by D. N. Hoxa
“What? What happened?” I asked once he looked like he was done.
Sennan smiled. “A human just passed through one of the screens,” he shouted, loud enough for everyone to hear. That was all he needed to say.
By the time I turned around, the bar was empty. Everybody was rushing to the door, running outside as if the circus was in town and everybody wanted to steal a ticket to the front row. My mouth dry, I watched them, trying to focus on my breathing. Running with a crowd in a place like this, especially for humans, was a bad idea. But could I really pass up an opportunity like this? I was the last human to have made it through one of the screens in Vanah. That was three years ago. Unless you were a master, or you had something on your person that was marked with a master’s sigil, you couldn’t pass the screens that separated this world from Earth. I should know—for two years, I tried to go back every single night—and failed.
Anger rose in me together with an unhealthy dose of misplaced hope. Maybe the human still had whatever had brought them here. Maybe they were…special somehow and could travel through worlds at will. Maybe…just maybe, they could take me back with them.
Stupid. So fucking naive, I almost kicked myself in the face for those thoughts.
“Coming?”
I turned to see Sennan, throwing his dish towel on the bar before making for the door. When he turned the gas lamps off, I had no choice but to walk outside. The bar was closed for the night, it seemed.
“It’s just around the corner,” Sennan said, but he didn’t wait for me. With his hands in the pockets of his brown leather vest, he walked fast to the right. My body made my decision for me. It seemed it wasn’t as tired as I’d thought just a second ago because right now I could walk just fine.
I ran until I fell in step with Sennan. Nobody messed with him, ever. Chances that I’d get robbed or killed in his company were slimmer than they would have been otherwise. And I really wanted to see the human who’d passed the screen. With every step I took, the hope in me grew. I prayed for the first time in longer than a year. Please, let the human have a way out. Please, let them be my salvation. Please, let them get me back home. It all got to my head so fast, it was ridiculous.
Sennan was right. The crowd that had gathered around the corner of the street was huge—easily a hundred people. Everybody wanted to see the human—of course they would. Everybody wanted to go to Earth. Everybody would kill for a chance like that, and everybody, like me, hoped that this human would be the answer.
And then I saw her, and all the hope I’d gathered in the past few minutes died a slow and painful death.
Two
I wondered, was it like this with me, too? Had people been minding their own business, and then I’d slipped through the screen and boom! I was the most interesting thing to have happened in years in that place?
Because the rest of it sure was identical.
The girl who’d passed the screen that was down the alley from the building against which she was sitting was naked. Completely naked. As soon as I caught a glimpse of her, I forgot about Sennan and began to push people out of my way until I was in the front of the line. I just needed to see her. Screw it if they stole my money. I had to see her.
Her long blonde hair covered her face, and she had her arms wrapped tightly around her knees, which were stuck to her chest. She was shaking, both from the cold and from the fear. She wouldn’t look up—not even once.
The bitter feeling settling in my gut erased all my anger and brought back the depression. She looked exactly—exactly like me. Three years ago, I’d been sitting on the ground, hugging my knees, shaking, crying, scared out of my mind, desperately hoping this was all just a nightmare. I’d made a mess out of my arms by pinching myself so I could wake up. I hadn’t, and this girl wouldn’t, either.
Warm tears gathered in my eyes as I watched her and shook together with her. The chatter and laughter around me didn’t bother me. The people had come there for one reason only—to see if they could get their hands on whatever had brought this human here. But they’d been late, just like they had with me. That was okay, though. They still got to place bets on how long this girl had until she died—or just disappeared. They’d done the same with me three years ago.
I still remembered it like it was yesterday, though I wanted nothing more than to erase that memory from my mind.
I’d been running through Manhattan, without direction, suffocating in grief, my hands covered in my father’s blood. The sirens, the red and blue lights had me hypnotized. I saw them everywhere I looked; I heard them every time I let go of my breath. I’d been running for God knew how long, but my muscles were aching too much and I needed a place to hide. I just needed to hide until morning, and then I’d figure it all out. The police couldn’t catch me. I’d grown up in those streets. I knew them better than they did. It’s what I told myself to gather some sort of courage to make it until sunlight. Everything would make sense again, and I would get out of whatever mess I’d found myself in. That’s all I needed—hide and not come out until my head was clear.
I was nineteen at the time. I’d been in alleys before, and though most people avoided them, they made the perfect hiding place for me. I’d sleep in a dumpster if I had to, just as long as nobody saw me. So I crossed the street running the second I spotted an especially dark alley on the other side. The sirens were still there. Maybe they were just in my head or maybe the cops had really chased me all this time—it didn’t matter. I was going to get away.
The stupidest decision I’d made in my entire fucking life. I entered the alley. It was so dark, I couldn’t see shit, but I had my hands and I used them to make sure I didn’t bump into anything. Only after it was done did I realize that I’d felt the screen passing over me or rather me passing through it. It was invisible to me then—no shimmer, no light, no nothing except darkness. If I’d seen it, I would have stopped, but I didn’t. I went through it and deeper, thinking I was still in the alley. I made it to the main street on the other side, and everything looked the same to me, though nothing was. The buildings, yes, but the stores here were mostly closed, there was little light, and very few people compared to Manhattan. To my mind at the time, it made no difference. I didn’t mind the people looking at me—I just wanted to escape from the police.
Then, they caught me.
They came out of nowhere, grabbed me by the arms and pulled me right back into the darkness. I tried to fight. It was in my blood. I’d trained since I was six years old, but it was useless. I couldn’t see anything, my muscles were screaming in pain, my body practically useless. When they tried to undress me, rape came to my mind. They were going to rape me and then kill me, these men. I thought there were three of them, but I didn’t know for sure.
So I screamed. If the police was still after me, they were going to hear me. Everybody was going to hear me. I screamed like the world was on fire and waited for someone to come to my rescue, to scare my attackers, at least for long enough so I could run back to the street, to the lights. There, if I could see them, I could take them.
But nobody came.
They stripped me all the way to my panties, took everything I had on my person, but they didn’t rape me. They didn’t kill me. They just left me there and disappeared with all my belongings.
I made it to the main street then. And I saw the people. The differences weren’t too obvious at first, but the way they watched me, the way they all gathered around me and laughed when I begged them to call the cops and help me, I realized that they were different.
Tonight, this new girl had realized it, too, by now.
I’d heard stories about humans who’d passed through screens before. Sennan remembered twelve, of which seven had died, three had traveled out of Vanah, and one had disappeared without a trace. I wondered which fate would await this girl. Was she going to get killed, or was she just going to die? Starvation, an infection or a disease, suicide—they were all very possible.
The
people who’d stripped her—and me three years ago—were a group of people who monitored the screens in Vanah. They worked for a drug lord, a very dangerous guy who controlled half the city, and they were always the first to be there when a human made it to the other side. They stripped us because they wanted whatever had brought us here. Selling something marked with a sigil that could take you to Earth and back would possibly set someone up for life. Things like that people would die for. They called themselves the Watchers, but they didn’t kill anyone, so the new girl was safe from them, at least. Others, however…
Someone tapped me on the shoulder. “Hey, let’s go.”
All my instincts screamed at me to grab the hand and twist it, but I recognized Sennan’s voice and was able to stop myself in time. When I turned to look, I saw that the crowd had already disappeared. They were all leaving because there was nothing more left to see. The Watchers had already taken everything this girl had. The show was over. They would all go back to their lives like nothing at all had happened.
But what about her?
“Morgan?” Sennan called when I didn’t move from my place. I just couldn’t tear my eyes from her. Vanah was dangerous. Every city in this world was dangerous. Surviving was going to take a miracle. Would she be able to pull it off?
A sigh. “Don’t do it, Morgan. You know you can’t,” Sennan said from behind me.
I swallowed hard. “I’m not doing anything.” I was just looking.
“It’s going to end badly. You can hardly take care of yourself as it is,” he said. “Just leave her. She’ll be fine.”
Leave her. Just like everybody left me three years ago.
Except Sennan.
“But you didn’t leave me.” He’d stayed. He was the only one who’d stayed.
“That was different.”
“How was it different?” I pointed at the naked girl who hadn’t moved an inch from her place. “I was exactly the same.”
“Morgan, I didn’t invite you to the fight to save you,” he said with a soft laugh.
“I know that.” I’d be a fool if I didn’t. Sennan had seen me try to fight the Watchers, and he’d hoped that by offering me “a job” to fight in his cage, he’d provide his clients with the entertainment of the year and make a lot of money for himself because everybody wanted to see a human die, and I’d die sooner, which in his mind had been a favor to me. I took his offer because what the hell else was I supposed to do? Imagine his surprise when I beat the hell out of that imp and won.
“So leave her. Come on, it’s getting late. You should get home,” he said, and I heard his footsteps as he retreated.
He was right. This wasn’t my responsibility. I could hardly take care of myself with the money I made from Sennan. Nobody else hired humans—nobody at all. I’d checked. I didn’t know if this girl could fight, but if she didn’t, how was she going to make it?
“It’s your funeral,” I heard Sennan’s voice from a distance, and when I turned around, I found he’d already disappeared. It was just me and the girl now, and I could hear her sobbing. I could hear it as clear as day because I was standing just ten feet away.
Walk away, Morgan. Walk away, I whispered to myself. This wasn’t my problem, damn it!
But…I couldn’t.
“Goddamn sonovabitch,” I cursed under my breath as I took off my jacket. I had only a short-sleeved shirt underneath, but it was a short walk to my apartment. Slowly walking to the girl, I cleared my throat, hoping to make her look up, but all I did was make her hug her knees closer and shake more violently.
“Uh, hi,” I said, trying to sound as non-threatening as possible. I didn’t want her any more freaked out. “I’m…I’m Morgan.”
“Go away,” she said, her voice breaking. I could even smell her fear from so close up. I looked around us at the street again. If a nightwalker came by, we’d be in trouble. They detested human blood, but they were notorious for killing just for the heck of it. Sadistic bastards, all of them.
“Listen, I’m going to put my jacket over your shoulders, okay? Don’t be afraid. I’m not going to hurt you,” I said, and I put the jacket over her. Before I let it go, she raised her head and our eyes met. Hers were red with tears, and you could barely see their light brown color from her dilated pupils. That’s when I realized that my face was covered in black ink.
Jumping away from her, I raised both my hands. “It’s okay. I’m human, too, just like you. This is just paint.”
“Human?” Her voice sounded like screeching tires. “What do you mean, human?”
Oh, boy. “Look, I’m really sorry to tell you this, but if we don’t leave here soon, chances are you’re going to die tonight, okay?” A cry left her lips. “No, no, no, don’t be afraid!”
“You just told me I’m going to die!”
Shit. I did say that, didn’t I? God, I was bad at this. I sucked monkey balls.
Licking my lips, I took in a deep breath and tried to choose my next words with care. “If you don’t come with me right now, people are going to come and…harm you…or something. You know, hurt you. It’s nothing personal, just how things are around here. It’s almost midnight and basically the worst time to be out here, so…” I offered her a smile. “What do you say?”
Yup. I messed it up again. She was sobbing even harder than before.
I had no patience, or maybe I was just too afraid to be patient. “Okay, here it goes,” I mumbled, and I grabbed her by her thin arm, ready to fight her if she protested. If she kept making all this noise, others were going to find her, and I had a sneaky suspicion that some of the people who’d come to watch earlier were hiding somewhere in the dark, just waiting for her to be alone. No time to waste. She could cry all she wanted, but I was getting her out of there.
Luckily, she didn’t resist. I dragged her behind me as fast as I could, knowing very well that her feet were going to be a mess by the time we got to my apartment, but having no other choice. The asphalt on this part of the city was broken, and the people didn’t exactly keep things clean and tidy. But she’d be okay. She’d be alive. That’s all I could offer her for now.
Trying not to become too paranoid, I kept my eyes on the streets around us to make sure that nobody would catch us by surprise. The girl held onto my jacket tightly and kept her head down, which was for the best. In four minutes, we made it to my apartment building.
It was shaped like a huge bell smack in the middle of two skyscrapers. The thing was painted yellow by my landlord for God knows what reason, and it looked like it had come out of a child’s coloring book. But it was safe. It was home and much warmer than the streets. The stairs that led to the second and third floor were empty. Not many people lived there because not many people could afford to rent. Technically, the rent didn’t cost as much as the protection did. Buildings like the skyscrapers at my sides were mostly empty and owned by no one, but in them, you were fair game to anyone. In the bell, nobody dared to break in and kill you or steal from you. Whatever weird code that was, it worked. I’d never been attacked in there.
I lived on the third floor. To say my apartment was weird would be an understatement. It was one huge round room with a round ceiling and everything was thrown together. The toilet and the tub were open, too, but I’d never had a problem with it, being as I lived alone. There was only one window, and I’d covered that up with the thickest fabric I’d been able to afford, just in case some pervert wanted to spy on me.
As soon as I locked the door behind me, I instantly felt calmer. I was as close to home as I could get, and this was the first time I had another person up there with me.
I turned on the gas lamps, and I immediately went for the drawer by my bed to grab some clothes for the girl. Those things had cost me and Sennan paid me shit, and I had four outfits in total, but the girl was naked. She needed the clothes more than me.
We were roughly the same height, but she was thinner than me. I hoped the clothes fit. She was no longer crying when I pu
t the clothes in her hands.
“You can wear these. If you want to bathe, be my guest.” I waved at the tub and the bucket next to it. “But you’re going to have to go get warm water on the first floor.” Unfortunately, the people of Vanah weren’t big believers in plumbing.
Without a word, she slowly moved to the small, round table across from my bed and began to dress. I turned my back to her to give her some privacy, and that’s when I remembered that it had been a work night tonight. My back was a mess, and I was the one who’d need to take a bath. I could do that as soon as the girl slept, I figured. For now…
“What the hell is this place?”
When she spoke, her voice was no longer high-pitched. She was no longer crying. She was dressed in my clothes. The jeans were a bit too big, but they would work. It seemed we had the same shoe size, too. Man, I was going to miss those blue sneakers.
“This is Vanah,” I said, raising my hands to the sides as if my apartment was all there was to it.
“Vanah? I’ve never heard of it. How did I get here? What the hell is happening?” she said. She was trying to keep it together, but her body was still shaking.
“What’s your name?” I asked instead.
“Mildred. People call me Millie,” she said, almost embarrassed to look me in the eyes.
“Well, Millie, what I’m about to tell you is going to sound insane, but it’s the truth. You might want to sit down for a bit.” I motioned at the chair by the round table. I’d never needed two, so that was the only one I had. I’d rather be standing, anyway.
Millie sat down, her face showing shock even though I hadn’t even said a word. She’d already seen. She knew enough to be afraid.
“Vanah is in a…a different world. A different dimension,” I started, feeling awkward as hell. I’d never thought about explaining any of this to anyone, and it was stranger than I could have imagined.