Ghost of a Smile g-2
Page 15
Kim looked at Happy, and at JC, both of them fighting with everything they had, both of them dying by inches, all for her. She became so furious she forgot how frightened she was. She moved forward, through Happy, who smiled unexpectedly at a sudden feeling of peace and happiness and the smell of elderflowers, and then Kim went on, right into the midst of the ghosts. She blazed with a sudden light, fierce and incandescent, like a living star. It was the same golden glow that shone from JC’s eyes, only taken up to the next level. The blazing light stopped the ghosts in their tracks and forced the curling fog back on itself. The dead withered, and retreated, turning their faces away from her, away from the proud, shining light, lurching back into the protection of the ghostlight, which in turn fell back, back… The ghosts abandoned Happy and JC, who stood utterly still, mesmerised, in awe of what Kim had become. JC stretched slowly, as the living warmth welled up in him again, and crusted frost cracked and fell away from him. He stumbled back to join Happy.
“I never knew she had so much life left in her,” said JC. “Where is all that energy coming from?”
“My love for you, darling!” said Kim, not looking back as she drove the dead before her, blazing with the light of worlds beyond ours.
JC smiled and nodded, and waved encouragingly to Kim; but he wasn’t sure he believed that. When forces from the afterworld reached down to touch him, had they perhaps also touched Kim? And if so, for what purpose?
Kim was blazing so very brightly, and the ghosts had all disappeared back into the fog. But the ghostlight was no match for Kim’s unearthly glow.
“That can’t be good for her,” said Happy.
“She’s strong,” said JC. “Stronger than she realises.”
Suddenly, the air-conditioners kicked in, sucking the fog out of the room. The air began to clear immediately, and, without the ghostlight to draw on, the ghosts quickly faded away and were gone, becoming shadows, and less than shadows. In a few moments, the fog had lifted, sucked entirely away, leaving behind a perfectly ordinary-looking, entirely empty floor. JC strode forward to join Kim. She was still glowing, but not as fiercely. She turned to meet him-a man with glowing eyes and a woman who glowed. Happy had to look away. It was too much for him, too much for any human to look upon. Or at least, that was what he told himself. He glanced back sharply as Melody came charging through the swing doors. She took one look at JC and Kim, staring into each other’s glowing eyes, and looked away.
“Nice work with the air-conditioning,” said Happy.
“No problem,” said Melody. “I’m not entirely sure where the fog’s gone, but that’s a problem for another day.”
“And hopefully another team,” said Happy. “Because once I’m out of this building, they will not see my twitching arse for dust.”
Melody glanced quickly at the glowing couple. “Did I miss something?”
“Something,” Happy agreed.
They glanced cautiously at JC and Kim, surrounded by a golden glow, with glowing eyes only for each other.
“Makes you wonder if this is how we’ll all feel, when we finally meet the New People,” said Happy.
SEVEN
LET LOOSE THE BEAST
They took their time, going up the stairs to the next floor. The mission and the building had taken a lot out of them. JC led from the front, as always, but even he had trouble maintaining his usual enthusiasm. He stopped little more than half-way up the stairs and sat down abruptly. The others immediately seized the opportunity to do the same. Kim hovered uncertainly beside JC, looking him over worriedly, and he gave her the best reassuring smile he could before leaning tiredly against the cold stone of the stairway wall. He looked down at Happy and Melody, sitting side by side some steps below, shoulder pressed against shoulder, their two heads tilted together. They looked even more tired than he felt. But they were all tired, battered, injured. They’d all spilled some blood. No time to rest and recharge their batteries, no time out to get their heads round everything that had happened. No-one said anything because there was still work to be done, so… what was the point? Even Happy had cut back on his usual whingeing, if only because he had more pride than to vent without good reason. Wasting a good moan on minor occasions would cheapen it. So he sat quietly with Melody, trembling and twitching occasionally from the psychic distress of his surroundings, while JC looked down at him and felt obscurely guilty for dragging him into a case like this.
JC probably could have kept going, but he made a point of taking a rest anyway because he knew the others would stay on their feet as long as he did, for pride’s sake. So he sat down and took a breather, taking one for the team. And it did feel good… to sit, relax, breathe steadily, and take a short break from all the madness.
JC smiled down at Happy. “What’s the matter with you, Happy? You’re sitting slumped on that step like an old man.”
“I feel like an old man,” growled Happy.
“Don’t you move, lover,” said Melody. “I’ll get you one.”
They all managed some kind of smile, but none of them had the energy to laugh. JC adjusted the sunglasses over his glowing eyes, to make sure none of the light was escaping. The glasses weren’t in any way magical, or scientifically augmented, and shouldn’t have made any difference to the glow in JC’s eyes, but they did. They toned things down, made the glare bearable to those around him, and helped him see the world more clearly. JC assumed it was a psychological thing and made a point of never testing it. No-one should have to see the world too clearly for too long. He nodded to Kim.
“That was some display you put on back there, sweetie. I didn’t know you could glow like that.”
“Neither did I,” said Kim. “Until I had to. It disappeared the moment the ghostlight disappeared. I haven’t tried to call it back. I’m not sure that would be safe. I’m not blind to how it affected Happy and Melody. Besides, it made me feel… uncomfortable.”
“Did it hurt you?” said JC.
“No,” said Kim. “Quite the opposite.”
There was a long pause as they all considered the implications of that, in their various ways. There was something of an uncomfortable gap now, between JC and Kim, Happy and Melody. Even if none of them were ready to acknowledge it yet. Between those who glowed, and those who didn’t. Happy finally broke the quiet, if only because silence bothered him more than uncomfortable truths.
“It does feel good, to sit and rest,” he said. “A little downtime, between all the ghosts and ghoulies. I only hope there aren’t any long-leggity beasties up ahead. I’ve never liked things with too many legs. Don’t like the way they move… All very well for you to smile, JC, the rest of us haven’t got your energy.”
JC nodded slowly. “Say it, Happy. It’s all right. Say what’s bothering you.”
“How am I supposed to know what you’re thinking? I’m just the team telepath. And you, it would seem, are so much more now. Certainly more than me. I can’t do the things you do. Are you the team psychic now?”
“I don’t know,” said JC. “Most of the time I’m me, same as I always was.”
“And sometimes your eyes blaze like the sun,” said Melody. “And the monsters run screaming from you.”
“You’re different,” Happy said bluntly. “Ever since you got those eyes. It’s like you can do anything.”
“Trust me, that’s not the case,” JC said carefully. “It might seem that way, but I’m as vulnerable to the bad things as you. In case you didn’t notice, I was taking the same beating as you from those cold-hands ghosts. I could have died back there if Melody hadn’t taken control of the air-conditioning and saved the day.”
“It’s me, isn’t it?” said Kim, sitting in mid air now, hugging her knees to her chest. “You’re afraid of me, aren’t you? Please don’t be afraid of me. I may be a ghost, but I’m a nice ghost. Like Casper, in the cartoons.”
“Casper the dead baby?” said Happy, smiling a bit. “I always thought that was a really creepy concept.”
“You were changed, along with JC, down in the depths of Oxford Circus Tube Station,” Melody said stubbornly. “And it’s not fair! Happy and I were down there, too, fighting the good fight, and we didn’t get anything!”
“We got each other,” Happy said diffidently.
“Don’t interrupt me when I’m on a roll!”
“Sorry, dear.”
“I’ve got a pair of trousers I could lend you,” JC said solemnly. “Since you don’t seem to be wearing them at the moment.”
“Are you kidding?” said Happy. “She scares the crap out of me!”
“I thought you two were having lots and lots of sex?” said Kim.
“What’s that got to do with anything?” said Happy.
“Stop trying to distract me from feeling unappreciated and hard done by!” snapped Melody. “Why didn’t we get a special gift?”
“We are not worthy,” Happy said solemnly.
“I will slap you in a minute, and it will hurt,” said Melody.
“Trust me-if you want this gift, you’re welcome to it,” said JC. “I can see the world more clearly than I ever did before, but that’s not always a good thing. You wouldn’t believe some of the things we share this world with. We walk in dreams and nightmares, in beauty and horror, and the sheer pressure of it all is more than my eyes can bear. And did you know, I can’t see colours any more? Except when I take my shades off? When I wear my sunglasses, which is most of the time, for my own sanity… all I see is black and white. Makes me wonder what else I’ve lost, as the price for this special gift.”
“I really would like to run some tests on you, JC,” said Melody. “Put you under a microscope and see what’s become of you. For your own sake, as well as my curiosity. Glowing that fiercely can’t be good for you.”
“Hold everything, go previous,” said Happy. “Are you talking radiation? Kim was glowing all over me, back there! Am I going to be sterile now? Are you going to make me get my ya-yas out in your laboratory, Melody, and poke them with sticks?”
“You know you love it when I wear the nurse costume,” said Melody. “Now behave yourself. The glow isn’t any form of radiation I’m familiar with. I have done some research. It’s not even light, as such, it’s the indication of an Outside force coming into contact with our lesser world.”
“Not really any wiser,” said Happy.
“That’s why I won’t let you run any more tests,” said JC. “I have enough worries as it is, without you adding to them.” He looked at Happy. “Nothing’s changed, Happy. Not really. I’m still me, in every way that matters. I never envied you your telepathy, I always knew what it did to you. Do you think this is any different?”
“God, we’re one hell of a team,” said Happy. “The psychically walking wounded.”
“Speak for yourself,” said Melody.
“I am, I am,” said Happy.
“So, are we still a team?” said JC.
“Of course we’re a team!” said Melody. “Who else would put up with the likes of us?”
“Yay!” said Kim, uncurling in mid air. “We totally bonded! Yay for us!”
“Oh God, now she’s getting enthusiastic, too,” growled Happy. “Bad enough when JC does it. I warn you all now, there is only so much sweetness and light I can put up with before the projectile vomiting starts.”
“Since we are all clearly back to our usual selves, make yourself useful, Happy,” said JC. “Scan the surroundings. See if you can pick up any hint of what we might be heading into.”
“Way ahead of you, as always,” said Happy. “I’ve been trying to force a scan through the general psychic jamming all the way up here, but it’s useless. The entire building’s affected, and it’s only getting worse the higher we go. The closer we get to the New People. It’s like they’ve psychically pissed in all the wells, poisoning the whole building’s ambience. If I didn’t know better, I’d say Chimera House is possessed. It’s like normal reality has been overwritten by something far more powerful.”
“The New People,” said JC, thinking. “We are going to have to do something about them.”
“When we finally get to meet these all-powerful, godlike people, don’t stand anywhere near me,” said Melody. “I plan to be right at the back saying, He’s nothing to do with me.”
“I don’t know,” said Happy, frowning. “It might be them, whatever they are now, or… I keep getting this feeling that someone’s playing games here. And that maybe the New People are pawns who only think they’ve become queens and kings.”
“How very eloquent,” said Melody. “I’m impressed. Really. I told you hanging out with me would be good for you.”
“Some of you must be rubbing off on me,” Happy said solemnly.
“If not, it’s not for want of trying,” said Melody.
“I swear to God, your entire life is a double entendre,” said JC. “And far too much for my innocent ears. Let us get up and let us go; the job isn’t anywhere near finished yet.”
They strode up the remaining stairs two steps at a time, burst through the usual swing doors, then stopped right where they were. All the lights were turned off. It was hard to see anything. The only illumination came from outside, amber shafts of street lighting falling through the glass windows that made up most of the far wall. The situation reminded JC of the abandoned factory, and not in a good way. Most of the light was soaked up by a thick, heavy darkness that gave every indication of being very real and very solid. JC gestured sharply for the others to stay exactly where they were. The whole floor felt wrong to him, in so many ways.
“What’s that smell?” Happy said quietly. “Can all of you smell that? It’s hot and wet and… swampy. I’m getting rotting vegetation, murky jungle, and something quiet definitely animal. Like being inside an enclosure at the zoo. Damn, that smells bad…”
“The air is hot and damp,” said Melody. “Beyond damp-saturated with moisture. I was in the Amazon rain forest, as a student, and this is a lot like that… but inside a building? At least the ghostlight was only supposed to be fog. This feels very much like the real thing.”
“The ghostlight was created,” said JC. “So was this. You were right, Happy, someone’s been messing with reality, playing games with the building and everyone in it. Someone or something has overwritten local conditions to make new worlds, inside the building. Test runs, perhaps? Tread carefully, children. We are in unknown territory.”
“Let me try the light switches,” said Melody. “Shed some illumination on what’s going down here.”
“Don’t,” said a Voice, from deep in the darkness. “We like it this way.”
JC strained his vision against the dark, searching for the source of the Voice. The sound of it had been harsh and brutal and inhumanly deep. Like a beast from the most savage part of the jungle that had taught itself to speak, the better to terrify its prey. Something moved, in the shadows. Huge and broad, radiating animal grace and power, and hard brute force. Old, old instincts yammered at the back of JC’s mind, screaming for him to run. He shook himself hard and slapped all the light switches beside the door.
Half a dozen fluorescent lights flickered into life up on the ceiling, enough to reveal a vast tract of tropical jungle spread out before him, where the rest of the floor should have been. It seemed to stretch away forever, as though the end of the floor had become a gateway to another world. Massive trees with huge, dark trunks, and long branches drooping under the weight of heavy foliage. Dark green leaves with heavy veins and serrated edges. Hanging vines and creepers, and great pools of dark, steaming water. Thick, unfamiliar vegetation, filling in the gaps between the trees. Technicolor flowers with huge pulpy petals. The harsh buzzing of insects and the shrill cries of unknown birds.
A crimson light suffu
sed the massive jungle, blazing blood-red from some hidden source, pointing out all the savage details of a setting that had no business inside a London office building. The rich red light made it appear like a living slaughterhouse, where red in tooth and claw was business as usual. The blood-red jungle was a place of death and suffering, and didn’t care who knew it.
“They made this for us,” said the Voice, from deep in the bloody shadows. “The New People. Wasn’t that nice of them? They called it all into being with the wave of a hand. So to speak. They can do things like that-play with the structure and substance of the world like a child building sand-castles.”
Every word was clear, the meaning obvious, but still the Voice grated on the ear and on the soul, vicious and savage and brutal as any beast. For all its human speech, there was nothing human in it. JC stepped forward, making a point of looking down his nose at the jungle, his whole posture suggesting he was entirely unimpressed.
“Come out where I can see you,” he said. “I don’t talk to people who hide in the shadows.”
There was a pause, then a slow roll of laughter, a cruel and utterly malicious sound. “Don’t be in such a hurry. We’re not to everyone’s taste, these days. Once I was a man, like you, but I got better. ReSet saw to that. But… not all of us blessed by the drug became New People. We all took the same drug, but ReSet only woke up part of our junk DNA. Perhaps it was damaged in us, or it mutated, down the millennia. Either way, we were cheated of our inheritance. We only got part of the package. Not enough to take us all the way, to what we were meant to be. We didn’t get to become more than human, to become New People. No-we became monsters. Not fit to associate with the glorious and wonderful New People, up on the top floor. We are Outcasts.”
“How many of you are there?” said JC. “Maybe there’s something we can do to help.”
“Help?” said the Voice. “What makes you think we want help, little man? There are two of us here, now. Male and female, as it should be. There were others, but we killed them. They were superfluous.” The Voice laughed again, a dark and nasty sound that sent shivers up and down JC’s spine. “Only room for one alpha male and alpha female. The best of the best. The beast of the beast. So we killed the others and ate their bodies. Delicious… There’s still some left if you’re interested.”