Windslinger

by JM Guillen

  “I wondered if you’d be able to see it.” The grin in his voice threatened to turn into a chuckle. “Thought you might.”

  Faintly, only little more than a shadow, a great glowing circle rolled within that flame. It spun like a wheel and glinted, as if made of a metal I did not know. Within that, almost like a gyroscope, revolved another circle, and yet a third within it. Each was ringed with what seemed to be…

  Eyes? Wings? Living fire?

  Yes.

  “What is it?” I breathed. I felt like I didn’t actually see it, not in any real sense. It appeared more like a visual echo, something faint in my mind. As those wheels spun quicker, the fire grew higher and brighter. “It’s alive, isn’t it?”

  “More than alive.” Simon’s deep voice went soft and lost all trace of teasing. “It’s from before our world somehow. Behind it. It’s a minor gear in the machinery of reality.”

  Those wheels spun ever faster, fading from view as they sped. The verdant flame around them spread further, hungrily devouring what lay around it. As we watched, the leaves on a tree ten feet from the fire began to wilt and the dumpster itself sagged from the furious heat.

  “I can hear it.” I had to strain, but I told the truth. A trace of some haunting melody lurked behind the more obvious sounds of the city.

  “Now that,” Simon announced, “is an example of something that breaks the status quo. That—” he pointed with his walking stick to the phenomenon “—is definitely supernatural.”

  “Okay.” I breathed. “How did you do it?”

  “Not the point.” His brow furrowed.

  “You’re my mentor,” I insisted. “I think knowing how you do things is part of the point.”

  “This will never matter to you, Shortcake.” He shook his head, a touch irritated. “Your little gifts are in a different direction. I don’t have nearly the horsepower you will.”

  “I can’t do that.” I gestured toward the fire.

  “That is nothing but a trick.” He cleared his throat. “You change reality. I just make great friends. Oh, and I lie real convincingly and reality believes me.”

  “What?”

  “It’s enough. Look.”

  It took me a moment to realize that he wasn’t looking at the flaming dumpster. Instead, his gaze had settled upon the small alleyway.

  A shiny black sedan ambled its way toward the abandoned parking lot.

  “No way.” I stared at him, my eyes wide. “That had to be… what, less than two minutes?”

  “Well, I suspect they may have been snooping since yesterday,” he said grimly. “I had to fiddle with some things in order to set this up, but that’s not my point.” He leaned back and folded his hands. “They easily could have been here within ten minutes, on their worst day.”

  The sedan pulled into the old parking lot and veered around a patch of broken concrete. It parked about thirty feet from the ravenous green fire and both doors opened simultaneously.

  “How do they know?” I watched in wonder. Two of the creatures stepped out; one wore a suit and jacket, the other in a t-shirt, jeans, and sunglasses. They walked with an inhuman grace, stopping a few meters from the fire.

  “I suspect they have some means of monitoring a given area for blips of supernatural hoodoo.” He scratched his beard. “Small things seem to get by them, but something overt or something in the same location over and over, and they’ll show up.”

  “There must be millions of them. How else could they watch everything?” I shook my head in wonder. “Do you think—?”

  Below, a feral scream echoed through the parking lot, an unearthly wail that made the air tremble. The two figures closed in on the green flame, and the bizarre creature that lay at its center.

  “They’re doing something,” I whispered. “Hurting it somehow?”

  “We don’t know what it is they do. They’re not quite human, we know that for certain.”

  The parking lot rippled, as if a blast wave vibrated through the air. They centered upon one of the figures, and the world around him cascaded in tremors, for the barest moment.

  Just like that, the fire and the creature within it vanished. As if it had never been.

  “What was that?” I asked, breathless.

  “Quiescence,” he muttered. “That’s what I’ve always heard it called anyway. Somehow, they have the power to completely shut down anything supernatural or strange just by their presence.”

  “Just by being close?”

  “That is the point exactly.” His brows drew together. “It has something to do with proximity. It doesn’t last forever, neither. But for a few moments they can somehow turn off your special little knack like a light switch.”

  “Why?” I felt the color run from my face. “Why spend so much time and effort on…” I trailed off and waved one hand in their direction.

  “This seems to be their purpose,” Simon spoke gravely. “They are intent upon fluctuations in our world. They arrive, destroy whatever caused the shifts in reality, and vanish. Sometimes, I’ve heard, they are followed by others.”

  “Others?” I wrapped my arms around myself.

  “Maybe a clean-up crew of some kind. Most folks never remember the Silent Gentlemen; as if they never saw them at all.”

  “There must be a way to hide from them.”

  “Well,” he acknowledged, “just might be that some folks know a bit about that.” His face became grim. “But for now, no. For now, you keep your head down. No pulling large, overt tricks with your little knack. No shaping wind in the same place, over and over.”

  “But—”

  “No buts, Peaches.” His eyes hardened. “You see a Silent Gentleman coming your way, you do one thing.”

  “I run,” I sighed.

  “Their quiescence has a limited range. Once you’re inside it, you move. Fast.”

  “Don’t get me wrong, Simon, I’m good at running, but how are we supposed to train a gift I can barely use?”

  Before he could answer, the creature in the suit stopped in place. He craned his head, searching, before staring squarely at us.

  I felt that gaze. It crept across the surface of my skin, like static-y electric fire.

  “Oops. That’s the cue.” Simon placed one hand on my shoulder. “Questions later, Tiger Lilly. We gotta beat it.”

  “They won’t connect that… fire to us?” I squeaked.

  “Probably not, especially as long as you don’t pull any voodoo. Still—”

  “We don’t wanna find out. Okay.”

  With that, Simon and I made our way back into the building and from there, he guided me to the elevator. Eventually we came to the basement.

  “You asked if it was possible to hide from them.” He chuckled as he pulled out an old, black key. “Fact is I might have something to say on the subject.”

  “No way a key like that works in a modern building.”

  “This key,” he said, holding the key closer for my inspection. “Will work wherever you need it to.” Sigils and Seals had been inscribed all along its length, carved deeply into the metal.

  “Ah.” I nodded. “I should have known.”

  He unlocked the small door, gestured within, and gave me an enigmatic smile.

  “Honestly?” I stepped into the room, which appeared completely impossible. A huge, round window overlooked a busy street—a far cry from the basement we had been in.

  “We’re in someone’s attic?” I glanced around at a labyrinth of dusty bookshelves. I couldn’t see far in the dim light, but it appeared that a man-sized birdcage had been pushed into one corner.

  “Someone’s,” he chuckled. “Yes.”

  “What’s this?” I crouched and peered at the floor. An unfamiliar symbol had been engraved into the wood floor, bordered with deep blue stone inlay. It looked like a stylized eye, surrounded by letters I did not know.

  “That,” he quirked up an eyebrow. “Is not for you to know. Far too mysterious.”

  “Ye
ah?”

  “Oh yes. The Aegis of Dudael, which is what this sigil is named, is a dangerous secret. Why, simply hearing its name is said to drive one insane.”

  “Oh my. That sounds serious.” The left side of my mouth quirked up.

  “All of my secrets are serious,” he intoned. “Be careful.”

  “Including the secrets of hiding from the Silent Gentlemen?”

  “‘Fraid so.” Simon shut the door behind us and stepped to the center of the eye. He touched the marking, whispered, and it pulsed once, a faint sky blue. “I’m willing to discuss it, but we’re going to have to hole up for a couple hours.”

  “Good. I’d like some answers.”

  “You won’t like these.” He sat on a crate and huffed out a breath. “Universally, stories of the Silent Gentlemen are horrific things, kid. They’re stories where things never end well for whatever they’re chasing.”

  “I see.” I sat in an old office chair and spun a bit. “I suppose you should tell me anyway.”

  He did. We hid there for the next couple of hours and discussed the Silent Gentlemen.

  He told me stories of disappearances, of people losing time, of waking up inside incomprehensible laboratories.

  Some of these seemed impossible.

  Yet there were more. Tales of creatures that fed upon humans, only to be slaughtered by the Silent Gentlemen. Others spoke of hidden facilities, government workshops, and research stations where inhuman automatons conducted experiments on unwilling participants.

  These stories did nothing to lessen my concerns.

  3

  August 29, 1997- Present Day

  New York, New York

  My eyes snapped open and I gasped, as if I hadn’t breathed in hours.

  4:42. I stared at the clock, unable to believe my eyes.

  “Look, Liz. I just want to talk.” The uncanny figure spread its arms, palms out and the buzzing sound began to fade.

  “Is this how you start every conversation?’ I snapped, almost not caring about the true nature of the creature.

  Almost.

  “I’m sorry if I startled you, but I truly mean you no harm.” Slowly it stepped over to the armchair and leaned on the table nearby. It kept its dark, steady gaze on me the entire time.

  “No harm,” I huffed and tried to calm myself. “Th–that’s exactly what I heard about you guys.” I rubbed my forehead; it felt full of pins and needles, as if my skull had fallen asleep.

  “Fair assessment.” It gave a half shrug. “Yet it’s true. After I leave you’ll find your little gift returns. No harm at all.”

  Or if I can get away from you.

  “Gift?” I breathed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Truthfully, if you hadn’t considered using it against me, you wouldn’t feel the way you do now,” it reasoned.

  “So it’s my fault.”

  “Liz.” It shook its head in a more-than-slightly patronizing way. “After a fashion, it’s your gift I’m here to speak about. It’s an aberrant talent, but an impressive one.”

  “I’m pleased you appreciate my talents.” I found it difficult to hold onto my existential horror as the Silent Gentleman chatted me up. Why aren’t I already in the back of a black van? I would be soon if I didn’t come up with a plan.

  I needed to think.

  “Liz, you’re a big girl. I bet you’ve already heard the whole ‘the world is larger than you believe’ spiel.” It rotated its right wrist as it spoke. “Let me ask you. Did that propaganda come from one particular person? Someone who went on to show you how wide the world is? Or do you have other people’s perspectives too?”

  Play along. I swallowed. Maybe I could find an opportunity. Where are my knives?

  “Propaganda? I—” Put that way, my mentorship with Simon sounded small. “I get around,” I huffed. “I’ve learned things.”

  “Of course.” The creature smiled, just a bit too widely. The tiniest hint of that painful buzz lurked behind its words. “Liz, you’re in a dangerous situation.”

  No shit, I almost blurted.

  “We live in a world where things can change very quickly. I worry you don’t understand some of the… long term ramifications of your choices.”

  “I see.” I didn’t believe a word it said. “It’s very altruistic of you to watch out for my wellbeing. Since we know each other so well and all.”

  “Hah!” It shook its head, the movement so realistic that for a moment, it could have been anyone at all. It looked completely normal.

  Just some guy, I marveled. I didn’t know the creature’s true shape, but it mimicked a human impressively.

  “That’s fair I suppose.” It extended a hand. “I already know your name. Mine’s Garret. I’m what’s called a Facility Asset.’”

  “Nice to meet you, Garret.” I shook its hand, trying not to tremble. Even though I knew it wasn’t really human, its flesh felt soft and warm.

  Every nerve ending I had blazed with scarcely held panic.

  “Liz, I’m here because it’s possible that people who have recently come into your life aren’t being completely honest with you. Can you see why I might think that?”

  “No.”

  “Hmm.” It nodded. “Liz, it’s my job to look after people like you. I had hoped by approaching you this way, you would see I’m trying to be a friend.”

  ‘Look after.’ I shuddered at the thought, but an unfamiliar glint caught the edge of my gaze.

  “Yeah, I’ve heard just how friendly you all can be,” I said and glanced away briefly, searching.

  Found.

  My eyes widened as I realized my throwing knives were right there, at the side of the bed.

  I practically vibrated in place as I waited for “Garret” to glance away.

  “Liz,” its voice suddenly weary, “I’ve not offered any violence. I just want to talk.”

  “Right. I know.” I gave him a sunny smile and hoped it couldn’t read the desperation in my eyes.

  “There’s no reason for you to need the knives. You’d just irritate us both.”

  “What?” I half laughed. “What do you mean?” How did it know? Could it literally read my mind?

  “You have ten throwing knives in this room in several different kinds of sheaths.” It raised an eyebrow. “It’s an odd choice of weapon.”

  “I find they serve very well.” I met its gaze and my chin jut forward with cocky aplomb.

  Internally, however, I was losing my shit.

  “At about the same time you reached your knives, I’d activate my defensive packets again,” it warned, that soft buzz back in its voice. “You’d find yourself on the ground, only this time, when you woke up, we’d be somewhere very far away.”

  “I see.” I couldn’t meet the creature’s eyes.

  “Liz, that’s not the way I want this to happen. I’ll admit, my own protocols have very specific standards for how an asset is supposed to act in this situation, but I hoped we could do things differently.” The warbling buzz grew a touch louder.

  “Okay.” I took a breath.

  “I told you, we’re having this conversation regardless. Wouldn’t it be more pleasant if we had it here, and then you got to return to your little friends?”

  “I get to leave after?”

  “I can’t see why not.” It smiled again, wide, inhuman. “If that’s what you desire.”

  “That would be preferable.” I nodded stiffly. “Yes.”

  Gotta run. I didn’t believe for a moment that it would actually allow me to leave. Still, if I didn’t provoke the thing, perhaps I’d get a chance.

  Running was what I was spec’d for, after all.

  4

  “Look, I’ll cut to the point of my visit.” It peered at me with cool, almost reptilian eyes. “Has anyone warned you about the ramifications of your aberrant talent?”

  “Talent?”

  “Come now,” it said with a disarming lilt to its voice. “When you first
saw me, you were going to alter the axioms of reality. You shape and control the physics of air dynamics, isn’t that right?”

  “Um….” Will it know if lie? I gave the creature a half-hearted shrug.

  “Just what were you going to do?” Those almost-human brown eyes held a curious glint.

  My lips parted to answer him, but it held up a hand before I could say a word.

  “Doesn’t matter. Something you expected to be painful and possibly gruesome, I expect.” It cleared its throat. “It seems you remain ignorant of the long term effects of your experimentations.”

  Breathe. Just feel of the creature’s eyes on me sent panicky little tremors through my gut. I took a deep breath, and responded.

  “What do you mean, experimentations?”

  “As I expected.” It shook its head. “I didn’t think you could possibly know. Liz, you seem like a talented girl with a good head on your shoulders. You wouldn’t want to put anyone else in danger.” Its voice reverberated with the slightly mechanical buzz.

  “In danger?” I furrowed my brow.

  “I’m sure it didn’t take very long for a… more experienced… person to show up and take you under their wing when things started to go Irrational on you, did it? Some altruistic, generous fellow that said they just wanted to teach you, show you your new world?”

  “Um.” I stood absolutely still and gave the creature my very best blank face. If all this is a hunt for Simon…

  “I’ll take that as a yes.” Its lips pulled into a façade of a smile. “Did they ever ask anything from you in return?”

  No. I frowned. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “No?”

  “If you’re looking for someone, I can’t help you.”

  “Oh! Oh, no, Liz!” The Gentleman chuckled and waved one hand in the air. “I’m not after anyone else.”

  “Meaning… you’re after me.” I fought to keep the tremor from my voice.

  “In a manner of speaking. You’re thinking too much.” It shrugged. “It’s just that you’re very bright. It’d sure be a shame if you found yourself on the wrong side of things.”