by G. P. Ching
Chapter 42
The Emancipation of Jacob Lau
“Lilly!” Jacob yelled toward his mother. He was afraid to yell Mom, afraid the Watchers might use their relationship against them. “Lillian!” he called again but she would not turn, would not or could not stop rocking herself in the shabby bed. It was as if she couldn’t even hear him.
A group of Watchers had formed around him, imitating him and laughing. They were taking turns changing their features to resemble his. Jacob watched as their skin became lighter or darker to match his own and their hair changed to his untamed cut. The female Watchers would keep their long locks but try on his skin tone or cheekbones.
Oddly, two Watchers at the back weren’t participating in the game. They stared at him, a hint of something he might have interpreted as compassion in their eyes. One was a gorgeous Indian Watcher, tall with iridescent brown skin and eyes the color of dark amber. Her friend had long red hair, piercing green eyes, and a low-cut emerald green dress. They looked familiar to Jacob. He glared in their direction, trying to sort his thoughts.
The green eyes sliced right through him, as if they could see into his soul. But it was the amber eyes that attracted him. The golden hue warmed him from head to toe. Where had he seen them before? He stared more intently and the Watcher did the oddest thing, she nodded and smiled.
That small tip of her head, that smile, Jacob’s brain flooded with memories of Malini, the way the gold and red had danced in her eyes by the fire, the sweetness of her grin. One of these creatures might have copied her appearance, but they could never copy the genuineness of her smile. It had to be her. But how did she get here and why was she one of them?
Jacob turned away. To get her alone, he’d need to be less entertaining. With a stretch and a yawn, he walked to the bed and crawled under the pitifully dirty blanket. Peeking out from a tiny crack, he made his chest rise and fall rhythmically.
As expected, the crowd began to make disgruntled noises. After a few rocks thrown in his direction, the Watchers wandered off one by one. All except for Malini and the Watcher she was with. The redhead approached the cage door.
“Jacob,” she called in a raspy whisper.
He pulled back the blanket.
“Jacob, it’s me, Dr. Silva.”
He approached cautiously. “Dr. Silva? What happened to you?”
“It’s a long story. We’ve got to get you out of here. Malini’s here as well.”
“I saw her.”
“She’s keeping watch, in case we have company.”
He looked down at Dr. Silva’s fingers on the cage door. “It’s locked.”
“Yes, of course, Jacob.”
“Dr. Silva, I’m so sorry about what I did. I know I don’t deserve it but thank you for coming for me.”
“I forgive you, and based on what Malini has been through to get this far, I think she has also.”
“Yes, I have.” Malini walked up behind Dr. Silva. “But Jacob already knew that.”
Jacob’s whole body tingled at the sight of her. “It’s nice to hear it out loud,” he said. In fact, the forgiveness seemed to heal some of the despair that hung in the air. His chest felt lighter.
“I have something for you, my friend,” Dr. Silva said. She handed him a bottle of water. “I recommend using discretion. We are not entirely alone.”
If there were a way for him to fit inside the bottle, he would have done it. As it was, the familiar hum of the water was soothing beyond belief. He took a small sip, strength seeping into his flesh with the liquid. Then he filled his palm. A disc of ice shot from his hand, slicing the lock in two before returning to its source. He willed every drop back into the bottle.
“Here,” Dr. Silva said, handing him a mass of garbage she picked up from behind the cage, “to stuff under the blanket as a decoy. I could use magic for this but I have a feeling I’d better save my energy for later.”
With his bed stuffed to look like he was sleeping, he exited his prison, relieved at his unexpected freedom. He hid under Dr. Silva’s left wing. Watchers passed by but, luckily, they were so caught up in themselves they did not question why two others would be huddled next to the cage door of a sleeping human. Dr. Silva figured out that her wings were long enough to completely conceal all but Jacob’s feet. He pressed up against her back and slowly they moved away from the empty cage.
“We can’t leave without my mom,” Jacob said.
“What? Your mother is here?” The words sounded surprised, but Jacob had a hunch that Dr. Silva had known about this place when they visited the medicine woman.
“She’s in the cage marked Chinese.”
Dr. Silva stopped in her tracks. “How do you know what her cage says?”
“It’s on a sign above her head.”
“Jacob, all of the signs here are in Aramaic.”
He peeked between her feathers and looked at the sign again. As he focused on the letters, he could tell they were not English, but still he could clearly understand their meaning.
“I guess I can read Aramaic,” he replied.
“Hmm. I guess you can,” she said, rubbing her chin. “Now let’s go get your mom.”
The three of them made their way to the Chinese cage. Nearby, three male Watchers wrestled a female Watcher to the ground, tearing off her clothes as she screamed and clawed at their faces.
Malini gasped.
“Look away,” Dr. Silva whispered. “If we help her, they will know we aren’t Watchers.”
The distraction worked in their favor, as all of the other Watchers circled the act of violence, watching and laughing. The three of them arrived at his mother’s cage and Jacob used the water to break the lock.
“Hurry, Mom, it’s me, Jacob. Come with me now.” He held out his hand. His mom stared in his direction, her brown eyes vacant. She did not move.
“Mom, what’s wrong? Come on, we’ve got to get out of here!”
“Jacob.” Dr. Silva put her hand on his shoulder. “Your mom has been here a long time. This could be problematic. She doesn’t remember herself, only her weakness.”
“I don’t understand. Why?” They needed to hurry, before the crowd broke up again.
“Oh for heaven’s sake.” Malini pushed Jacob out of the way and leaped into the cage. She shoved a wad of paper under the blankets and scooped his mom up. She was a small woman. Malini easily lifted her with her enhanced arms and was out the door in seconds. She wrapped her wing around the front of her body, shielding his mom from view. The position was noticeably awkward but, with Dr. Silva leading the way, they reached the entrance without notice.
“That was incredibly stupid,” Dr. Silva said.
“Oh, come on. Damaged or not, we were not leaving Jacob’s mother behind. Now change them to look like us so we can get out of here.”
“I can’t, Malini. I only brought one other flower—for Jacob. But if I use it on him now, the magic could draw attention to us. Plus, we’d have to wait for the pain to stop. There’s no time; we have to keep moving. Anyway, what would we do with Lillian? If I made her look like a Watcher, she’d just be harder to carry. It’s an illusion. It doesn’t affect the mind.”
They headed toward the train and luck was with them. The car was empty. Malini sat down and lowered her wing so Jacob could take his mother’s hand.
“Mom, it’s me, Jacob. Everything’s going to be all right.”
Her eyes focused on his face, squinting and blinking. He rubbed her hand between his own, but she didn’t respond.
“Why is she like this?” he demanded.
“People don’t end up in Nod unless they’ve done something to invite evil into their lives. In the beginning, it was Eve’s pride that invited the snake to the garden. It was the blood of Abel that brought the Watchers to the sons and daughters of Cain. And it was your dishonesty, your lie to me, and your treatment of Malini that brought you here.” Dr. Silva’s eyes cut through him and Jacob stared at the floor. He knew exactly wh
at she spoke of, and he wasn’t proud of it.
“Your mother, too, invited evil. When people come here, at first they fight, but after a while the illusion of this place overruns their soul. They begin to believe that they are no better than their worst sin. Their guilt makes them think they belong here, and so they give up. Your mom has given up. She is empty because she has no hope.”
“How do we bring her back?”
“It is not within our power to do so. Only she can decide to forgive herself. As we get her away from here, her thoughts will become clearer. After that, it’s up to her.”
The conversation ended as the train came to an abrupt and unexpected halt. Malini quickly covered Lilly with her wing and turned her body sideways. In this position, she appeared to be drunk or sleeping, holding her stomach. Jacob, however, was hopelessly exposed and met Dr. Silva’s eyes with trepidation. Thinking fast, he fell to his knees in front of her and began polishing her shoe with the hem of his rag.
His back exploded with pain as the last to board, a huge Watcher in the image of the African man with bright purple wings, kicked him squarely in the back.
“Use your tongue, maggot,” the Watcher screamed at the back of his head, “and when you’re done there, you can start on mine.”
Thankfully, the Watchers walked toward the large group at the center of the train and didn’t stay to watch him. He’d lowered his mouth toward Dr. Silva’s shoe out of sheer terror. As soon as the other passengers were distracted, she reached down and stopped him. Standing up, she grabbed a pole at the center of the train and Jacob slid beneath her wing.
The train screeched to a stop in the city and the doors opened to reveal the bustling streets of Nod.
“Where is that little maggot?” the Watcher screamed into Dr. Silva’s face as he moved toward the door.
She didn’t answer, just shrugged her shoulders and looked down her nose. He left the train disgruntled, looking up and down the street for another human to do his bidding. The three exited near the back of the crowd, trying their best to blend in.
Crossing town to reach the gate proved to be more difficult than they’d anticipated. Watchers packed the streets, each going their own way with no semblance of order. Halfway to the gate and beyond the most congested part of the city, Malini’s feathers began to drop one by one. Her body contracted, shortening like gravity had quadrupled and was pulling her to the ground accordion style.
“Malini, your hour is up,” Dr. Silva said. “Run!”
Yanking Jacob into her arms, Dr. Silva flew for the gate. Malini’s wings disappeared completely and her arms could no longer support Lilly. Jacob yelled as Malini collapsed to the sand. The sound did nothing but call more attention to their plight. Every eye in Nod turned in their direction.
Dr. Silva tossed Jacob through the gate, where he hit the sand and rolled toward the thorny brush beyond. She returned, sweeping Lilly into one arm and Malini into the other. With one powerful thrust of her wings, she carried them outside of Nod.
Watchers pointed at them through the gates and then Jacob’s worst nightmare came true. Mordechai emerged from the office building, his jet-black wings stretching in anger. He blazed toward them, his model perfect face contorting with fury, his black eyes burning.
“Mordechai!” Jacob screamed, pushing at the gate, but it would not budge.
“It will only move for a Watcher, Jacob,” Dr. Silva said. With a flick of her wrist the gate slammed shut. A ring of blue energy flew from her hand and sealed the gate.
Dr. Silva transformed into the platinum blonde version of herself. She did not bother to tuck her wings away.
“So that’s what you are. You’re one of them?” he said, unable to disguise the note of disgust in his voice.
Dr. Silva ignored him. “It will not hold. Gideon, where are you?”
The large red cat leapt from the thorny darkness. Dr. Silva handed him the cat’s leash, and placed Malini’s hand into Jacob’s. Then she lifted Lilly into her arms.
“Gideon, move!” she said as the pounding against the gate became more urgent. “I can’t hold them for long.” Gideon took off down the thorny path with Malini and Jacob following close behind and Dr. Silva, Lilly in tow, bringing up the rear.
The absolute darkness swallowed them all.
