The Lostkind

by Matt Stephens

  "You've obviously done this before. You come here often?" He asked her.

  "There's a subway station down a few levels." Yasi said. "A few guards, several cameras, lots of unusual shapes and shadows. We bring the kids up here sometimes, once they hit six years old; sort of like field trips, let them get used to being invisible…"

  Vincent smirked, despite himself. "My first day of school?"

  "And your last." Yasi commented without joy, opening yet another security door without hesitation.

  The night tour took them all over the building, across five levels and dozens of rooms. Yasi told him that there were guards, but she knew their schedules.

  Vincent had been there before of course, but not for years. The exhibits had changed dramatically since then, as interests and technology changed. More screens, more exhibits about the history of cars and planes and spaceflight… It was damn spooky with all the lights off, and the few lights from outside making some rooms glow, and the rooms within pitch black. Shadows extended from the skeletons of dinosaurs and made monsters on the walls.

  He felt like he was going to get in trouble. If somebody caught him, he most certainly was. The fact that he was trespassing had never entered his mind until this exact moment. He looked back for Yasi…

  She was gone.

  Vincent froze. The huge echoing room, full of shadows and imaginary monsters was suddenly suffocating. The dead eyes of African predators glared down at him from behind their enormous teeth… He hadn't felt this out of place since walking through the Underside's darkness…

  And then he saw movement. He spun to face it… And saw Yasi sitting on the elephant exhibit, resting on her elbows, lying prone across the elephant's head. She waved down at him like she was riding the huge animal through India.

  "Is that safe?" Vincent asked.

  "Likely not." Yasi agreed, and slid down to land neatly on the floor without blinking. "You want to see things like we do, you have to learn it. It's not something we're born with. You remember what I told you about the Rhythm? Pick a place in this room, and ask yourself how to get there. That's what we do. Anywhere in this city, above, below, outside a building, inside a building. It's all the Rhythm, its all pathways to follow."

  Voices. Distant voices, echoing off the silent walls.

  Vincent froze and looked over his shoulder. Yasi just grinned, in her element. She caught his arm and pulled him into the shadow of one of the exhibits. Not behind it, not under it, just next to it, away from the moonlight.

  "You said you knew their schedule." He hissed.

  "I do." She shot back quietly. "But what's the point of being invisible if nobody's looking?"

  They stayed still, in the shadow of an African hut, with a hundred odd stuffed birds in the next room, and a gift shop on the other side, and two guards coming through. The guards didn't notice them, and were in fact more interested in talking to each other.

  "She's starting to think you were just humoring us all that time. It took me an hour to convince her she wasn't a horrible cook, and then you canceled on us again..."

  "She is a good cook!"

  The guards were having a private conversation as they walked through the museum they were guarding, shining their torches over the exhibits.

  Vincent and Yasi weren't hiding behind anything, they weren't under a table, they were just standing there... With only a protective layer of shadow covering them. Yasi's hand was over his lips, the other over his watch...

  A reflective surface. Vincent realized. Light could reflect off my watch, and draw his attention to this exact shadow.

  One torch beam went less than a foot to their left over the exhibit. One of the guards… was staring right at them. Vincent felt his heart stop. The guard was looking right at his face. How was he not seeing them? He was close enough for Vincent to read the name ‘Vossler' on his name-tag.

  Vincent couldn't believe it was really happening. It was insane. He and Yasi were two feet from the nearest of the two guards, two feet from his flashlight, his radio, his nightstick, his gun...

  "Don't get me wrong, I love coming over." One was saying. "You and Kathryn are family, but…"

  "But what?"

  "Look, it's not a huge deal…"

  Vossler paused, still looking in the direction of Yasi and Vincent. "Oh my god!"

  Vincent felt his heart stop.

  Vossler spun to his friend, struck suddenly by a revelation. "Oh my god, it's her breath isn't it?"

  Yasi was biting her lip to keep from smiling. Vincent was trying not to breathe so loud. It took him a full four seconds to realize they were still having the conversation they were having when they walked in.

  "I know exactly what you mean! it's this new cabbage diet she ready about." Vossler said forgivingly. "I wake up to it every morning; the pot plant in our room is dying!"

  "Oh thank god, I thought I was about to get my teeth bashed in. You talk to her about it?"

  "And tell her what? Her new diet makes her breath stink so bad it brings tears to my eyes; and makes our friends avoid us?"

  Their embarrassing little conference continued till they were out of the exhibit and off into the next room. Yasi signaled the all clear and the two of them came out of hiding.

  "Wh... Why didn't they... How could they not notice us?" Vincent demanded.

  Yasi grinned winningly at him. "Same reason you couldn't see me at the streetlight. The dark hides us. You cannot see into dark places when you're standing in the light." She smiled brilliantly, suddenly exquisitely beautiful again. "Is that a great metaphor or what?"

  ~oo00oo~

  The Tour of the Museum ended with the rooftop, and they got a great view of Central Park by night.

  Vincent was still breathing hard, feeling his heart race. "I don't know why that was so nerve-wracking."

  Yasi chuckled. She wasn't mocking him, she was just amused. "Well, that's part one."

  "What's part two?"

  "I told you. Three rules. Be Invisible. Be Daring..."

  "Be daring how?"

  "Like me with the Elephant. Pick a place and go there."

  Vincent shivered, and not because of the cold.

  ~oo00oo~

  "Sorry to be so slow." Vincent croaked.

  "You're doing fine." Yasi called back. "Plenty of people would have chickened out by now. Or fallen."

  "True." Vincent called back, trying not to think about that. "On the other hand, my underwear is riding up into places I'd rather not think about."

  "Can't help you with that." Yasi said blandly. "I never wear any."

  Vincent missed the next handhold and dropped. Yasi's hand flashed out, quick as a whip-crack, and steadied him. "See you at the top."

  And with that, she clambered up the side of the wall, finding grips in the brickwork that Vincent couldn't even see. Vincent was holding onto the ladder with a death grip, trying not to think about how high he was.

  She had taken him to the train lines, to where the elevated lines were. She had scaled up the side of the nearest building; an apartment block that was quiet for the night. Vincent craned his had back and saw that the building had two rooftops, one section of the building going higher than the rest. The taller section had a ladder near the top that lead up to the higher roof, above the train line. The second rooftop, much lower, was where she waited for him.

  It was a struggle, the grips seeming to be much narrower than they looked. Vincent was struggling to meet the challenge. He tried to keep himself in good shape, could do more push-ups than most office workers, but the building had him exhausted by the second story. Every time his foot slipped, or his fingers gave out, she was right there to catch him, and Vincent was grateful. But at the same time, he couldn't comprehend why he wanted to do this. Why wasn't he at home asleep like a sane person be?

  He grabbed the largest ledge yet. It was a windowsill, not unlike his bedroom window. Yasi could sit comfortably on one of these, waiting for him to wake up. Vincent gripped the
ledge and prayed the people inside didn't hear him puffing outside their room. If someone opened this window he was a dead man.

  Another few feet, and Vincent was stunned to realize he had reached the rooftop. As exhausted as he was, he wanted to cheer at the top of his lungs. He'd done it! He'd climbed up the side of a building! He felt like jelly, he was sweating through his clothes, and he still couldn't look down, but he'd done it.

  Vincent clambered over the ledge, gulping air. She was waiting for him at the edge, eyes closed, cross legged, serene expression. She was on the edge of emptiness, meditating soundly.

  Vincent put his head between his knees and focused on breathing.

  "Do you remember the day we met?" She asked him finally.

  "Vividly." He whispered. "You changed my whole world view that day."

  Yasi nodded, not at all surprised. "The day we met, I led you through the darkness. You trusted me, and you had a lot less reason to." She held out a hand to him, and he took it. "I told you that I wouldn't let you stumble or be lost. Did you believe me then?"

  "Yes."

  "I won't let you fall off the building, won't let you drop." She intoned. "Do you believe me now?"

  Vincent bit his lip, still breathing hard. "Yes."

  Yasi grinned. "This next part is tricky. You go up the maintenance ladder, but after that, you have to climb outside the safety cage to get to the roof. You'll have to push off, and grab onto the ledge. There will be no way to reach. You'll have to jump it."

  Vincent swallowed, and went to the ladder. Up above, the next rooftop up was above the railway, and had a phone exchange, or an electrical transformer... The ladder was caged, which meant workmen went up and down it often. It also meant that the ladder was locked off, so that nobody could climb it without permission.

  Which is exactly what Yasi did. She scaled up the outside of the ladder cage, using the metal cage as her handholds. Once she got to the top, she pushed off, using her whole body to jump a few feet to the rooftop ledge, which she caught and climbed over.

  Vincent swallowed and started to copy her, much slower, more awkward, and terrified at every inch.

  Climbing a cage was the same as climbing a ladder, but the higher he got, the more aware he was of the huge drop behind him, only getting longer. Sooner than he would have liked, he reached to top of the cage. The ladder met the roof in a safety rail, so Vincent could not simply reach out and grab it…

  Yasi was right. He would have to jump it. The ledge to catch was four feet away. Practically a stretch of his arms, though he would never be able to twist that far. There would be a moment where he was between both solid things, with nothing to hold onto. There would be a moment when he was airborne.

  He knew he shouldn't have done it, but he looked down. Suddenly, everything was ice. His hands were ice, his stomach was ice…

  Yasi was waiting, legs dangling over the edge. He knew she'd picked the easiest possible place for him to do something like this. It was a kiddie jump. He'd seen Tecca do something a hundred times harder, and he was a kid, not even a teenager yet…

  "Come on!" She encouraged.

  He knew the Shinobi wouldn't let him fall...

  Vincent looked down again. "I can't." He called back, hating himself.

  Yasi didn't try to stop him back up as he slowly climbed down.

  ~oo00oo~

  Vincent couldn't stop staring at his shoes. He was humiliated.

  Yasi wasn't showing him pity, wasn't crowing or being forgiving. It was like it had never happened. But when he got back on the train, she joined him, sitting next to him, though not close enough to touch. "Vincent." She said finally. "You wanted to know what it was like to be one of us. Well, now you know."

  "And I know I'm not up to it." Vincent admitted softly, regretfully. "Keeper's right. I'm not like you guys."

  Yasi nodded. "That's not such a terrible thing. Lostkind aren't magical beings Vincent, we're just from a different place, and lived a different life. Do you remember what you said? About how it changed your whole world view?"

  "Yeah."

  "Plenty of people would have turned us in and made money off what they knew. Plenty of people would have forgotten about it once it was done and missed everything you now see. You didn't do so bad."

  Vincent knew she meant it, and was grateful, but it didn't change any of the facts. "Still. Lousy way to end an evening."

  "Agreed. Which is why we're not done yet."

  "No?"

  "Well, there are three parts to being Lostkind." Yasi reminded him, counting on her fingers again. "Be invisible. Be daring. Be beautiful."

  Vincent looked her up and down and managed to swallow the first thought that came to mind. She smirked a little, and Vincent knew he didn't have to say it; she already knew. With a slight grin, she led the way. "Let's get Chinese food too; I'm hungry."

  ~oo00oo~

  She took him to the Metropolitan Opera House.

  "Back in the 1880's, when this place was just starting out, we put our speaking-tubes in with the steam pipes. Get a better sound that way." She said, as though taking him on a tour. "Archivist says that back then, the management wanted everything performed in Italian. Even the German operas. Then they decided everything should be performed in German. Even the Italian operas."

  Vincent chuckled at that, as Yasi led him through the corridors and stairwells behind the scenes. When she opened the last door for him, they were high above the stage. Down below he could hear and see the orchestra setting up for a rehearsal. The lights up above were low, in a way that made the stage and orchestra pit shine up at them. Yasi led him across the gantries, hanging from the rigging. Here above, was where the stage hands could control the backgrounds, the lights... but during this rehearsal, they were alone, swaying gently and securely high above it all. The only audience of the show.

  "We open up the steam pipes to this chamber fairly often." Yasi said, and her voice resonated in the air. The acoustics of the place were pitch-perfect, and she spoke too softly for it to echo down to the floor, lest any of the musicians hear them. Vincent didn't know quite how she did it, but as a result, her voice seemed to come from around him like a living thing. "The place charges hundreds of dollars for people to come and hear the best shows New York can put on. Every night, we gather in one of the Eleventh Level Chambers, and sit in the dark, letting the words, the music, the applause wash over us... You wouldn't think it to look at us, but we've got some real high culture lovers down among the Lost Boys and Girls."

  Vincent pictured it, the people down below, the people out of a carnival sideshow, listening to classical music in the chambers their secret city. It was an oddly unsettling and wonderful image. "Can I ask you something?" He said finally.

  "Does anyone ever say ‘no' to that question?" Yasi quipped.

  Vincent smiled. "Wotcha... and most everyone who knows about the Lostkind that I've spoken to? They're... well, scared of you."

  "Yeah." Yasi didn't seem surprised.

  "I'm not scared of you."

  "I know." Yasi sighed. "If you were, we wouldn't be friends. Still, it would make tonight easier."

  Silence. She clearly had more to say. Vincent waited.

  "Keeper says..." She paused, thought for a moment, before shaking her head and spitting it out. "Keeper says that I'm as fascinated by your world as you are by ours."

  "Why?" Vincent seemed truly surprised by that. "You know my city. You know all the movies that play, you know the music playing at the Met every night..."

  "Yeah, but we never stay with any of it." She shrugged. "I have a library card. It has a fake name and address, but I can borrow books. I have to take them down below to read them. When I'm above the surface... I am a ghost. I go unnoticed, I stay outside when I am not invited. I've never spent a winters night inside an apartment, or had school friends that I lose touch with. It's a whole other world, and whole other people live there."

  She looked at him and he looked back. Something
had changed between them with that admission. Even more so that from the kiss the night before. They were more than acquaintances now. It was something that neither of them had planned, speaking honestly about things that neither had ever shared with anyone. The conversation had made them closer, and they both knew it. A line had been crossed that couldn't be taken back.

  For a long moment, they just stared at each other.

  "Yasi…" Vincent said finally. "You know that-"

  "Just…" She interrupted him, and suddenly realized she didn't know what to say. "Just listen to the music."

  Vincent nodded and fell silent. He didn't know what to say right now either.

  Down below them, the rehearsal took several turns to stop and start. A musician would ask a question, or play a solo so that everyone could hear it. The conductor would say a few words, or the usher would do a sound-check in various locations around the auditorium.

  "Last week they were performing Henry V." She told him as they waited. "A story of a king who goes undercover, hiding what he is so that he may walk freely and unnoticed among the people."

  "The Lostkind Childhood Folk Tale?" Vincent quipped.

  "Personal preference." She retorted. "Tonight they're rehearsing an orchestral arrangement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata number 14." She said. "They call it The Moonlight Sonata."

  That was when the conductor tapped his podium, and began. The music started gently. The piano began a soft soulful pattern, and the cello and the violins chose their moment to join in.

  They hung there a while, swaying gently on the gantry, as though on a hammock, with food between them, the moon and stars above, and beautiful music slowly echoing up the chamber to their ears. A secret audience listening to the music of the night.

  The harmonies echoed off the ceilings in a way they never would at the ground level, the acoustics of the chamber making the music swell off the walls as the chorus sang their answer to the strings of the orchestra. Vincent shut his eyes and let the resonance envelop him. He forgot the platform, forgot the height... He was infinitely aware of the open space all around him, as every direction gave him another harmony. It seemed to become him, go through him... The shadows and dark corners were such that the rest of the world could be forgotten. Just a ten foot square space in the open air, nothing but this enthralling woman and the music.