Fate Uncertain

by Kim Cleary

  "Move as quickly as you can without making noise," Bill whispered. "Just after this fence becomes wire, you’ll see a space we can squeeze through. Follow me, keep low, and move fast."

  With fingertips scraping across the bricks and with my heart pounding, I crawled after Bill. The brick wall ended and became a wire fence. The bushes thinned out a little, enough to make crawling easier. Bill stopped at a rip in the fence. He lifted the tattered edge, touched his lips to remind me to stay quiet, and signaled me through.

  The rip was directly behind the windowless wall of a brick building. I stayed crouched at the base of the wall.

  Bill dragged the edge of the wire fence back into place. "Left is the main hospital building, right leads to admin. I'm guessing that's where you will find your army friend."

  "It's early, will they be up?"

  "The captives probably got back here an hour or so ago. I doubt anyone is asleep. That's why we knew they'd send another patrol."

  "I'll follow you to the hospital. I want to know what's going on, too."

  Bill seemed to consider the options for a few moments before nodding.

  Still stooping, he paced left. At the edge of the building, he signaled for me to drop low again while he listened. I couldn't hear anything. Bill must've thought it safe too, as he signaled for us to move forward. Hunkered low, we ran to the next building, then the next. At this one. Bill crouched even lower and pointed across the compound.

  No choice but to run in the open to a low-roofed shed. The sun already lit everything in an orange glow. I followed Bill to the shed and scrunched myself next to him in the doorway. He pointed again toward the clearly marked hospital building. "Go for speed this time, Meagan. Guards could be about."

  We took off together and I pelted after Bill.

  When almost at the door with its huge painted cross, a guard hollered at us to stop.

  Bill pulled me to the closest wall and pushed me to the ground.

  I wriggled from under him. "Get away while you can. Asher wants to talk with me. God only knows what he wants to do with you."

  I didn't give Bill a chance to respond. With my breaths bursting in and out of my lungs, I raised my hands and strode away from his hiding position. "Don't shoot. It's Meagan Greystone. I'm here to talk with Glynn—Captain—Major Buckley."

  The guard pointed a pistol at my chest and clicked the trigger safety off. No vest protected me this time. If he fired this close, the bullet would leave a gaping hole in my body. I hugged my satchel close. If I had to be an undead, let it be like Owen, not like Derek. Either way, dying anywhere near this place would be a big mistake.

  With shaking legs, I paced slowly toward him. "I'm Meagan—"

  "I heard you the first time. Stop right there." The soldier strode towards me.

  He grabbed my arm and twisted it behind my back. Large beefy fingers pressed painfully into my skin.

  "There's no need to grip me so tightly." I tried to free myself from the man's grasp. "I've no intention of running away. I've come to the base to speak with your Colonel, and with Captain Buckley, of my own free will."

  He didn't speak, just twisted even harder. I gritted my teeth to stop from screaming in pain.

  A shout sounded from behind us. Gun shots rang out, and more shouting. I tried to turn around to see what was going on, but the soldier propelled me forward through double doors and along a wide corridor. He pushed me into a small, dark room, slammed the door shut, and left me alone.

  The muffled thud of running footsteps sounded from beyond the wall. Shouts to stop, and more gunshots followed. I pressed my hands together in prayer. Dear Haebeth, Bill seemed like a good man. Please help him escape.

  A warm welcome had never been likely, but I hadn't expected to be treated like a criminal either. Slivers of morning light penetrated through dirty narrow windows high on the wall. My eyes accustomed to the dimness, a small table and single chair stood in the middle of the room.

  A notepad and pencil lay on the table. Perhaps they expected their prisoners to write confessions. I sat, rubbed my arm, and twiddled the pencil. My throat was as dry as if I'd not drunk for a week. The pad was lined with narrow lines, the same as the ones Glynn used so fondly. A shaft of hope filled my chest. If Glynn came to question me, everything would be okay. We'd talk things through. We didn't need to agree on everything, but he'd listen to me. I knew he would.

  I doodled on the paper, too cautious to write anything down in case someone else read it. But while my hand moved I revisited what I knew, or thought I knew.

  Asher wasn't behaving rationally. He wanted Owen alive, to torture him again no doubt. He wanted me alive, but for what? Damn, I'd kill for a glass of water. Glynn showed surprise in the tunnel, surprise at Asher's commands and shock at Owen's presence. I believed him that he didn't know what was going on with the drug addicts.

  The door swung open. My train of thought interrupted, I stood, pencil still in hand, holding my breath.

  Please be Glynn.

  Colonel Asher marched into the room, someone slammed the door shut behind him.

  My shoulders slumped, instinctively I stepped away from Asher. "Owen and his people are no danger, and you know it. Why are you hounding them?"

  "You're in no position to demand answers." He stepped closer, his face flushed, eyes wide.

  "I demand to see Major Buckley."

  "That's not gonna happen, unless you tell me everything you know."

  "Be more specific. Or we will be here a long time."

  Step by step, his chest thrust out like a peacock, Asher backed me against the wall. I lunged sideways to try and avoid his hands, but he grabbed my arm and dragged me back to the table and chair in the middle of the room.

  He pushed me into the chair and slapped my face hard. "Playing cute will not work with me."

  Chapter 21

  My head spun, flashes of light sparked in my peripheral vision. My cheek stung like a giant wasp stung it. Something warm settled on my chin, when I pulled my fingertips away I saw blood. He'd split my lip.

  Asher sat on the table. Too close. He leaned over me, his warm breath invading my nostrils. "Where are they?"

  "That's the one thing I don't know." I stared unflinching back into his face. "Ask me anything else."

  He laughed, an ugly sound. "You don't really expect me to believe that, do you?"

  "Why would they tell me where they're going. They've no reason to trust me."

  "And why is that?" He crossed his arms across his chest.

  "Just because I haven't..." I touched my fingertips to my lips.

  His eyes narrowed. He gave a quick disgusted snort. "You haven't what?"

  What did Asher know about me? If he didn't already know what I could and couldn't do, would that make him likely to want me dead or alive? I struggled to hold my head up, fought to maintain eye contact.

  Damn it. The strengthening spell was wearing off. A crash couldn't be far away.

  "You haven't yet flexed your magical muscles?" Asher's voice was laced with sarcasm. "Is this where you tell me how powerful you are, how much I need you? Blah blah blah." His expression hardened. "You have a knack for making enemies."

  My shoulders curved forward. Had he turned Glynn against me?

  He leaned back, at ease and in control. "I hear you're not much of a witch, but rather a capable necromancer." He stood. He didn't look surprised, more pleased if anything. "Buckley certainly kept that under his belt. You might come in useful after all."

  It wasn't Glynn. I let out a long sigh. Thoughts jumbled together in my brain. It must have been one of the soldiers who returned this morning. Or Del. My shoulders slumped again. It was Del. She'd seen me heal, and Glynn told her about me. She'd seen me travel to the Shadow Glades and back. Her accusation, ‘are you even human?’ bounced around my head. But she hadn't told him where Owen intended to go. Was she afraid for her son’s safety or perhaps so angry at Aidan's refusal to return home, she hadn't registered the pla
ce name?

  "Nothing to say?" Asher prodded my arm with the pencil.

  "You've lied about Owen and his people, made them out to be monsters. Why? Why are you hunting them? Why do you want to catch them alive?"

  "They are not much use to me dead. Properly dead. They'd just be rotting corpses. But they aren't, some of them are as close to living as it's possible to get, without being alive."

  "But they are alive. That's the point."

  "That's exactly the point. It will be so much easier to call the dead to me rather than go and find them." He paced to the wall and back with his nostrils flaring. "Yes, I've done my research on your skills. With your co-operation, we'll get through this testing and find better ways to save lives."

  "I know about your wife and daughter. I get why you want to make sure you have the means to heal people. But I will not command the living dead to come here so you can torture them."

  A nasty smile lifted his cheeks. "You will my dear, you will. Glynn will come in even more useful than I thought he might."

  He meant to use Glynn to force me to do what? The amulet I'd made for him was strong, but was it strong enough? Would anything be strong enough? Glynn was clever, and he didn't trust Asher, but he wouldn't be expecting his colonel to turn on him.

  "You will not harm Glynn." I faced him, my arms stiff at my sides.

  "Look at you. You can barely sit up straight." Asher smirked again. "I remind you, you are in no position to make any demands."

  He stepped to the door and rapped twice. Someone yanked it open and Asher marched down the hallway. The door closed, the bolt slid across, and once again I was left alone in the room.

  My slapped cheek still burnt, a gargantuan headache clouded my vision, my lip throbbed, and my throat ached for moisture.

  Got to find Glynn.

  The thought lobbed into my head and exploded like a grenade. I tried to stand. My head spun and I fell back onto the chair. Had to find Glynn. But why? He was sending the medic for me. It would be okay. Medic would take me back to Del's. Del. She told Asher a lot of stuff about me. The last of the strengthening spell evaporated in a whoosh. Among a jumble of thoughts, one stood out. Of all the places to crash, this was one of the worst.

  A woman in military uniform shook me awake and dragged me to my feet.

  It was still daylight, but late in the day. Purple light streamed through the narrow windows and created a lilac strip along one wall. They'd left me almost a whole day, locked in the small room where Asher questioned me.

  Hard to believe it was little more than twenty-four hours after Glynn collected me from the makeshift train stop. If they thought I'd fret myself into a state, they'd be disappointed to know I slept the whole time.

  Still groggy, I couldn't coordinate my legs to stand. The woman who’d woken me gripped my arm, dragged me back to my feet and shoved me through the doorway. She pushed me down a wide hall to a metal door, then along a narrow, darker corridor. Finally, she stopped at a small wooden door, unlocked it, and pushed me inside another small room.

  "Be good." She smirked and showed a mouthful of discolored teeth. "I'll bring you something to make you feel better."

  Water dripped slowly, a mesmerizing plonk, plonk. On the opposite wall, a square mirror reflected the top of my head. Below the mirror, a small sink stood. I stumbled across the room and turned the tap. Warm water trickled out—I cupped my hand beneath the drips and lapped at the liquid like a cat. The door slid shut and a key turned in the lock.

  Would anyone tell Glynn I was here? I bet whatever the guard meant to make me feel better, wouldn't be anything I wanted. A small bed was pushed into the corner, it's mattress sticky with brown stains. I crumpled at the cleanest edge of the mattress.

  A small square window in the upper corner of one wall let in a stretched rectangle of light. If I got out of here and tried to find Glynn, would someone shoot at me? With my back pressed into the corner, I searched for earth power to supplement my own. The room was built of steel and concrete, the floor so thick I couldn't feel the earth beneath us. But when I reached out with my senses, the power of the ley line wobbled to me. How could I use it to escape and find Glynn?

  If I could find Glynn and talk with him, I could make him understand that Owen and his people deserved to be left alone. They were people, alive, dead, and alive again. What did it matter? They were as human as anyone else. As important as the living people Glynn swore to serve. They held hopes and dreams. They worked hard to achieve their goals. Of course, it was frustrating to lose technology, agonizing to watch people die because once reliable medical patches no longer worked. But there had to be a different way, a better way.

  I pushed out further and followed the ley line to Echo Den. The power at the crossroads rippled and bubbled, potent fingers reached toward Saltpetre Way in one direction and Ravenswood in the other.

  All the way to Ravenswood.

  My gut clenched painfully. If Asher tortured Glynn in front of my eyes, he'd force me to command dead not only from around here but from everywhere the ley lines reached. I'd reach Evie, my dad, and even Rose still quietly sleeping in her grave.

  Footsteps sounded in the corridor, at least two people in heavy boots. I quickly pulled in my senses, and hugged my satchel around my chest. Would they try and take it off me? Could I stop them without hurting them badly? So weakened, could I stop them at all? Seconds to decide. I lifted the satchel over my head and pushed it under the bed. With my head still throbbing, I swung my feet to the floor and stood ready to face Asher or anyone else.

  It wasn't Asher.

  The female soldier returned with another man. Both their uniforms stretched tight across their chests. Patches of sweat darkened great swathes of gray patterned material under their arms and across their backs. The woman grabbed my arms and twisted them behind my back. I screamed at a sudden jolt of pain in my shoulder. She pushed me to my knees while the man loosened one arm and wrapped a narrow belt tight around my muscle. One held a needle of clear liquid high, the other tapped a dirty fingernail at my inner elbow.

  The metallic taste from the twitcher's shed hit the back of my mouth. I screamed again and bucked uselessly against the floor.

  It all happened so fast. The needle inserted into my arm. The burn that raced along my veins until it hit my heart. Everything stopped and turned to black.

  Chapter 22

  My dry throat ached for moisture. It was painful to swallow, almost impossible to move. My eyelids seemed glued to my dried-up eyes. The stench of burning flesh wafted across my face. Words floated just beyond my hearing. Someone screamed. Or was it me?

  Someone repeated my name. I tried to raise my head, found it impossible to lift the weight and drifted back into a nightmare of jagged edges. The Shadow Glades held me tight against my will. Full of salty mist and lichen-covered rock, mocking statues, and dead trees like scaffolds. I was tied to a weeping angel, my arms twisted painfully behind my back. I had to get out, get back. But there was nothing to hold onto. Nothing I could grab to reconnect myself with the world of the living.

  My name drifted to my ears again, this time louder, more urgent. My pulse raced in response. I wriggled against the bonds, strained my eyes to try and force them open.

  "Take it easy, sweetheart." The words soothed my galloping heartbeat.

  I opened my eyes to a blurry vision of Glynn bound to a sink. Particles of dust drifted in the early morning haze. Something clinked against metal, and I recoiled from the sticky mattress beneath my body. Thank Haebeth, just a nightmare. I must have slept through the night. Whatever was going on in this world, at least I wasn't trapped in the Shadow Glades. Instead I was manacled to the metal bed with a handcuff.

  "What happened?" I tried to push my body upright. "What day is it?"

  Glynn let out a long breath. "It’s Friday. I was about to ask you the same thing."

  "They injected me with something. So thirsty. Metallic smell."

  "It couldn't have been twi
tch. You wouldn't have slept. You'd be bouncing off the walls."

  "Nothing says it would have the same effect on me." I slumped back onto the mattress, certain they’d injected me with the same drug I sensed in the twitcher’s warehouse.

  He was silent for a few seconds, his gaze unwavering on my face. "I meant, how did you get here. Why are you here?"

  "One of the living dead showed me the way." I tried to clear my throat, but it was too uncomfortable, too dry. "He seemed a decent man. I hope he got back to Owen safely. I came to find you. Must talk with you. Asher wouldn't get you."

  "Can you crawl across the room?" Glynn filled a small plastic cup with water from the sink and crawled across the floor. "Reach out your hand, we need to get you rehydrated."

  At full stretch, I grabbed the cup. Four cups of water later I crumpled onto my knees in the middle of the room. Glynn reached his fingertips to mine and I gripped his. Dust stuck to his hair. A trickle of blood dried at the corner of his mouth, and one eye had swollen almost shut.

  "You've got a black eye."

  "You should see the other guy. How do you feel?"

  "Angry." I stroked his hand with my fingertips. An ugly red wound marred his forearm. "A fresh burn. What happened?"

  Glynn pulled his arm back to his body. Images and sounds jumbled into my conscious thought. Asher. A lighter. The over-weight guard twisting Glynn's arm and holding it still while Asher held the lighter to it.

  Asher threatened to hurt Glynn to force me to do his bidding with the undead. He'd shown me he meant it. He hadn't even waited for me to wake from the stinking drug they'd injected into me.

  Glynn put on a brave face, but his eyes showed the strain of the last few hours.

  "That must hurt. You appear to be chained to the sink."

  Glynn leaned back against the wall. "Asher said you'd explain."

  No point trying to keep it from him, he needed to know so he could protect himself. If that was even possible with both of us bound. "He said he'd use you to force me to command the living dead here. Now I know why. He is torturing them, under the pretense of trying to uncover medical advances. Owen has a burn on his arm just like yours. Did you know anything about this?"