She raised her head slightly and looked straight ahead. In the distance she could see that the imposing Sphinx-like statues that towered over the entrance to the city lay about a hundred yards away. She smiled. They were going to make it—
“HUMANS!” cried a voice from the crowd. “Imposters! Don’t let them get away!”
Simon slowed down, hesitated, and nearly stopped.
“Keep moving,” hissed Tristan from the side of his mou
th. “If we stop now—we die!”
He marched on without turning back. The others followed quickly behind him. Blood pounded in Zoey’s ears, and sweat trickled down her face and back. Her mother was struggling to keep up. If they had to stop and fight, the outcome would be grim. They had no weapons and her mother was too weak to help. She forced the panic from her mind and ignored the voice that kept whispering that they were doomed.
“There! Stop them! Stop the humans!”
Tristan stopped abruptly. Simon crashed into him. Elizabeth gave Zoey a worried look.
“Thought you could get away, eh? Well, well, well, you were wrong, humans!”
Even before she saw him, Zoey recognized that eerie, harmonica-like voice. She looked up.
Doctor One stood in front of a crowd of mystics and pointed a long scab-covered finger at them.
“You’re going to pay dearly for this.”
Everyone on the street backed away from them, as though Zoey and her friends were contagious, no doubt from something the good doctor had given them.
“This is bad, isn’t it?” whispered Simon.
Zoey stood protectively in front of her mother.
A group of black helmeted mystics with long sharp swords stood beside Doctor One. Even with their faces hidden in shadow, Zoey could see their tusks and long angry snouts. They looked like a cross between a man and a wild boar.
Doctor One beat the air with his gangly limbs. “Keepers! Arrest them!” Arrest those humans, and take them back to my lab!”
The keepers moved swiftly and surrounded Zoey and her friends. They drew their swords and then advanced—
“STOP!”
A tall woman dressed in a skin-tight baby-blue leather pant outfit pushed her way through the ring of Keepers.
Even in this land of strange and unsettling creatures, the woman’s face was still the most disturbing Zoey had ever seen. She would never forget it. It was a face of horrors, of too many plastic surgeries gone wrong—the face of a cat. Her slick white hair only magnified her disproportionately large cheekbones and tiny nose.
The woman’s smile was contorted by her bulbous red lips.
Mrs. Dupont held out her arms and said, “And so we meet again, Zoey St. John.”
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