by Hickory Mack
Alice came to the first intersection and saw more of the same in every direction. She scanned for security dogs and other animals. None in view, she maintained her path. In her estimation, she would run into a busier road soon enough and from there finding a bus would be simple.
She felt so exposed. There were no bushes or trees or rusted out cars on the street to hide behind. Alice forced herself to uncross her arms, instead curling her left hand into a fist, swaying at her side. Her broken fingers throbbed terribly, and she held her other hand at chest level, trying to ignore it and stay alert.
Everywhere she looked was devoid of life. No bird song, no squirrels in the grass or on the rooftops, no children playing or crying, no women scolding them. She hadn’t spotted one stray cat peering at her, looking for a hand-out. Everything was still and disconcerting, just row after row of silent houses, standing their vigil.
So lost in observing the quiet and contemplating it, Alice was startled to realize that there was one loud, clattering sound. Stanley’s old boots, clomping along. She paused long enough to remove them and stash them into her backpack before continuing barefoot. Her ankles were relieved to have the rubbing stop, but the hot blacktop soon burned the soles of her sweaty feet. Skittering to the boulevard she took to the cool, short cropped grass, briefly wondering who had the time and resources to make it all so uniform and weed free.
Nearing another intersection Alice came to a halt and cocked her head slightly. Faint, but coming her way was the pounding of running feet and an odd clicking sound she couldn’t place. The rhythm was even and not rushed, it held no fear, no aggression. This was someone training.
With nowhere to hide, Alice collapsed in on herself, crouching low and becoming as small as possible, her heart pounding, willing herself to become smaller still. “You can’t see me. You can’t see me. You can’t see me,” she muttered to herself over and again, a chant that went with the tempo of the runner’s stride.
A mid-thirties aged man wearing earbuds with a light sheen of sweat came jogging into view. His shiny black shorts and gray t-shirt were cleaner and fancier than anything she owned. With him was what she assumed to be a small dog.
Tongue lolled out the little fluff ball spent as much time looking up at its master as it looked at the road. It gave a single “Yap!” and Alice almost bolted in fear, believing herself found out, but it didn’t even look her way. It gave a joyous little leap and another yap. That creature had to be the single most uselessly adorable thing Alice had ever seen. Long hair covered its eyes and its little legs pumped hard to keep up with the jogger.
Man and dog turned right, jogging away from her on the same road she’d been travelling. Neither looked her way or hesitated or even seemed to be the least bit concerned about their own safety. Had she been a monster, the man would be dead by now.
Confused but enormously relieved, Alice stood and weighed her options. If she stayed on this road, the man could double back, catching her following him. Then again, he could loop around a block in either direction and catch her there, too. Deciding it would be quicker to stay the course rather than zig zag around, she crossed the road and kept walking.
As she wandered she imagined what it might be like to live here. These people seemingly lived without fear. They kept tiny, useless dogs that would never hold their own against a monster, let alone a demon. It probably wouldn’t even recognize the scent of one, Alice mused. She must reek of magic after being sent to this place.
They must feel so free.
After passing a third mile, Alice’s bewilderment started growing into panic. She had not passed a single solar station, no grocers or gathering spaces. Evening was coming on but there were no children coming home from school, and aside from the jogging man and his dog she’d seen no adults, either.
Trying not to let fear get the better of her, Alice broke into a jog to resist crying out for an adult to help her. She carried on for several more minutes when a large, almost empty space loomed ahead. It was a round-about with an ornate, three-tiered fountain, a black, wrought iron bench and a single large tree, the first she’d seen, in the center.
Alice crossed over and tested the water, it tasted of chlorine, but there were no other obvious chemicals. She drank as much as she could stomach before using it to wash the salty sweat from her face and arms. Alice leaned against the tree instead of the bench, grateful for the small amount of shelter and cover it provided. From her vantage point, she assessed her situation.
Five sections peeled off the round-about, four of them, including the one she’d finally escaped, all led off into uniform rows of houses. Directly in front of her was a wide, four lane road, and she surmised that this was the entrance and exit from this strange, monoculture place. She couldn’t wait to leave it behind.
Knowing where she had to go helped settle Alice’s immediate fears. She shored up her courage and left the small sanctuary provided by the tree, stealing down the deserted road.
Alice had already walked until her blisters had burst open and formed new ones. Each step she took left little splotches of blood. She had to go up a hill and when she reached the top, sore and tired, she looked down the other side to see a field of more uniform grass, and an imposing brown building. A foreign buzzing filled the air, setting her teeth on edge. It was too late to do anything but continue, sentries in the building would already have spotted her.
The building was obviously a guard station, double arched so the roads ran through it and hunter soldiers could be placed on both sides of each lane. Drawing closer to the gate, she pin-pointed the source of the buzzing. A massive, nearly invisible solar fence ran the perimeter of the whole place. The careless way these people lived their lives made more sense to her now. The entire community was protected by a fence normally reserved for colony leaders, and the hunter’s headquarters. They took a lot of power to run, so while they provided the best protection, they were exceedingly rare. Or so she’d been raised to believe.
A man dressed in fatigues stepped out onto the road with a rifle in his hands and a pistol on his hip. The girls from Tallow would be frightened and would think she was out of her mind, but Alice had been raised among hunters. She wasn’t afraid of weapons. She’d been taught that they were tools for protection from demons and monsters. It never would have occurred to her that sometimes her own people were worse than either. In the minds of these people, with their fancy roads and useless dogs, she looked an awful lot like a demon child.
The man raised his rifle level to her face and Alice froze, unsure of how to respond to what was happening.
“Keep your eyes and mouth shut!” he ordered, his voice tight and tense. Alice did as she was told, though she had never seen anyone demand such a thing of anyone else. “On your knees!”
Eyes still closed, she again obeyed, carefully lowering herself to the ground. She heard the guardhouse door open again and the crunch of three sets of boots came her way.
“Lay face down, hands on the ground in front of you,” a different voice ordered. Alice hesitated this time and she nearly opened her eyes. “Now! On the ground!” the same voice shouted. Alice flinched but she obeyed. Her whole body trembled when the footsteps halted, they had her surrounded.
“What should we do with it?” the first voice spoke again, sounding grim.
“It isn’t acting like a monster, and it doesn’t look like a demon, but it definitely isn’t a resident,” said a third voice, calmer than the other two. “Have Kern call headquarters, they’ll come pick it up.”
Alice hoped they were talking about hunter’s headquarters, whoever they sent over might recognize her and help get her out of this mess. They might even go easy on the punishment if she could remind them of who she’d been.
“Fine, but what do we do with it while we wait? It’s dangerous to assume it’s harmless, I don’t want this thing coming after us if someone turns their back for a moment,” the second voice again, he was definitely on edge. The hairs on Alice’
s arms raised, the way they were speaking frightened her.
“It’s just a kid, I don’t think it’s going to give us any trouble,” the third voice, calmer than the others, reasoned. “Look at its legs and feet, it’s bleeding all over the place. If it were a demon, it would be healing right now.”
“Not all of them can heal up quick. Besides, how’d it get in here?” the first voice demanded. “I’m not taking any chances. I have a family waiting at home for me, and I intend to see them again.”
“Hey! What are you-”
Something hit Alice’s head, hard. She saw stars and the pain took her breath away. Then, everything went silent.
Chapter 3
Alice woke to bright lights hurting her eyes, aggravating a horrible, pounding headache. She tried to sit up, letting her know her bladder was full, but she was held down by restraints on her wrists and ankles, keeping her tied to a strange, stiff bed. Panic filled her, and she strained against them, bucking wildly and thrashing around. Her breath came in great gasps until she hyperventilated, pure terror stealing her sense as she looked around the room.
The room consisted of a cold, gray, cement floor, cement brick walls with no windows, white-washed and stark, reflecting the yellow shine of the lights. A single metal chair sat next to a door with no handle on her side. A small camera stared at her from above the door, protected by a plastic bubble bolted to the ceiling. Someone must be watching, she thought.
“Can somebody please come and let me out?” she asked, feeling like someone was repeatedly stabbing her behind the eyes. Alice waited a few moments and asked again. “Please, I have to go to the bathroom.”
After several minutes of asking with increasing desperation Alice was screaming her request, her voice cracking, her feet and ankles bleeding from thrashing around. Nobody came. Hours later, shivering from cold, pain and exhaustion she unwillingly fell back to sleep.
A loud clatter woke her moments later. Alice’s eyes flew open and she recoiled from the door, struggling against her restraints. Metal slid across metal, a heavy bolt being dragged out. The door opened swiftly and a woman slipped through, the door shut behind her with a click and the bolt slid into place.
She was blonde and wore her hair in a clip, dark framed glasses, petite and wearing a long white smock. Alice frowned. Where she came from doctors didn’t tie up adults, let alone kids. Then she thought of who else wore those smocks and almost wet herself. Her father and the other members of his research team wore those, when they were in the laboratory conducting experiments and analyzing results.
She’d seen some of those reports. They involved vivisection, withholding sleep, food and water, or using experimental drugs. All written in cold, emotionless observation. Scientists were among the cruelest people she knew.
The woman looked back at the door, set her metal clipboard full of papers on the metal chair and stood over Alice.
“That was quite a display you put on. Congratulations, you’re not a demon or a monster, just some brat with a temper wasting everyone’s time.” The woman smiled a big, toothy smile. She looked pointedly at Alice’s wrists. “You’re a right little savage, but perhaps that can’t be helped, you obviously come from a lower caste.”
Alice had never heard of a caste before. She blinked at the woman in confusion. Alice had to make an effort to look into her face, the light was behind her making her difficult to make out.
“Where am I? Can I go home?” Alice croaked out.
“No, you cannot. And no, you may not,” the doctor laughed at her own little joke. Alice didn’t find it funny. “Where we are is no concern of yours. If you cooperate, there is the potential of returning you to wherever it is you came from. Eventually.”
Alice’s stomach turned and she silently cursed the demon who’d sent her here. If he’d have killed her as she’d asked she wouldn’t be in this mess.
“Who are you?” Alice asked.
“I’ll be asking the questions. Little savages must earn the privilege of speaking. Now, we took your DNA to figure out what you are. The results found you’re a disappointingly dull, ordinary girl. It’s taking us longer to figure out who you are. Why don’t we speed things up? Tell me, what is your full name?” The woman picked up her clipboard and sat down. Her pen tapped an agitated, uneven rhythm against it.
“I am Alice Calista Eustone,” she answered bitterly. The tapping stopped and the woman leaned forward, looking at Alice with suspicion.
“I will not. Tolerate. Lies,” the doctor said slowly, emphasizing each word. “The Eustone family tree was ripped out from the root and burned. Besides, your blood was negative for fae markers.”
“My father is Stanley Eustone.” Alice’s chin jutted out, daring the woman to call her a liar again. She was getting her father into a tough spot, though. There was no way he’d reported her missing yet, and the law demanded any deviation from a child’s normal routine be reported immediately. It was easier to track demons and monsters if the hunter clan was alerted as soon as possible. The woman was placated.
“I see. I’d heard the outcast had been allowed to live, under extenuating circumstances. The fae courts would have stripped him of his powers, making you less than worthless to them.” She jotted down a few notes.
“How did you get here from Nest Balance? I assume Eustone would raise his spawn there?” the nameless woman asked, her gaze traveling down the length of Alice’s body. “I don’t suppose the hunters find you to be worth much of anything, either.”
“Where is here?” Alice asked, refusing to rise to the taunt.
“You will not. Ask. Questions,” the woman snapped again, her voice rising. Better to play along and give the lady what she wants, she decided.
“We weren’t in Balance, my father moved us to Tallow. We left the hunter clans,” Alice answered through clenched teeth.
“Nest Tallow? Why there, of all places?” The suspicion was back, but her volume had lowered, less threatening.
“He never told me.” Alice wriggled uncomfortably. “I need to use the bathroom, please.”
“Do I look like an orderly to you?” The woman finished writing and gave Alice that same look of disgust. She stood, looming over Alice now, her voice lowering, spitting venom. “Your answers will be verified easily enough. Now, tell me how you got here, and do not lie. You are completely covered in the stench of demon magic, Miss Alice Eustone. You let one of them mark you, you filthy little savage.”
“M-mark me? I don’t know what that means!” Alice stammered in surprise. What had he done?! Alice now understood why the woman had been so combative from the start. She’d known all along that Alice had been close to a demon.
“Don’t play stupid with me. Which demon was it? Why did it send you here? How long have you been under its control?” the woman’s eyes were wide, her mouth formed an ugly sneer, all pretense of calm had vanished. Alice panicked, spitting out words in a rush.
“It’s nothing like that! He did send me here, but it was because I bothered him. He forced me to keep living, that’s all.” Alice closed her eyes, defending a stranger to these people was stupid. Defending a demon was a death sentence. Closing her eyes had been a mistake. She didn’t see the doctor coming.
The woman rushed at her, slapping Alice across the face once, twice, three times. Alice called out in fear more than pain, but it was only the beginning of the assault. The woman left scratches down her face, clawing at her throat. She climbed on top of her, punching her stomach repeatedly and screaming profanities. Eventually the door opened and two large men entered.
“Liar! You lying little savage!” the woman was screaming, her words running together in a stream of rage. “You’re one of them, you’re working with it!” she continued screeching as the men pulled her out of the room. One of the orderlies grunted, taking a kick to the side. A third person came in long enough to grab the clipboard. He gave Alice the quickest of glances and hurried out.
Alice tasted blood, but she didn’t
cry. It hurt, but no worse than what happened at school every day. Alone again she stared at the ceiling and wondered what would happen next time the door opened. How many bearing the same hatred were still out there? She didn’t want to think about that. Easier to hope for better next time.
Alice deliberately changed her direction of thought and went over the course of her day, pondering the secret to how she’d gotten out of Tallow in the first place. She shouldn’t have been able to. The only explanation she could come up with was that the barrier had failed, which made her already knotted stomach feel worse. The barrier was their only protection against magical attacks.
Few hunters resided in Tallow, those assigned there were typically there a few weeks at a time, rotating shifts before moving on to other assignments. Since arriving in the impoverished nest, Alice had yet to see anyone she knew. A mixed blessing. She’d had nobody to turn to, but at least none of them had borne witness to how far the remaining two members of the once great Eustone family had fallen.
Her pulse slowly returned to normal, and as the adrenaline wore off the depths of her pain started to set in. Alice’s stomach convulsed, her gut twisting. She worried she might vomit, but nothing came of it except more ripples of pain.
She cast her thoughts away from her current circumstances and thought of the fox. Her mind centering on the look of contempt on his face when she’d shown him the slices across her calf. She’d gotten the clear impression that he hadn’t liked what he’d seen. Alice wondered why it bothered him at all, a creature like him. Demons were violent by nature; her injuries should have been nothing to him.
Yet, even the sound of his voice had changed when she’d shown him, tightening when he spoke. Alice wished she’d asked him why. She wished she’d had more time with him before being sent away. His voice had been so clear, and firm, but quiet, as though she weren’t worth the effort of raising his voice. Or maybe that’s how he habitually spoke.
