Rift

by Nancy E. Dunne

  They slammed into the stone floor of the room where Henri’s body lay on a mat. As soon as she could, Em wiggled out of Lex’s grasp and ran to her father. Lex didn’t even think about trying to stop her. He got up and walked over to them, pleased to find that Henri was merely asleep and not dead. Em was shaking him and leaning down close to talk to him, but he wasn’t responding. Lex sent a tiny tendril of his magic out to sense the living and the dead in the room, and Henri was definitely still living - if not very seriously wounded.

  “Sorry about the landing, you two. I have never been very good at that for anyone but myself. Ah, the stories I could tell! But I won’t. I see that you have found our Henri, Em. I told you that he was alive.”

  “Only just.” Em’s tattoo was remaining a neutral color. Lex was again overwhelmed by her ability - how long had it taken him to figure out how to control that? “What is wrong with him exactly, other than the fact that he fell overboard and was sucked into a maelstrom?”

  “The fall down to the beach was a long one, and he had broken most of his bones upon landing. I fixed all of that for him, and now he is just resting.” Le Creáteur ran the backs of his fingers cautiously down the side of Henri’s face, as though he was touching something of immeasurable value. It was abundantly clear that he still coveted Henri, and that was proving to be a little bit hard for Em to witness - Lex knew that she felt in her bones how much her father had loved her mother - what he'd had with Val had been love once but no longer. To see this horrible narcissistic man touching her father was nearly more than she could take.

  “Take your hands off him.” Her voice was quiet yet firm. “Take your hands off my father or, I swear on my life you will live to regret it.”

  “Interesting turn of phrase, cherie. But I think that you will find that around here I do more giving of orders than I do taking them, especially from misguided and impudent young women such as yourself.” He took a step back from Henri, regardless of what he had said, and Lex watched her in awe, feeling even more proud of her than he had been before.

  “STAY AWAY FROM MY FATHER!” Em took a step closer to him as she bellowed at him, her eyes threatening to spill over with angry tears as she stared him down. He made a big show of putting his hands in the air as he turned to face Lex.

  “My boy Lex, would you please keep her quiet for me? I can’t gently wake Henri up if that one is going to be wailing at him the entire time.” Le Creáteur waited until Lex picked Em up again, still writhing and biting. At least she was the only one in his arms. Le Creáteur turned back to Henri and approached him - Lex winced as Em sank her teeth into his hand that was covering her mouth.

  “Trust me, Em,” Lex whispered, his lips brushing her ear as he spoke. “Please. I will get you and your father to safety.” She made a sound like a whimper, and he almost took his hand away from her mouth. Almost. She snorted angrily, and Lex knew she was just trying to play him with the whimper. He couldn’t be mad at her, though - she knew him and knew what would get to him, clever girl.

  “Now, Henri, you will wake up for me.” Le Creáteur again caressed the side of Henri’s face as he leaned in close, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead. “How we have changed since we were young, eh?” He stroked Henri’s salt and pepper hair. “So much ahead of us if only you had stayed with me. So much we could have accomplished, but never mind. You are here now.” Without raising his head, he looked over at Em. Lex was working hard to hold her back - the closer Le Creáteur got to her father’s face, the more her body vibrated to be released. “Em, ma fille, what is it that angers you more? That I hold all the cards or that you are learning that your father is not who you thought him to be? I think a bit of both.” He nodded his head as he turned his gaze back to Henri. “Come on, mon coeur, open your eyes for me.” As Em shook with rage in his arms, Lex watched, transfixed, as Le Creáteur moved his hand from Henri’s forehead down his face, stopping at his chin. Henri’s eyes fluttered and opened, then narrowed as he focused on the face above his.

  “Val. He called you. I asked him not to.” His voice was weak and soft, but his breath was steady and even. Lex wanted to ask how that was possible, how Le Creáteur had brought this man back from the brink of death. Henri’s color was improving before their eyes. He tried to sit up but could not, so he rolled his head to the side. “Where is my daughter?” Lex had not kept his grip tight on Em, and she wiggled free before running to her father’s side.

  “Papa, I’m here, I’m here.” She shoved Le Creáteur to one side and threw her body in between them. Lex ran in to get her, but Le Creáteur held up a finger to stop him.

  “Stand down, Lex, I’m all right.”

  “Oui, Le Creáteur, as you wish.” Lex’s eyes widened as Le Creáteur moved away from Henri and drew very close to him, looking up at him.

  “Le Creáteur is for others in the game, Lex, but you are part of my inner circle. You are part of my family. Please, call me Valentin.”

  Valentin. Lex was not sure he could do that, but if that’s what Le...what Valentin wanted, then it was his duty to comply. “I will, Valentin.”

  “Excellent.” He turned back to Henri, and Lex let himself sag a bit - it was beyond unnerving to have Valentin so close to Em since Lex knew very well what the other man was capable of doing. But also, he wanted to do as he was told, and yet he had too much training not to defer to Le Creáteur in all things. “Now then, my girl, what shall we do with you and ton pere?”

  “A better question, Monsieur Badeaux, is what am I going to do to you for hurting him?”

  Em

  Twenty Six

  She meant every bit of what she was thinking. She wanted to hurt Valentin. She wanted to get him away from her father. But he just stood grinning at her. He was mocking her and her threat.

  “What will you do, little girl?” He sneered at her. “Am I supposed to be afraid?” Em glared at him, noticing out of the corner of her eye that Lex had moved closer to them. He was hanging back - Em wasn’t sure why he wasn’t jumping in to help her, but she couldn’t afford to use any of her brainpower on that puzzle. He told her a little bit about being in Val’s service as a bodyguard - the training must have been intense. She could understand his reluctance to anger Val, but it wasn’t doing much to help her case.

  “If you continue to hurt my father, you will most certainly have reason to be afraid.”

  Val chuckled. “I don’t want to hurt him, foolish girl. I love Henri, more than your mother ever could have. But that is water under the bridge, I think - that is the English phrase, is it not?”

  Em started to retort, but Henri’s hand closed around her arm, and, against her better judgment, she turned away from Val and looked down at her father.“Madelyne, you must not anger him,” he whispered. “You do not know what he is capable of when he is angry. You must make it back out of this game. Don’t let him tell you that you are stuck here.”

  “Papa, you told me I can’t leave now because of my tattoo. It’s okay, I just need to make sure that you are okay and safe.”

  “Ma fille, I lied. I needed to know - I wasn’t sure - the bar code keeps me here, and Lex has tattoos rather than bar codes. Never let it be said that Val isn’t attentive to detail and design. The tattoos look…” He fell into a coughing fit, and Em stroked his hand.

  “It’s okay, Papa, it’s okay.” Henri settled down after a few minutes.

  “You really shouldn’t upset him like that, Madelyne. He hit the ground pretty hard after you threw him out of your boat.” Em fisted her hands as she turned back to Val, who had crossed the room and was standing right behind her. “Will you move away and let me help, or must I enlist Lex to move you again?” She looked at Henri for confirmation, and he nodded before he shared a long look with Lex. Something was happening. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw Lex nod. She stepped away from Henri, and Val bent over him as Lex took a step closer.

  “Em.” She looked at Lex just as he closed the space between them and grabbed h
er up in his arms.

  “Thank you, mon fils, but I think if I have -” Val turned his head around and made eye contact with Em. “What are you doing?”

  “NOW, LEX!” Henri came up off the table as he shouted and winced, grabbing at his ribcage. Em tried to wheel around, but Lex held her tightly. “Je t'aime ma précieuse fille, I love you so...”

  “Allez chez Em.” The words that Lex whispered - she understood what was happening just as everything went dark. He was transporting them to her house in the woods. Em screamed into the darkness as she clung to Lex. There was the deafening sound of rushing wind in her ear just before they crash-landed into the ground. It was mossy grass, and when Em opened her eyes and was able to take a deep breath, her eyes teared up. Greeting her nostrils was the sweet and woodsy smell of the forest that surrounded Embercrest.

  For a split second, her heart soared. She was free of Val, away from his fortress, and she was home. But it wasn’t her home. And her father was still with that monster. She pulled away from Lex as he tried to help her up off the ground. “What did you do?” He had the grace to look wounded as she shoved him. “WHAT DID YOU DO?”

  “I did what your father wanted me to do. I got you to safety.” Lex stood still as Em wailed and assaulted him with her fists, but he caught them in his hand when electrical arcs began jumping from one of her hands to the other. “Em, be careful, you’re not completely in control of your powers here in the -” A force knocked him back a few feet, and Lex staggered to keep his balance. Em held both her arms out in front of her, palms facing him.

  “Tell me what is going on, NOW.”

  “I don’t know.” Em flexed her hands and squared her feet, ready to send another blast. “I don’t know, I swear to you that I don’t!” His tattoos glowed white - the only thing that Em knew she could trust at the moment.

  “He told me that my tattoo doesn’t hold me here, Lex.” Lex looked at her, and the sadness in his eyes broke her heart. “It didn’t come from Val, so it doesn’t have the same meaning that yours does.”

  “I heard him say that, yes.”

  “Well, we have to go back there and get Papa back, Lex. Immediately.” He didn’t move, so Em nodded and headed for her house.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I need weapons.” She went into the house with Lex right on her heels. “I am not going back in there unarmed. I have my magic, but I need some extra help.” In the kitchen, Em opened a door that looked like a pantry; inside, there were weapons instead of food. She put her bow over her shoulder and grabbed the quiver next to it. Twin daggers were strapped to her arms to keep her from twirling them. Finally, she picked up a sword and sheath and hooked them into a belt at her waist. “What?” Lex was staring at her.

  “I’ve seen some of those weapons before, that’s all.” Lex moved in between Em and the doorway.

  “Don’t make me use any of these against you, Lex. Get out of my way.”

  “Em, you don’t even know how to get back to the fortress!” Lex didn’t move, so Em wrapped her fingers around the hilt of her sword. “Please don’t make me hurt you.”

  “I have no intention of that. Now move.”

  “Em, you really don’t want to do this, do you?” Em turned to seek the source of the familiar voice. A man was standing in the doorway leading to the bed chamber from the kitchen. He wore a cloak with the hood up, and Em strained to see the face inside. As if he read her mind, he pushed back the hood and smiled at her. “Still trying to place how you know me, darlin'?”

  “It can’t be - you are - then who is -” She looked back at Lex, who looked like he had seen a ghost. His tattoos glowed crimson. “Lex?” She felt a hand on her arm, and she pulled it away as she turned back to the other man. “Take your hand off me.”

  “He is Lex, you are right about that. But I am Alex. I am the person that discovered Arcstone with you. We ran missions together. We shared secrets over the chat program.” Em looked back and forth between the two men. This made no sense. Lex was Alex’s avatar in the game. So how could both Lex and Alex be in the same room? Answer? They couldn’t be.

  “Impossible.” She drew her sword and walked toward Alex, the point aimed directly at his throat. “Are you Val? Are you Le Creáteur?”

  Alex held her gaze for a moment and then laughed. “Hardly. He is my employer.”

  “So you work for him. Just as bad. What do you want with us?”

  “I don’t want anything to do with him. Only you. Listen to my voice. You have to know that it is me and that he is just code. He is an algorithm. He has learned what he knows about you through me, through all the time we ran missions together.” He carefully pushed the sword away from his throat and took a step closer to her. “Close your eyes, Em. Listen to my voice.”

  He had to be out of his mind. “Close my eyes? Are you insane? I can hear your voice just fine, and it sounds the same as his.” She gestured with her sword hand at Lex, who wisely stepped clear of the blade’s arc. “There is no way that both of you can be here at once. There isn’t another Em running around, is there? But I am certain that I am the real me - I am Maddie.”

  Alex’s mouth turned up in a smile. “You are certainly the real you, Em. No doubt in my mind. And I’m as surprised as you are that you are here - when Val told me that was what he was going to do, I was -”

  Em narrowed her eyes as his words sunk in - Alex had known what was going to happen to her. He had insisted that he didn’t right after she came through the mirror, or when she was so afraid that first night in her house here in the woods, but he knew. She spun around and raised the sword at Lex, who was inching toward the door of the house. “Not so fast - you knew what Val was going to do? And you pretended that - but how are both of you here at the same time?” Her head was pounding, and she felt dizzy. Alex rushed to her side, but she shoved him away. “Don’t touch me - don’t either of you touch me!” She dropped the sword, and Lex quickly kicked it away, but she still had her daggers - and they needed to spin, to help her ground herself and make sense of what was in front of her eyes. She removed them and turned them around in her hands as she backed up against the hearth, her gaze alternating from Lex to Alex.

  Lex was the first to make a move toward her. “I don’t understand what is going on here either, Em, darlin', but there is no need to -” One of the daggers whistled as it flew close to his ear and then bounced off the door to the house. Em held out her hand, and it magically flew back into her grip.

  “That will never get old. Never.” She looked up from her hand and saw that both of them had taken a step closer. “I missed on purpose, you know.”

  “Of course. I have seen you do far worse with those, darlin',” Alex said.

  “New rule - NO ONE CALLS ME DARLIN’ ANYMORE.” Her headache, though eased somewhat, was still present. She shifted her gaze to Alex. “You knew that Val was planning to pull me into the game.” Alex nodded. “But you, Lex, said that you did not know.” Lex looked at the floor. “So you lied to me.”

  “I had no choice, Em. I had to do what Le - what Val told me to do. Right up until I saw that look in Henri’s face, and I knew he wanted me to get you away from Val, I had to comply.”

  Alex snorted. “Yeah, he did, I suppose. I mean, I did, in a way, but Em -” He took a step closer, and she raised the spinning daggers. “Easy there, champ. All I was going to say was that when we got offline, out of the game, and we talked - that was really me. That was nothing to do with Val or Arcstone.” He took another step closer, smiling when she did not hurl one of the blades his way. “I - I love you, Em, and I am here because I will not let Val hurt you, in the game or out of it. I may have met you because he sent me to find you in the game, but -”

  Her blades stopped spinning, and she moved to within inches of Alex, her daggers pointed at his throat this time. “You were sent to find me? You’ve got some explaining to do.” Movement caught her eye, and she quickly locked eyes with Lex as he took another step toward the d
oor. “Move again, and you will carry my dagger out that door in the back of your neck.” He froze. “Back over here where I can keep an eye on you too. NOW.” He obeyed, and she turned her attention back to Alex. “Explain yourself. How were you sent to find me?”

  Twenty Seven

  Alex cleared his throat and looked pointedly at Lex before he began speaking. "First, let me say that he can corroborate everything that I am about to say, Em. Neither of us understands how both of us can be here with you now, nor do we know why there is no Maddie left in the physical world while you are here. Only Val knows that. Despite what you think, he did not share everything with me - I am basically just an employee, another programmer on the dev team for Arcstone. I am higher up in the food chain, but still just a programmer. In turn, this Lex is just a member of Le Creáteur's garde, his army, so to speak. He is not my GM account avatar." He paused for a moment, and she nodded - this was all information that made sense to her.

  "But then, how are you here? If you have avatars, then how are YOU here?" The grip that Em had on her rational mind was growing weak.

  "That is what I'm trying to tell you, Em. I think that it is because this persona, Alexander, is MY GM account’s avatar. I look like me because I’ve got to work when I come in the game, not have fun like when I play or when I’m running Lex. I got a message yesterday telling me to come to Val's studio today and run a specific program on the server. I logged into my GM account, ran the program, there was a bright flash, and then after a fair bit of pain and darkness I was here. That is literally all I know. I have come into the game before, but I was using this avatar that Val made for me to use in my GM role." He pointed at Lex. "That is how you saw me when you were on the boat."