Reapers

by Bryan Davis

  I raised my thumb and pretended to speak into it, hoping Shanghai could figure out the signal.

  She nodded and focused on Tori again. “Then I guess Alex didn’t put a hidden camera anywhere.”

  Tori shook her head, making a lock of hair fall over her face. “Not that I saw.”

  As I walked back to the sofa, Shanghai pointed my camera at Tori. “Do you mind if I take a picture of you? We’ll need a photo stick.”

  She straightened, pushed back her hair, and smiled, her eyes glowing brighter. “Okay.”

  “Good idea.” I aimed my voice directly at the microphone. “Since Tori doesn’t know how to become visible again, she can’t distract the guard. I’ll just go ahead and reap her and take her to the Gateway as soon as I’m allowed.”

  “That’s what I was thinking.” Shanghai snapped the photo, raising a click and a flash. “She’ll be happier with her mother anyway.”

  “Goody!” Tori bounced in place. “And I’ll see Daddy, too, I’ll bet.”

  I slid my dagger from the weapons belt. “Listen, I’m pretty tired, so—”

  “Want me to reap her?” Shanghai rose to her feet. “You can go to bed. I’ll reap Tori in the bathroom where we won’t disturb you.”

  I concealed a wince. With Tori’s entrenchment level, the process would be excruciating. Alex would know that and listen for yelps of pain. “Down the hall would be better. And maybe I can sneak out tomorrow night after I get a better feel for this place. Without a decoy, it’ll be impossible tonight.”

  “Fair enough. Go on to bed.” Shanghai led Tori to the bathroom, stopped just inside the door, and peered around the jamb, pressing a finger to her lips to signal for Tori’s silence.

  I shuffled around, opened and closed two dresser drawers, and pulled back the bedcovers. I then tapped the dagger’s blade against the wall hoping to mimic the sound of a clicking light switch.

  After waiting a few seconds, I tiptoed to the dresser, slid the blade behind the adhesive that kept the microphone in place, and quietly pried it from the panel. With the microphone pinched between my fingers, I studied the surface. A tiny diode emitted red light next to an equally tiny rocker switch. Using the point of the blade, I tipped the switch the opposite way. The diode blinked off.

  I quietly made a quick sweep of the room and checked every possible surface for another microphone. All clear. I slid the now-deaf one into my pocket and gestured for Shanghai. When she reentered with Tori and closed the door, I look past her, imagining the surfaces in her half of the suite. “You’ll need to check your room,” I whispered. “And the bathroom.”

  “I will,” she whispered in return, “but I think it’s cool that Alex’s microphone backfired on her. Now she’ll think we’re taking Tori to the Gateway instead of using her as a decoy.”

  “What?” Tori asked. “You’re not taking me?”

  Shanghai turned to her. “We’re taking you, honey. Just not right away.”

  “There’s one problem.” I sat on the sofa. “Do you remember if we mentioned our plan to bring Sing here?”

  Shanghai shook her head. “I don’t think we did. Alex probably heard that you want to sneak out, but she doesn’t know why.”

  I reached for my camera. “Let’s see the photo stick.”

  “Right. The visibility issue.” Shanghai removed the stick from the camera and handed it to me. “We could just take her to the bathroom mirror.”

  “This is quicker.” I wrapped my fingers around it. An image of part of the sofa formed above my hand, but no Tori.

  I tossed the stick to the bed. “She’s invisible.”

  “I am?” Tori climbed onto the sofa. “So how do I become visible again?”

  “Wishing,” Shanghai said. “Maybe if you try real hard, like you did to disappear.”

  “She had incentive, an absolute need to hide.” I set my hand behind her head and pretended to stroke her hair. “Listen, Tori. Here’s the fastest way for you to get to your mommy and daddy. If you can become visible, you can help me bring someone here who will take you to the Gateway sooner than I can.”

  Tori balled her fists. “Oh, I want to help you. I want to see Mommy and Daddy again.”

  “Then come with me.” Shanghai walked toward the bathroom. “Quickly now.”

  Tori hopped up and hurried along. I followed as well. Once inside the bathroom, Shanghai closed both doors and flipped on the lights. We checked all the surfaces for a microphone and found nothing.

  The three of us looked at the mirror hanging on the wall opposite the shower. Although Tori stood between Shanghai and me in reality, she didn’t appear in the reflection.

  She pointed. “I’m not there.”

  “Then wish yourself there,” Shanghai said. “Wish with all your heart.”

  “Okay.” Tori scrunched her brow. “I’m wishing.”

  Again I stroked Tori’s nebulous hair. “Just think. In a little while, we’ll be able to take you to your mommy, but you have to become visible so you can help us. I have to bring Singapore here, but I can’t do it without you.”

  Tori’s whole body shook. “I’m trying!”

  For a moment, nothing happened. Then, a wispy human frame took shape in the glass, growing clearer by the second.

  “You’re doing it, Tori,” I said. “You’re almost there.”

  After a few more seconds, her reflection matched her ghostly visage—pale face, glowing eyes, and nearly opaque body.

  “You did it,” Shanghai whispered.

  Tori relaxed her muscles. “I know how to do it now. Watch.” Smiling, she stared at the mirror. Within two seconds, her reflection vanished. Then two seconds later, it appeared again. Her grin widened. “This is fun.”

  “Perfect.” I opened the door to my bedroom. “Let’s make our plans. When it gets late enough, I’ll go and get Sing.”

  After I lit three candles and set them on my dresser, we all sat on my bed and talked. Sometime during our two-hour conversation, the electricity shutoff arrived and dimmed the room. The flickering wicks and soft glow added a hushing mood, causing us to whisper and slow our speaking cadence to a relaxed rhythm.

  Once we had made plans for my exit and return, Tori filled us in on her story, though Shanghai and I had to interpret quite a bit. Since Tori’s father died, her mother started her own business—“being a nurse,” Tori called it, which we translated as “smuggling medicine.” They worked together in the corrections camp for three months before the grinding accident, so Tori knew everyone and what they all did.

  After we exhausted our stories, I pulled my watch from my pocket. Eleven-fifteen. Probably late enough.

  I put on my belt and cloak and blew out the candles. Shanghai and I skulked down the hall, Tori trailing and copying our furtive postures, though her footsteps made no noise at all.

  Using my flashlight, Shanghai led us downstairs and through another hall that ended at a metal door. A sign on the wall instructed non-incarcerated residents to notify security personnel and gain approval before attempting to leave.

  I peeked through a tiny square window. It provided only a narrow view—just a street about a hundred feet away with parked cars lining the curb. A guard could be standing near the wall out of my line of sight.

  I grasped the door’s lever and gently tried to push it down. Locked. Bending low, I whispered, “Okay, Tori, you disappear, stick your head through the door, and come back to tell me if you see a guard.”

  Tori grinned. “This should be fun.”

  Shanghai gave me the flashlight and backed away, whispering, “I’ll go to my room. It’ll be dark, Tori, so I’ll look for your eyes when you come.”

  As soon as Shanghai walked out of sight, Tori pushed her head through the door. After a few seconds, she drew it back in. “I saw a guard smoking a cigarette.” She stuck out her tongue. “Yuck.”

  “Okay. Now go visible. You know the plan.”

  Tori crouched in the corner. “I’m ready.”

&n
bsp; “Good.” I turned off the flashlight, knocked on the door, and pressed my body against the corner opposite Tori’s.

  A husky voice penetrated the metal. “Who is it?”

  I waited, saying nothing. Tori’s eyes glowed more brightly, whether from delight or fear, I couldn’t tell.

  After a few seconds of silence, I reached from my hiding place and knocked again.

  The guard called out, “Listen, no one’s on the list for pre-authorized exits, so if it’s an emergency, go to the main gate and report.”

  I waited a few more seconds, then knocked a third time and squeezed again into the corner. I imagined the guard looking through the window, his shifting eyes unable to catch sight of either of us.

  “Some prankster in there is going to be in big trouble.” Beeps sounded, then metal scraping on metal. The moment the door opened, Tori jumped up and ran outside.

  “Hey!” A tall guard gave chase and faded quickly in the darkness.

  Just before the door swung closed, I slid through the gap and ran across a strip of grass, illuminated by the glow of two searchlights that swung toward the direction Tori had run. When I reached the street, I ducked behind a parked car. The guard stood near the side of the Hilton, scratching his head under his cap, the two searchlights locked on him.

  I rose slowly and backed away. So far, everything had worked perfectly. The plan was for Shanghai and Tori to pull a similar stunt to get me in, but success seemed unlikely now, unless the guard was unrealistically gullible.

  I flicked on the flashlight and ran toward my apartment. Since it was nearing midnight, only a few cars and trucks traveled the riverside road. I hadn’t bothered to plug in my valve, so Crandyke’s laments wouldn’t slow me down. Still, bandits were a concern, though my rapid pace might keep them at bay.

  In less than half an hour, I arrived at the alley. After catching my breath, I strode to Sing’s apartment building, stopped at its shallow entry alcove, and pulled the knob. The door just rattled. I found a keypad on the right and punched in the code—six, nine, one, four. No beeps sounded. I pulled the door again. It stayed locked.

  Back at the street, the lampposts shone brightly, but power to the building had been cut off by now, killing the keypad. Electricity was always off by this time of night. We should have remembered that.

  I retreated to the alley and stood under Sing’s apartment. The fire-escape ladder hung horizontally about ten feet over my head. After fastening the flashlight to my belt, I backed up a few paces, sprinted forward, and leaped up. My fingers wrapped around the end rung, and my weight dragged the ladder down, raising a loud whine.

  As soon as the angle allowed, I climbed hand over hand until my feet pressed on the lowest rung. Then, I ran up the ladder, keeping my footfalls as quiet as possible.

  When I reached Sing’s level, I knocked on the access door. A flashlight beam shot through the window and shone in my face. Blinking at the brightness, I hissed, “Sing! It’s me!”

  The door flew open. Sing leaped out and threw her arms around me, making her cloak twirl. “You’re here!”

  “Of course I’m here.” I returned the embrace and patted her on the back. “Did something happen?”

  She drew away and looked at me face-to-face. With her flashlight pointing at her chest, the glow made her eyes sparkle. “I was standing out here watching for you, and Alex rode by on her electric motorcycle. I think she stopped at the front of the building, but I can’t see the door from here, so I’m not sure. Anyway, I thought she might have been waiting for you in the lobby.”

  “I couldn’t get in. The keypad wouldn’t work. No electricity.”

  “Right. I forgot about that. I should have told you about the night entrance in the back. Maybe Alex found someone to open it for her.”

  I gazed toward the lobby. “If she was waiting inside, she might have heard me rattle the door.”

  Sing turned off her flashlight and pulled me down to a crouch. I peered through the metal slats in the railing. At alley level, a rat skittered from one trash can to another, but no humans roamed anywhere.

  I whispered, “I didn’t see her motorcycle, but she might have taken it inside. It’s pretty small.”

  “She’s not stupid enough to leave it out in the open,” Sing said.

  “But why did she go to your building? She doesn’t know you’re involved.”

  Sing laid a hand on my shoulder and rubbed it gently. “It wouldn’t take much snooping to find out we’ve been together a lot lately.”

  “Who would tell her? Bartholomew, maybe?”

  Sing looked away. “Or Erin.”

  “Erin didn’t take a liking to you, did she?”

  “Not really.” Sing slid her hand into mine. “I don’t know why. Maybe because I’m new. I upset the routine.”

  “Maybe.” I focused on our hand clasp, smooth and warm. My heart accelerated, though not as much as when she kissed me. She had said there was more where that came from, and her soft lips beckoned me to ask for more.

  I closed my eyes. I couldn’t ask. My promises had to keep my shell intact.

  Alex appeared at the end of the alley, looking in. Sing released my hand. “Stay down. I’ll see what I can do to put her off your trail.”

  Sing rose, turned on her flashlight, and aimed the beam at Alex. “Are you a death messenger?” Sing called.

  “No.” Alex strolled into the alley, her hands in her jacket pockets as she angled her head upward. “My name is Alex, and I’m looking for Phoenix. I heard someone trying to get into your apartment building, but whoever it was left before I could get to the door. I thought it might be him.”

  Sing shone the light on the fire-escape ladder below. The spring-loaded hinges had brought it back to its horizontal perch well above the alley pavement. “Some guy tried to climb that ladder a few minutes ago. It makes quite a racket, so I came out here to see if a death messenger was trying to contact me. I scared him away, whoever he was, but he wasn’t Phoenix. Too short and scrawny.”

  “When was the last time you saw Phoenix?”

  “Maybe five or five-thirty.” She shifted the flashlight beam to my former apartment’s window. “He was over there. He wanted me to come and help him with a rescue mission at the corrections camp. I told him no way. I’m not risking my life for a crazy stunt like that. So he left.”

  Alex tapped her foot on the pavement. “Interesting.”

  “Why are you looking for Phoenix?”

  Alex set a hand on her hip. “He was supposed to be doing something for me, and he went missing, so I’m concerned about him.”

  “I see.” Sing shrugged. “Well, maybe you could check at the corrections camp.”

  Alex glanced toward the street before looking up again. “Thank you for the information.”

  “No problem.”

  As soon as Alex turned to leave, I whispered, “We can’t let her get back to the camp before I do.”

  “I’ll go down and distract her.” Sing clipped her flashlight to her belt and climbed to the top of the railing.

  “Do you know where the camp is?” I asked, still crouching.

  “By the river, right?”

  “Right. There’s a building on the camp’s southeast side with a door you can get to without passing through the perimeter fence. Go there and hide behind a car, then keep your eye on the door. When you see me there, come running.”

  “Got it.” Sing leaped from the railing and plunged. When her feet struck the alley floor, she rolled into a somersault, then bolted upright and ran, calling, “Alex! Wait!”

  Alex pivoted. When Sing caught up, the two of them strolled out of the alley together, Alex touching Sing’s shoulder.

  I clutched the railing. I should have warned Sing about Alex’s power. If she could really drain energy or read minds, talking to her unguarded could ruin everything.

  As soon as they turned out of sight, I climbed up to the railing and looked down. Only hours ago I thought I had taken this pl
unge for the final time, but now it seemed that many more plunges awaited, perhaps of a different nature. With Alex knowing that I had broken curfew, I might become one of the camp prisoners at the reaping.

  I took a deep breath and leaped into the darkness.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I landed on the alley floor and ran toward the street. When I reached the corner, I stopped and peeked around it. Sing stood in front of her apartment building’s door talking to Alex, who had her back toward me. I turned the opposite way and jogged silently until I found a side street to dash into.

  From there, I chose a path that stayed clear of the main thoroughfare and sprinted toward the camp. Fewer streetlamps dotted the side roads. No matter. I again ran at a fast enough clip to discourage bandits.

  When I neared the camp, I stopped behind a car and caught my breath. Sweat dripped everywhere, dampening my clothes from top to bottom. I mopped my brow with a sleeve. A few streetlamps and the camp’s searchlights illuminated the Hilton’s rear entry. The same lanky guard leaned against the wall, smoking a cigarette.

  A few steps away from the guard, Tori bounced on her toes, apparently in her invisible state. When she saw me, she ran to the car, walked right through it, and stood at my side. “Shanghai can’t come. Alex put a guard in your hall.”

  “She’s tightening the screws. I’ll have to come up with a new plan.” I plugged my cloak into my valve. When it energized, I whispered, “Crandyke, do you have any info on the Hilton’s guard at the back door? He’s tall and thin. Chain smokes. About forty years old. Maybe six foot two.”

  “Have you been swimming? It’s itchy in here.”

  “Just sweating. I’ll be dry soon. Now pay attention. Do you know the guy?”

  “All right, but try not to sweat so much.” Crandyke sighed. “He’s probably Herman Stanskey. Only smoker I know in the guard detail.”

  “Got anything on him I can use for leverage?”

  “He’s clean as a whistle, a by-the-book guy, if you catch my meaning.”