World's End

by D. B. Green

  Network connection lost

  Shit.

  I check my phone. No signal either. “The mobile network is down.”

  “Are we going to die?”

  “I don’t know,” I shout, snapping at her question.

  “Stop shouting at me!” She drops the book on the table. A first edition of Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers. Her Mum — Fiona’s — favorite book, and movie too… And, the reason for her nickname when we were younger. Poppy.

  I wish you were here for Amber. She really needs you right now.

  I smash my hand down on the table. Hard. A tremor shakes the floor again.

  Was that me?

  The entire shop shakes. Several crystals from the chandelier smash together, showering the table with chipped glass.

  “We need to know what’s happening,” I say, softening my voice. “I remember seeing an old transistor radio in the basement. Wait here.”

  I turn to head for the basement stairs, but Amber grabs my hand as the floor shakes again. “Don’t leave me on my own,” she pleads.

  Gripping her hand tight, I pull her close and give her a quick hug. “I won’t ever leave you.”

  She pulls away, rubbing away tears from her eyes. “Let’s go and find this antique radio, then.”

  We head past the spiral staircase and into the back office. My coffee cup still sits in the sink, waiting to be washed. “We really did leave in a hurry, didn’t we?” I whisper as Amber opens the door to the basement staircase.

  I hold out my phone. The network may be down, but it will still act as a good light. Only the main bookshop had electrical power when we arrived, Luther said it was too dangerous to get an electrician in, so I rewired as much as I could, but the basement was at the bottom of my to do list — way at the bottom.

  Leading the way, I take each stone step one at a time, gripping Amber’s hand tight as I guide her down behind me.

  The musty smell immediately chokes my throat. I cough, letting go of Amber’s hand, so I can cover my mouth. Swallowing hard, I fight back the urge to keep coughing.

  “Where was the radio,” Amber says, rummaging in a cardboard box near the bottom of the stairs. I direct the phone light in her direction, picking out her tear-stained face.

  “I think it was in a box on the back shelf.” I aim the phone light into the darkness. “I needed some batteries once and Luther had put a box full down here.” I shrug my shoulders at the memory of my search through the darkness for the elusive power cells.

  The phone light picks out the shapes of several stacked dusty doors, leaning against the wall like dominos ready to topple. Static Traverse doors, deactivated, dead ones, as Eddie described them, missing the handles that activate them. He once said that in our timeline, he and his brother would often find and deactivate these illegal magic doorways and store them down here. Someone must have done the same in this timeline too.

  Amber drags her finger across the edges of the doors, like a kid does on a fence. Amber is still a kid. I often forget that. I shake away the rising anger that builds inside me. How could I let that Shaw women do that to Amber? How did I not see it happening to her?

  “Is that the box,” Amber says, letting go of my hand. She pulls a torn cardboard box from an old wooden shelving unit on the back wall and holds it under the light. Her fingers wrap around the prize — an old silver radio. “Just need the batteries now.”

  I reach up to the next shelf and pull down another box. Inside are several packets of various batteries.

  “Three double As,” Amber says, anticipating my question. She takes the batteries from me and slots them into the back of the radio. It crackles and hisses into life.

  “Come on,” I say. “I don’t want to spend any longer down here than we have to. This place gives me the creeps.”

  But instead of taking my hand, Amber is drawn to another deactivated Static Traverse that’s stood against the wall next to the shelving unit. I shine the phone over the dusty door, the light picking out an old Iron Forge sign that’s hanging on the wall above it.

  Amber slots her finger through the hole in the door where the handle used to be. She tugs at it. “I just thought, it might open for us,” she says, a tear rolling down her cheek.

  Another sudden tremor shakes the ground, rumbling violently beneath us. Several things fall over in the darkness, sounding like the stomping feet of a monster, followed by the crash of God knows what falling over upstairs.

  Amber buries her head in my chest, her breathing hard and fast. “Come on!” I grab her hand tight and we run back up the stairs, my phone light waving manically against the walls.

  Several bookcases have fallen over in our inner sanctum, spilling their contents onto the wooden floors. Half of the chandelier suddenly falls, crashing onto the table, showering glass everywhere. Amber’s mouth opens in a silent scream, her ELC unable to translate her panic.

  The tremors ease and I hold Amber tight. “Are you okay?”

  She nods, her teary eyes wide open in shock as she stands the radio on the table. Her hand frantically turns the dial, searching for a channel — any channel, but all she can find is a static hiss. Then the radio goes quiet and three long beeps come from the speaker, followed by a shaky voice. “This is an emergency broadcast. Gather as much food and water as you can and find underground shelter… May God have mercy on our souls.”

  Frick. Frick. Frick.

  “Are we going to die?” Amber asks, again.

  I fling my arms around her, holding her tight. Her racing heart beats against my chest as I hold her tight. “I’m so sorry, Amber.” My eyes fill with tears. “I shouldn’t have let Shaw get anywhere near you.”

  Amber squeezes me tight, too. “I miss Mum so much.”. The voice drifts in an out as the ELC struggles against her silent sobs. “She brought her back. Exactly how I remembered her.”

  The radio beeps again and the message repeats. I reach across and turn it off.

  “Andrea was in Mum’s hospital room. The day after Eddie died. While you waited for me outside. She said she could bring Mum’s memories back. She did. Mum opened her eyes. She smiled and hugged me.” Amber reaches for the Mary Poppins book. “She remembered me. Andrea said she could bring her back permanently… If I helped her get Affinity.” Amber squeezes the book. “She convinced me her vision for the future was the way forward.”

  I kiss Amber’s forehead. “Shaw used magic to show you what you wanted to see. She took advantage of you. I should have been there for you and Fiona… when it really mattered.”

  The floor rumbles and creaks, like the deck of a ship on an angry sea. What remains of the chandelier above us flickers several times, then with a soft pop, the lights go out. The glow from the static on Amber’s tablet fights in vain against the darkness.

  “The electricity grid must be down,” I say. “We have to find somewhere safe to hide.” I aim my phone screen towards the front of the shop, the light picking out the edge of a fallen bookcase. “Leicester Square Tube Station is three minutes away. Maybe that will offer some shelter from all this.”

  We sprint to the front of the shop. The fallen bookcases loom, like a maze of felled trees in a dark forest. The dull gray glow from the two arched windows at the front of the shop guides us through. It’s like a blizzard outside. A snowstorm of thick dark ash.

  Another tremor. More bookcases fall over behind us like dominos, sending a cloud of dust up in the darkened room.

  Shit.

  Choking dust behind — choking ash in front.

  I push the door open through the ash outside. It piles up behind the glass like snow on a winters morning. Amber squeezes my hand and we run outside. The heat is intense. We stop still, gasping, unable to move. Amber drops the Mary Poppins book. It thuds into the thick layer of ash.

  “Supercali-what-you-call it,” I say. “You know, your mum could say it, no problem.” I cough. The heat makes it hard to force any words out. “She always used it as her password.”
<
br />   “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” Amber says, half-smiling.

  I hug her tight, pulling her close again. Over her shoulder, a giant tidal wave of fire eats through Covent Garden like it’s made of flimsy paper.

  Amber turns away from the fire. “I’m scared.” Her ELC stutters as she buries her head in my shoulder.

  The road behind us ignites and fire flicks at my clothes. It burns through to my skin. Ignoring the pain, I turn around to protect Amber.

  No last-minute government plan to save us. No lottery to see who survives in underground shelters. No time for anything.

  “Close your eyes, Amber.”

  UNKNOWN TIME

  JOHN MUNRO

  THE SANCTUARY

  Nicci’s words fade from the journal page, her life extinguished. She’s dead. Her young niece too. Reading the thoughts of someone in their last seconds of life is painful. I didn’t know her, but my stomach aches, like I’ve lost a friend — friends.

  “Does that mean…?” Emma asks, her voice trailing off. She stares at the empty page. “Are they dead?”

  “I’m sorry.” I close the journal and push it away. My eyes are drawn to a Polaroid photo of Eva on the table. My wife — my lost wife. “Was this everything Luther had?” Photos, papers, maps, jewelry, a revolver, a pen knife… an eclectic collection covers the table, like the contents of a back-street brick-a-brack shop. I pick up a silver flask from the table and twist off the top. Whisky.

  I hold up my jacket. “There’s nothing else in the pockets.”

  Emma blinks, fighting back tears. “What do we do now?”

  “Let me think.” I reach for a scroll of paper on the table. “This was the key to Luther and Eddie’s—” The newspaper page about Eddie’s execution stares at me. Don’t look. I push it away. “—plan.” I uncurl the scroll, using my old Polaroid camera and the flask to stop it rolling back up. The red handwriting glistens in the candlelight, like it’s still wet.

  This Covenant grants the user

  unrestricted travel to any location

  of their choice.

  E.M.

  “This Royal Covenant will allow me to carry out Luther’s plan. “I roll up the scroll. “I will go back and stop the assassin from killing the royal family.

  Emma’s eyes dart between the objects on the table. “But… is there is a way out of the Sanctuary?” she asks.

  I lean in across the table. “Elisabeth is the key. The wee lassie is the daughter of a Master Doormaker… That kind of blood magic is passed down,” I whisper. “She’s the only Doormaker in the Sanctuary. Poor Elisabeth has been hunted most of her life because of her heritage… there was no escape in here, either.”

  “I thought this place was a Sanctuary for Enchanters?” Emma asks. “Peaceful and tranquil?”

  “It is tranquil,” I say. “This place, it restores you.” I hold my hand up to the candlelight. The flame glows through my aged skin. “I nearly gave up. But after my first breath here, I felt stronger. My will to live fought back… but here’s the kicker. It takes time… a lot of time. Eventually you make a full recovery. And then what?”

  “You want to get out of here?”

  “Bingo.”

  Emma’s eye’s flick to the bedroom. “And, she can make a Traverse that leads out of here?”

  I lean closer to Emma, my heart beating fast. “She’s already made one, but it needs to be primed with blood… with special blood.”

  “Affinity blood.” Emma sighs, stroking her wrists. “Nothing new there.”

  I glance at Elisabeth, carefully tending to Dean in the bedroom. “A Static Traverse needs to be primed with the Doormakers blood too.” I pause, lowering my voice. “But, Elisabeth had an issue with her blood… it’s why she ended up here.”

  Emma follows my gaze. “So, you couldn’t get out of here without us — without our Affinity blood?”

  I rub my thumb slowly over the carved Incanto Spiral on the back of my ring. “There is another way… a barbaric ritual using a Doormaker.”

  Emma’s eyes open wide.

  “René protects her,” I say. “When I first got here, he was half dead and Elisabeth was… Well, the ritual was underway. I managed to stop the Badawons.”

  “Badawons?” Emma asks.

  “Lost souls — disenchanted souls.”

  Emma takes a deep breath. “Not much of a Sanctuary then?”

  “It can be, if you keep to yourself.” I stand and wait for the pain in my back to ease. “Old age,” I say, as Emma stands. She holds out a hand. “I’m okay.” I stretch and then walk over to the open cabin door, taking a deep breath. The air still invigorates. “It kind of grows on you. This place — this life.”

  Emma joins me at the door.

  “But the life outside this place is more important. We need to restore history. Bring back all those lost lives.”

  Eddie.

  A flock of birds fly overhead. Streaks of bright colors trail behind them, leaving a rainbow pattern in the sky.

  Emma stares at them, mesmerized.

  “This place can be wonderful too,” I say, as more birds fly overhead. Suddenly, rainbows fill the sky. “I’ve not seen this many before; it’s like the birds are spooked or something. Probably the Badawons. The bell ringing will have brought them all out.”

  Emma flinches, wrapping her arms tight around herself.

  “I’m not being the greatest of hosts,” I say, escorting Emma back inside. “Would you like a drink… Something to eat?”

  Emma shakes her head and slumps back down at the table.

  I reach for Eva’s Polaroid. “You say they found her? My wife — my Eva? I searched for so many years… before she found me… and nearly killed me. She sent me here.”

  “Like what Andrea Shaw did to Dean,” Emma says.

  I stroke Eva’s beautiful face on the Polaroid. “It’s complicated… She wasn’t herself.” I put the photo back with the others. “She’s was… is somehow connected to Affinity.”

  “You were always so secretive about Evangeline?” Emma stacks up the Polaroid photos. “You never mentioned her Affinity connection before.”

  “I wasn’t sure… I’m still not… but I certainly didn’t want to alert Kalendis to my suspicions.”

  Emma’s hand hovers over the newspaper page about Eddie’s execution. “I don’t think Dean’s up to it,” she says. “We can’t sync. He’s too weak.”

  “He’ll be okay after a few days recov—”

  René runs in from the bedroom. He clatters into a chair, knocking it over. “Boss man. You’ve got to see this!” He opens the door and a musty smoke drifts into the cabin. It smells like a campfire. “The Badawons!”

  René doesn’t speak. He keeps shaking his hand at the door. I walk outside, ignoring the shooting pain in my back. The sky grows dark and the air is thick with the smell of burning wood. It’s coming from the mountain. A thick column of gray smoke rises into the sky from halfway up the trail, near the Seventh Door. Too much smoke to be from any sacrificial fire.

  A low rumble echoes down from the mountain. The column of smoke suddenly pulsates, like a beating heart, and then lava explodes into the air. The heat is intense, even down here.

  Emma rushes out of the cabin. “I just remembered… I asked Nicci to jam the Sanctuary door, to keep it open.”

  “You fool! That reality, the devastation, has locked onto us and its burst through the Traverse. It will ravage the Sanctuary too.”

  “I’m sorry,” Emma says. “I thought I was doing the right thing.”

  Suddenly, my pulse flutters in my neck, drowning out Emma’s voice. Every beat of my heart resonates through my skin — I’ve not had this feeling for a long time. I check the back of my ring. The Incanto spiral is red.

  Magic.

  I have access to my magic again.

  No time to think. Just do.

  “René, get Elisabeth and Dean.” I grab his arm. “Magic has broken through the Traverse too. It
won’t take the Badawons long to realize.” Several fireballs hurtle through the sky like falling meteorites. They explode into the forest behind the cabin. “Hurry, René!”

  Stumbling back into the cabin, I grab the Polaroid camera and shove everything else on the table back in my jacket pockets. Then, I slip it on. The jacket feels just as good as the first day I wore it. I feel reinvigorated.

  “What happened?” Elisabeth asks as she helps René support Dean.

  “They wedged the Sanctuary door open. The threshold never sealed.”

  Emma runs inside and takes Dean’s hand. She kisses him and their Affinity begins to sync as their minds connect to anyone left alive through the open Seventh Door.

  I leave them to it and grab a carved wooden door handle from the mantle piece above the fire and join René and Elisabeth outside.

  Shit!

  Lava spills down the mountain like running water, and it’s heading straight for us.

  “I’m ready,” Elisabeth says.

  René jumps in front of her. “No, mon chérie. It could kill you.”

  “Look around, René. We’re all going to die anyway.” She gives him his blunderbuss. “You must protect us from any Badawons.”

  His lips curl into a grin. “I don’t need that anymore, mon chérie.” His eyes flash with green Radiance, and fire bursts from his fingers. He looks up to sky and watches the fiery rocks streaks above us. “I got my own balls of fire,” he says, twisting the fire in his hands into a glowing ball.

  I take a quick Polaroid of them stood together; the fire in René’s hands glares in the viewfinder.

  Emma leads Dean out of the cabin. Their eyes still sparkling with orange Radiance. Emma shakes her head, spraying tears onto the ground. “John, there’s hardly anyone left alive. We can’t open a time door back to nineteen forty-three. We would be hard pushed to open one back a month.

  A month.

  Eddie.

  I reach into my pocket and summon two things. The newspaper page about Eddie’s execution and a Polaroid of the Greenwich Magic Detention Center.

  “I’ll go back a month, then,” I shout, as gray smoke begins to swirl around the cabin. “Can you manage that?”