City of Light

by J J Hane

  “Raph!” Abishai called, spreading his arms in dramatic welcome. “You brought your friend! Don’t mind my sister,” he added to Serenity. “Communication is not her strong suit.”

  Maya made some more, decidedly unkind, squeaks, before disappearing into the kitchen. Serenity looked around her with the air of someone looking for an escape route, despite being the one who had insisted on coming. An image of her killing us all with a butter knife flitted briefly through my mind, but I shoved it aside. I could probably take her in an unfair fight. At least until Ab could save me…

  Mrs. Salman came out of the kitchen. She was a thin, short woman who looked like a strong breeze could carry her away. Her features were almost identical to her daughter’s, minus the age, of course. For as long as I can remember, she always looked tired, but her smile was just as warm and welcoming as ever.

  “Raphael, it’s good to have you,” she said, patting my arm. She turned to Serenity, a quizzical expression on her face. Mrs. Salman took in Serenity’s bruises and wary stance, decided that the young woman needed affection rather than suspicion, and, just like that, Serenity became part of her ever-growing umbrella of motherly care. All of her calculations were visible in the worry lines around her eyes. “Welcome, young lady. Abby said you’d be coming. I didn’t realize what a lovely young woman you would be!”

  “Mom…” Abishai groaned.

  The corner of Serenity’s mouth twitched in amusement. “Abby?”

  Mrs. Salman laughed, an easy, friendly sound that made you want to laugh with her. “He hates it,” she said conspiratorially, despite everyone hearing her. “Now let’s eat before this gets cold.”

  We gathered around the little table that provided barely enough room for the five of us. Mrs. Salman made Abishai say a prayer of blessing for the meal, then we began.

  As we ate, Abishai’s mother turned to Serenity. “Where are you from, young lady?”

  “She lives on the eastern side of the city,” I interjected, having already given some thought to how to answer the inevitable questions.

  Mrs. Salman looked at me, then back to Serenity. “I see. So you work in the eastern fields?”

  Serenity glanced quickly at me before nodding.

  “How did you meet Raphael?”

  “We met at the last agricorps meeting,” I interrupted again. “She was there to learn about the strategies for growing the newest corn.”

  Abishai made a gagging sound. “I swear, Raph, you are the most boring person I’ve ever met.”

  “I’m your best friend,” I pointed out. “What does that say about you?”

  Ab opened his mouth, closing it without saying anything. Maya’s snicker could barely be heard over the whisper of the climate control system. Mrs. Salman kept glancing at Serenity, clearly not satisfied with my answers yet unwilling to press the issue any further. I was grateful that she politely avoided bringing up the bruise showing on Serenity’s face.

  Not long into our meal, a bright light, accompanied by roaring wind, flooded in through the apartment’s few windows. Everyone in the room was accustomed to the nightly charging of the city’s power system, but the pure white fire of the Archangel was something that Serenity had only seen from afar. More than that, she had spent her life hearing stories of the horrors of the Archangel, of what it could do to her people.

  When I was a child, I had often woken my foster parents after having nightmares of the outlanders sneaking into the city to slaughter us all. Some of the more macabre artists in the city liked to create paintings or stories of savages trying to destroy Martyrion and all it stood for. It was the sort of thing that little children were taught to fear, intentionally or not.

  Serenity had been taught to have those same feelings toward the Archangel, only her fears were founded in the reality that the weapon had, in fact, been used to kill her people before. When the noise and light briefly flooded the apartment, the outlander girl dropped her fork, nearly falling out of her chair. For an instant, her eyes were wide with terror, but she quickly got herself under control.

  “Sorry,” she mumbled, picking her fork back up. “I didn’t realize how late it was.”

  Mrs. Salman assured her that everything was fine, that sometimes the Archangel surprised her, as well. Abishai filled the moment with his own rambling story about something that wasn’t quite relevant, and we fell back into the regular rhythm of dinner. I hoped that I was the only one to notice Serenity’s shaking hands.

  Serenity kept eating, trying to avoid engaging in too much of the conversation. I did my best to deflect any questions that might be directed at her, but it was getting increasingly awkward. Finally, only ten minutes or so after the Archangel had interrupted our meal, Serenity stood.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, “but I really have to get home. My… parents will be expecting me. Thank you for the meal, Mrs. Salman. It was wonderful.”

  With that, she hurried out of the apartment faster than was polite.

  “What a strange girl,” Mrs. Salman remarked placidly when the door had shut behind her. There was a question in her face when she looked at me, but she held her tongue.

  “I can see why you like her,” Abishai said, smirking.

  I bit back a sarcastic retort, not wanting to offend Mrs. Salman. Instead, I shoved another bite into my mouth before standing.

  “I should probably walk her home,” I said around the food. Without giving the others a chance to respond, I hurried out of the apartment after Serenity. By the time I was in the hall, she had already disappeared.

  “This is not good,” I muttered. Without her standing there, looking into my eyes and asking for help, my mind felt a little freer to think about the predicament I had got myself into. I had brought an outlander into the city, which was, by the way, against the law. I had no plan for how to keep her alive, much less out of trouble. To top it all off, I had lost her. What on earth was I thinking?

  I ran to the stairs at the end of the hall. Serenity had not been impressed by the elevator when we came up, and I suspected that she would rather trust her own legs than any machine. I hit the door to the stairwell hard, slamming it open and taking the steps down two or three at a time.

  Luckily, Serenity was not familiar with the layout of the building or of the city. When I reached the ground floor, I ran outside to find her frantically looking around, her hair whipping as she tried to get her bearings.

  “Serenity!” I called, crossing the distance between us before she could look back at me. “Where are you going?”

  When she met my eyes, I could just make out a sheen of moisture in hers.

  Oh. Yeah. That’s why I got myself into that mess.

  “I just,” she began. She stopped, cleared her throat. “I just needed some air. All of this,” she waved her hand vaguely around us. “It’s a little overwhelming.”

  “I’ll bet,” I replied, putting as much empathy in my voice as I could. “Look, I know you want to just wander around the city and try to live off whatever you can scavenge, but you’re going to need somewhere safe to sleep. You’ll need food, too, at least until you get used to the city. It’s a really big place. I’m sure you can lose yourself here and do fine, but maybe you should take a night to rest.”

  Serenity chewed her lip. “What are you saying?”

  “You could come home with me,” I suggested. Her eyebrow lifted, my face heated: the normal stuff of our interactions.

  “Raphael Peregrine,” Serenity said in a mock serious tone. “Are you suggesting some sort of impropriety?”

  I shook my head, laughing. “I’m suggesting that you take my bedroom. I’ll sleep in the living room.”

  “Won’t your parents think that’s suspicious?”

  “They aren’t really my parents,” I replied, pushing away the familiar hurt that always came with that acknowledgement. “They’re pretty old, so there’s a good chance they’ll be asleep if we wait long enough. You can sleep in my room, and I’ll just pretend like
I fell asleep on the couch. We can sneak you out in the morning.”

  Serenity studied me. Her expression softened before she looked away, a trace of something on her face. Sadness? Guilt? Maybe for thinking the worst of me? At the time, I didn’t understand.

  “So?” I prompted, waiting for her answer.

  “I guess it wouldn’t hurt for one night,” she said slowly.

  I was about to suggest we get moving when Abishai burst out onto the sidewalk looking like he was about to go chasing after us. He pulled up short, nearly tripping over his own feet when he saw that we were still close to the door.

  “Okay, Raph,” he said, slightly out of breath from evidently dashing down the stairs. “You’re going to tell me what’s really going on.”

  Chapter 12

  Serenity narrowed her eyes, her muscles suddenly relaxing, her hand shifting down to the pocket of her borrowed agricorps uniform. I pivoted slightly, putting myself partially between the two of them.

  “What are you talking about, Ab?” I asked, although my strained tone wasn’t going to convince anyone. “I’ve already told you.”

  Abishai snorted derisively. “Yeah, and the sky is green and the Archangel is an actual angel from heaven. Tell me the truth, or I’m going to security right now.”

  I could only see Serenity out of the corner of my eye, but I could feel her getting ready to pounce. I held up both hands in surrender. “Okay, okay! Hold on, both of you.”

  Abishai looked over my shoulder at Serenity, an ugly expression of hatred on his face. Serenity started to protest.

  “He already knows,” I told her before she could get more than a word or two out. “Ab, Serenity isn’t from the city.”

  “I knew it!” he cried. “I knew something was off from the beginning! There’s no way you got a girl like her to go out to the forest with you.” He made a face. “I can’t believe I thought she was hot… I need a shower and a medkit.”

  “Don’t be an ass,” I retorted, fed up with his attitude. “She isn’t some diseased animal.”

  “How do you know?” he shot back.

  “Because she’s already been treated!” After the words were out, I heard Serenity make an irritated noise behind me. I realized how it must have sounded to her. I definitely lost points for that one.

  Abishai gave a harsh laugh. He tilted his head in exaggerated thought. “So, she’s the one who nearly got us both killed, huh? I never got a good look at her after I shot her.”

  Serenity eye’s flickered in recognition. Before either of us could react, she flowed around me like a dancer, her knife in her hand, ready to strike at Abishai. “You filthy piece of-”

  I grabbed her knife arm from behind, jerking her off balance. “Stop it, both of you! Abishai, Serenity needs our help. If we don’t help her, she’ll die. Serenity, could you please act like violence isn’t your native language? It’s really hard to convince people that you aren’t a threat when you are actively threatening them.”

  Glaring at the young woman, Abishai asked me, “How did this happen?”

  “You know, I keep asking myself that…” I told him everything, there on the street, while Serenity kept looking around at pedestrians and vehicles as if any one of them might already know her secret and be planning to report her.

  “And now she’s going to stay at my place for the night,” I finished. “Not with me, of course,” I added hastily. “I’ll be sleeping in the living room.”

  Abishai had listened with his arms crossed, a scowl making his usually handsome features into something unpleasant. When I was done, he sighed heavily. “You know she’s a savage, right?”

  “She isn’t a ‘savage,’” I replied. “She’s just... not from around here.”

  Ab rolled his eyes. “She’s going to betray you. She’ll probably slit your throat in your sleep to start off her murderous rampage.”

  “I’m right here,” Serenity said, annoyed. “I can hear everything you’re saying, idiot. If I was here to kill people, you’d be first on the list, not Raphael.”

  “That’s encouraging,” Abishai grumbled.

  I shot a warning look at Serenity. I could almost hear it bouncing off. “Not helping, Serenity. What are you going to do, Ab? Are you going to report her?”

  “Are you kidding?” Abishai asked, incredulous. “Do you have any idea how much trouble you’d be in for this? You could get thrown in a detention cell for years, or worse: you could get exiled!”

  I hadn’t thought about that possibility. Oh well. Too late for regrets. “So, will you help me?”

  “No freaking way, man,” he replied, shaking his head. “After what these animals did to my father? I can’t believe you would even think that I would want to help one. You know me better than that. This is all you. If you need me to come rescue you when she starts flaying you to eat your flesh, give me a call. Until then, this is your problem.”

  That was honestly more than I had hoped for from him. “Thank you, Ab,” I said sincerely. “I know you don’t trust them, I know you feel like they are all monsters, but Serenity isn’t. She’s different from the ones who killed your dad. She’s not here to hurt anyone.”

  “Whatever. I’m going back inside. Don’t bring her around me again.” With that, he shot one more hateful glare at Serenity before storming off.

  Serenity relaxed a little once he was gone. “That could have been worse,” she remarked.

  “I suppose so,” I said, although that was a pretty small consolation. “Come on, let’s get you back to my place before someone else catches on.”

  “Who else is going to know I’m not from here?” she asked. She gestured to her borrowed clothes. “I look just like a city rat.”

  She most definitely did not, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was that set her apart from everyone else. To be fair, she seemed distinct even from her own people, and it wasn’t just her looks. There was something different about her, something that made her stand out. Her intensity, her vitality, drew attention without her even trying.

  “I don’t want to just hide in a dark room during my first night in the city,” she continued, not meeting my eyes when she spoke. Still, her eyes were wide with curiosity as she took everything in now that she wasn’t being threatened. “Show me around. I want to see what it’s like.”

  “I don’t know…”

  Serenity sighed. She grabbed my arm and started dragging me along. “I’m going to have a look around. You’re coming with me.”

  I could probably have stopped her then, but I let myself be pulled along. For the next few hours, we wandered aimlessly through the brightly lit streets. We rode one of the busses to the center of the city, an experience which at first seemed to impress Serenity, but quickly bored her when she realized that she had to sit in one place for the duration of the trip.

  “I’d rather walk,” she told me. Looking pointedly at one of our fellow passengers who was reading something on their wrist projector she added, “It would be too easy to get lazy with something like this. Lazy gets you killed.”

  “Not here,” I replied with a smile. “Here, lazy gets you a promotion, as long as you can channel it well.”

  When we reached the city center, I led her to the Martyrion tower. We walked around it, Serenity staring up in awe at the spire that seemed to stretch the limits of the sky. I couldn’t help but join her in that, despite having seen the tower from its base many times before. We wandered around the area, visiting a few of the ground-level shops that dominated much of the city center. Our agricorps clothing drew some odd glances, but nobody bothered us.

  I showed her my favorite garden, lit by soft amber lamps spaced evenly along the paths. Even in the chilly evening there were a few people around.

  “What do you think?” I asked her as we walked by an ancient painting of a table covered in various foods that must have been popular hundreds of years ago. The painting itself was secure in its weatherproof cover, keeping rain, temperature chan
ges, and UV radiation at bay in ways the original artist never would have dreamed of.

  “I think you people need to get out more,” she joked half-heartedly. “Where’s the fun and adventure?”

  “We leave that outside the walls with all the violence and life-threatening situations,” I replied.

  Serenity laughed. “I don’t know if it’s worth it.”

  “I’ll let you know in a few decades.”

  “Not if you keep wandering around with strangers in the forest,” she pointed out, playfully jabbing me with her elbow.

  “Yeah, their food is pretty sketchy.”

  Serenity laughed at that. “You’ve been spoiled by all your modified crops and factory meats.”

  “Make fun of it all you want. You’re going to be living off those factory meats, too.”

  Serenity’s smile faded at that. She looked around at the soft, beautiful garden again, folding her arms and drawing herself tighter as though she were huddling against a cold wind. I wondered what it would be like to be forced to turn your back on your life. How would I feel in her situation, knowing that I would never even eat the same food that I was accustomed to? It seemed like such a simple thing, yet it represented a fundamental, unalterable change in life. I couldn’t imagine how hard it would be for her.

  At the time, I decided not to press her. She clearly did not want to talk to me about it, so I thought it would be best to give her a little space. We would have time to talk it through later, if she decided she wanted to do so. In retrospect, I probably shouldn’t have been so patient.

  Then again, things could have been worse, right? That’s what I tell myself, anyway.

  #

  My first sign that things were about to go horribly awry came early the next morning.

  We had hung out in the garden for a while longer, but Serenity didn’t really get back into a conversational mood. I brought her back to my housing unit, careful to avoid any of my nosy neighbors and my foster family. As I had expected, everyone was asleep by the time we got there. I showed her my little room with the tiny bathroom it shared with the rest of the apartment, showed her how to use the plumbing, and headed back out into the living room.