Freed

by Holly Hook

  And then there's soft thunder all around me as they carry me away.

  Chapter Nine

  Rise

  I lie down.

  There is skittering all around me and nothing else. I feel as if I'm lying in a huge chamber and the walls are echoing the sounds of tiny feet back at me. I must be in some kind of stone theater. There’s cold rock underneath me. Pressing into my form.

  I dare to open my eyes a little.

  There's darkness. Nothing but pure darkness above me. My arms lie out at my sides, palms up. Dwellers grab at them. They make quiet squeaks to each other. I wait to hear any human voices, any voices at all, but they're gone. It's just me and them here. They've taken me away from my friends.

  I'm on my own.

  Something jabs into my left forearm and I wince.

  And something else also jabs into my right. A needle. They're poking me under my skin.

  “No,” I mutter. There's a faint memory of Garrett and him showing me his arm under the moonlight, but it's gone as soon as it came. There's not enough of me yet to form whole thoughts.

  The pain jabs at me again. Something burns under the skin of my left forearm, as if they're pumping in liquid fire.

  “Ur...” I manage, sitting up.

  The Dwellers stand on my chest. Sickening green eyes stare me down.

  The whole world rings and I let my head fall down again.

  I might have made the biggest mistake of my life.

  * * * * *

  When I wake, I'm lying on a cot.

  Florescent lights stretch above me. There's electricity here.

  No darkness.

  The walls are white. The cot's up against one. Filing cabinets stand against the wall and a clock ticks away. It reads three-thirty. In the morning or at night?

  Am I back on Earth?

  There's no sound other than the clock. The sickness is gone. The Dwellers are gone. I'm lying in some kind of office. There's a large desk next to me, complete with a corded phone and a large planner. There's no computer. This looks just like the office that Garrett occupied back in the Processing area.

  Outside, I hear skittering.

  I sit up. My sweater still smells of smoke. I'm alone in here. The door to the office is closed and the sound's coming from outside of there. Am I back in the processing office? Where is everyone else?

  I left them.

  Left them to make it to the surface on their own.

  Left them all over again.

  I stand. Stretch my legs. The skittering outside continues. Come out, the Dwellers are saying. We need to see you. I don't know how I understand what they're trying to tell me, but I do. It's almost like my connection with Pit, wherever he is.

  Garrett is dead.

  No one will ever find him again. He will never lead the Society again or send any more slaves down to the depths.

  He had no children of his own.

  The Dwellers know you're my stepdaughter.

  You're too dangerous. It's either you die, or the Society dies.

  My heart leaps into my throat.

  I roll up my left sleeve. Turn my arm over.

  The flame.

  It sparkles underneath my skin, fresh and new and terrifying.

  I suck in a breath. This needed to happen. I roll up my right sleeve.

  A blue drop of water, also sparkling.

  Waterstone. The stone that according to Les, counteracts Flamestone and makes it dissolve.

  Garrett had these exact same tattoos and now I have them, too.

  The Dwellers stop outside and silence falls. I know what it means.

  They've chosen me to lead them. They have no one else if they're going to stick with their old tradition. It was going to be me all along. Garrett meant it that way, at least at first. But he made a mistake. A horrible, horrible mistake.

  I close my eyes, holding down the panic. This would kill my father if he found out. It's going to kill Weslie and Antoine and Shawn and Travis if they find out. Ned will disown me and I'm shocked to realize that the idea upsets me.

  But I can change things.

  Make things right for everyone. It's the only real way.

  The Dwellers rush around outside again. Can they sense my thoughts?

  I'm supposed to be bound to them now.

  I can sense them. There’s a huge, sprawling consciousness right outside the door and it pushes in on me, crushing my thoughts.

  "You...cannot...work...against...us." I mutter. The words aren't my own. I feel like a puppet, a mouthpiece here to let them communicate with the human world.

  The giant consciousness backs off, then crushes again.

  I close my eyes.

  "We...need...workers," I say.

  They're invading my mind.

  They're all invading. I sense a vast, vast group consciousness all around me. They all share one mind. They really are a hive species after all.

  And I need to face them.

  I head over and open the door, bracing myself.

  They cover the floor and stop moving when I face them. There are thousands and thousands of them and they cover the floor. A pair of dim lights hang overhead, flickering. This chamber looks like the one in the processing office, but it's much, much bigger and there are two huge mine tunnels branching off from this one. Mine cart tracks go out in two different directions.

  A sea of green eyes land on me.

  No sickness washes over me.

  I'm immune to it now.

  I'll never get Dweller sick again.

  I'm alone here. Alone with all my new subjects. They all stare, waiting for me to say something. Waiting for me to try to fight back. Who's in charge here?

  There’s another invasion. My mouth moves.

  "You...must...work...to...keep....us...alive," I say.

  I understand.

  My limbs tremble. The Waterstone might prevent me from getting burned alive if I spill the secrets of the Society, but it doesn’t stop me from being bound to the Dwellers. I’m still vulnerable. Still bound.

  But I can't leave the slaves down in the mines, either. Even now, they continue to work below me. I close my eyes again and sense the Dwellers' group mind far below, spread out through hundreds of tunnels, keeping a close eye on the workers. The Dwellers are hungry. Desperate. Just as desperate as the people down there, struggling to stay alive.

  And then I understand what I need to do.

  How to make this work for both the Dwellers and the poor miners.

  I face the sea of Dwellers again. They don't have to be my enemies anymore.

  "Listen," I say. "I will not deprive you of workers or Flamestone. But we're going to have to change how we do this. Can these tattoos be removed?"

  I wait for an answer. The vast consciousness invades my mind again, making me blank. Empty.

  "Yes," I say.

  I catch my breath. "Good. Now follow my instructions to the letter, and I'll have a solution for all of us."

  * * * * *

  I watch them gather.

  I remain outside the office--my office--and wait as groups of Dwellers vanish into the mine tunnels and return with bodies in tow, dragged in from gateways and foster homes and hidden passages back on Earth. First comes a woman in a tan business suit and a fresh perm, riding on hundreds of Dweller hands and shouting out in distress. The sleeve of her suit rolls back as she struggles, revealing the orange of her flame tattoo. I wonder how many foster children she had sold to the Dwellers. How many gems she got out of it. How many she has now, ready to get thrown into the depths.

  The Dwellers dump her on the floor and she stands. "What is going on?" she asks me.

  I just wave. I don't want to talk to these people until I'm ready.

  The group of Dwellers keep her surrounded. She brushes off her clothing and waits. The Society isn't used to be being carted around like this. They're used to giving the orders. They're used to living the high life.

  Roger and Larconi come next. The
Dwellers cart them in as they ride on their tiny hands, cursing. They dump them next to the woman. Larconi manages to get up as the Dweller crowd thickens around him. His gaze falls on me. "Where is Garrett?" he asks. "Elaine--do you know where your stepfather is?"

  They don't know yet. I'll be glad to reveal the big surprise. I turn away and pretend to straighten out my sweater. Larconi repeats the question. The Dwellers skitter around with excitement. I imagine they don't communicate with the Society like they do with me.

  More people arrive. Most are older. A few are younger, in their twenties at the youngest. I'm the only one in a faded sweater and jeans. The rest have cell phones in hand, earrings, watches, designer jeans, suits. The Flamestone Society's all about money after all. The Dwellers rush in and out for nearly an hour and chatter grows louder as the growing crowd huddles together in the middle of the Dwellers. None of them have guns. I ordered the Dwellers to disarm them all before bringing them.

  There are three dozen people. Four dozen, all surrounded by little gnomes. Five dozen, then six. I lose count. There are far more Dwellers than them now, and a man dares to step forward, only to get tripped up and land on his face. They're not letting these people go.

  I wonder how many Society members we'll need.

  At last, the skittering dies down and a small crowd of Dwellers rushes up to me and stops. The rest remain around their captives, waiting.

  The invasion comes again and my lips move.

  "This...is...some...of...them," I say, quiet. "The...rest...are...still...on...Earth."

  "What is the meaning of this?" a woman shouts. "Why were we dragged here?" Her voice is high and shrill. “I have a meeting I need to be at.”

  I ignore her. "You can bring the rest of the members to me later," I tell the Dwellers. "As soon as you have them in reach. But this is enough to get started."

  They all squeak with delight. They're glad to be helping.

  "Elaine," Larconi says. Roger stands next to him on the edge of the crowd. "What is going on here?" He's scared.

  I like that.

  "Garrett is dead," I shout, stepping forward. I feel stupid addressing all these people like this. They're all older. Supposedly wiser. I'm just a teenager and they're all rich gentlemen and ladies. Gentlemen and ladies, I remember, who have gained at least some of their wealth from an underground slave trade.

  Mutters go up through the small crowd. There are so many of them. So many evil people working on Earth to snatch all these foster kids and these poor kids and any others who get in their way.

  "And the Dwellers chose me to take his place."

  I take another step forward and roll down my sweater sleeve. revealing the flame.

  At first, there's no reaction. Then I roll down my other sleeve to reveal the blue drop of water.

  The crowd goes into uproar. People push against each other. It seems that the Waterstone tattoo is reserved for the leader, and not anyone else. I wonder how much protection it'll give me against the burning effects of the Flamestone if I were to spill the secrets of the Society on Earth. Garrett must have had this extra protection for a reason.

  "You're sixteen!" an old man shouts. He's livid.

  "You're not even Garrett's biological child."

  "You know nothing of the Society."

  The Dwellers skitter around them, trying to keep control. Larconi lunges at me, but they grab at his pant legs and trip him again. He reaches into his pockets for a gun that's no longer there. If I hadn't had the Dwellers disarm them, I might be dead by now.

  "Ask the Dwellers why they chose me," I say. "Garrett knew this would happen. It's why he tried to murder me."

  Silence falls over the crowd again, as if they can't believe that precious Garrett would do such a thing to a rich girl.

  "He wanted to murder his own stepdaughter," I say. "I had to protect myself. It might make me like my real father, but I'm proud of him."

  People shift. The discomfort level is growing.

  “Don’t worry,” I say. “I will keep the Society’s tradition of supplying the Dwellers workers so they can have enough food to stay alive. Garrett’s right that they aren’t evil. They just want to survive like everyone else. I will also keep our tradition of taking all the nasty people out of society on Earth and giving them jobs down in the mines here on Selwyn.”

  People mutter again. Is that relief?

  I suck in a breath. “I’m giving the Dwellers you.”

  There are mutters.

  Shouts.

  And then, screams.

  The crowd inside the Dweller sea pushes against them, trying to run, trying anything to escape. One woman looks down the dark mineshaft, where the tracks vanish into the dark. And she screams.

  I raise my voice at the Dwellers. It’s hard to yell over the shouts and curses and protests. “Evacuate the lower shafts first and bring up all the workers you bought. Replace them with these brain farts and remove their tattoos so you can control them. Show the old workers how to get back to Earth. Take them to a gateway. We’ll find the other Society members later.”

  The Dwellers all squeak in delight.

  They close in on the Society members. Some of them fall. Others try to run, only to collapse on outstretched little hands. The screaming woman vanishes into the dark, riding on a mat of Dwellers.

  From now on, I’ll have the Dwellers help me scout for new workers on Earth.

  If I find someone who’s willing to sell another human being to the mines, I’ll trick them. Bring them in here and sell them instead. Let their would-be victim walk out with the cash. It won’t be easy, but it’s better than the way Garrett ran things.

  The crowd thins. The Dwellers rush in and out of the large chamber. Screams and cursing echo up and down the mineshafts. I wonder how many of the sold workers will see their former foster parents come down to replace them. I wish Weslie could see this. Her old foster dad might be in here somewhere.

  She told me his name on the elevator ride down to hell.

  “Horace Steffan!” I shout.

  The Dwellers move before I tell them to do anything. They close in on a skinny, younger man who’s trying to back towards the wall. He falls and they drag him towards me, face-down.

  “I never sold anyone!” he shouts once he’s at my feet. “Never! I only just joined the Society a month ago. I swear. I didn’t realize it was about selling people.”

  “That’s not what my friend Weslie told me,” I say. I have to resist the urge to kick him. “Did you know that she had to watch her brother get eaten down there by a giant centipede?”

  “Huh?” He manages to look up at me. His eyes are huge behind his glasses. Scared. He knows he’s caught.

  “You knew what you were doing,” I say. “We need workers down in Shaft 17 to replace the people who are getting brought back up. I think you should go down there.”

  “No!” Horace shouts. “No!”

  The Dwellers cart him away, towards the shaft on the left. I wonder if they’ve cleared the cave in by now so they can access the one elevator that leads down there, or if they have another way. I don’t care. If anyone deserves Shaft 17, it’s this man.

  And there’s still something else I have to do.

  We’re still on Selwyn. The surface is up there. Shawn and Travis and Talia will have to find their way to the river along with the other workers that Les’s people are leading out. They must be scared, not knowing what to do. Ned will have to lead them back to Wompitt.

  Thankfully there are lots of Dwellers, taking care of all this for me. I have to trust them. Trust them to do the right thing.

  The room clears. I hear more skittering coming from the tunnels. I wait there by myself for a long time. At last, a smaller group of Dwellers returns to the large chamber and waits, staring at me with those eyes that I no longer need to fear.

  “Are the original workers being led out?” I ask.

  The vast consciousness invades.

  “Yes,” I say. “The�
�ones…on…the…lower…levels...first. It…will…take…a…while.”

  “Good,” I say. “While you’re doing that, can you do a favor for me?”

  * * * * *

  The Dwellers carry me upwards through the mines.

  I lay face-up, carried by hundreds of little clawed hands. It’s the strangest sensation. Once or twice, I catch a glimpse of a line of workers, skinny and wearing faded overalls and surrounded by more Dwellers. They’re lining up before stairways carved in stone, stairways that lead up. Some are climbing the steps, uncertain. The Dwellers are showing them how to get back to Earth after all. I wonder what towns they’ll surface in together. What states and even what countries. But they'll be better off than they were down here.

  And they won't have the Society to come after them anymore, desperate to keep any secrets.

  The mines turn to caverns. Stalactites. Even a river. We pass glowing mushrooms, giving off light and hope.

  And at last, the Dwellers stop.

  I stand and they scatter, giving me some room.

  Right ahead is the exit to the cave.

  Sunlight pours in and casts rays down on the stone. It must be midday now on the surface. Weeds grow down here from the moisture and moss clings to the rocks. It's the first plant life I've seen in forever and it lifts my spirits.

  "Thank you," I tell the Dwellers. "I'll go alone from here." It's not that I have a choice. The Dwellers will never be able to tolerate sunlight. "I'll find you again once I'm done."

  They squeak, shift, and drop something at my feet.

  It's my orange backpack. Complete with the Megapede claw and the rations inside.

  I'm shocked. I'd forgotten about it until now.

  I put the backpack on. It's not as heavy now. I'm no longer carrying that axe. It's down deep in the world, trapped under seething Flamestone for the rest of time right along with Garrett. He's no longer the dark shadow in my life that I didn't always realize was there.

  It's easy to reach the surface and it takes my eyes some time to adjust to the sunlight. Water sparkles. I'm close to the river. Huge pine trees tower overhead. I've seen this before. This is the coniferous forest where I first realized I was no longer on Earth. Where I caught my first fish and set up my first shelter for the night. This is the same river that leads to that purple arrow painted in the rock, an arrow that my father might have painted himself so many years ago. The air up here is so fresh and clean. Even when I have the Dwellers show me where a gateway to Earth is, I don't have to abandon this place forever. I won't be able to, not if I'm going to keep the truce going the way I want it.