by P. R. Mason
“Let’s get these things back home,” Zen said.
“How do you do it?” Petra asked.
“My blood. It has to interact with the portal I think.” I threw up my hands. “I’m totally guessing here, but that seems to be the common denominator.”
Zen glanced at Rom. "Is she right? Is that how it opens?"
Rom didn't answer. He only stood with his eyes on me.
Senji reached into his pack and drew out a Swiss Army knife and opened it to the blade. I crossed to him and Senji held out the knife.
“Halt!” Rom ordered in a harsh tone.
I turned to Rom, and for a moment I only saw the semi-automatic he held. The gun was pointed straight at me.
”You shall not attempt re-opening of the door to Dorcha.” In the depths of his eyes there was a fixed coldness I had not observed since the day of the bridge. Rom’s face had set in sharp lines. His mouth, his jaw, his cheeks. “You shall not.”
“Or what?” I asked Rom.
“Or it is my duty to kill you.”
Chapter Twelve
“Dude. What are you saying?” Chase took a step forward.
Rom gave a jerk of his hand. “Come no closer,” he ordered.
“I knew I shouldn’t trust you.” Zen seemed unable to decide whether to be more concerned about the threat Rom posed or the monsters. In the end he kept the prod directed at the monsters.
“So you’re going to kill Kizzy,” Zen said. “And then what are you going to do with these two?”
“They will die also,” Rom said in a monotone.
“What about the rest of us?” Zen asked.
Rom did not answer, as if he had not thought about that.
“Why are you doing this?” Petra inched closer to me as she asked the question.
I prayed she would stay away. I didn't want her hurt.
“Do you not realize these creatures wished for you to return them here?" Rom's eyes blazed to life with his anger, the earlier coldness gone.
“Bringing them here was too easy,” I acknowledged.
“Accord. And why do you suppose?”
The ogre emitted something between a grunt and a growl but which sounded suspiciously like a chuckle.
“Because they want to go back home.” My statement brought a smile to the ghoul's face.
“And force you, Kizzy, to return with them,” Rom said.
“If he wants Kizzy, then give him Kizzy.” Billy waved his cattle prod. “I just want Juliette back.”
“My prince awaits you.” The ghoul's yellow eyes, gleaming brightly from beneath his stringy hair, fixed on me as he made the pronouncement with a jeering smile.
“My bad.” Zen grimaced. “I forgot a ghoul communicates psychically with the vampire who made him and the ghoul is under the vamp's control.”
“Really?” Petra said. “You just remembered that crucial detail and all you can say is 'my bad'?”
“In my defense I didn’t think the psychic connection could span the dimensions but—”
“Who cares right now?” I yelled and turned to Rom. He still had the .45 caliber on me, which made me mad. Furious in fact. I walked toward him.
“Halt!” Rom shook the gun for emphasis. “I shall fire.”
“I don’t do well with people holding guns on me. I tend to prefer they shoot me rather than threaten me.” Stopping only when the gun barrel touched my belly, I placed a hand on top of the gun and continued, “I’m not leaving Juliette and Franky over there. So if you’re gonna kill me then you better go for it.”
As we stared into each other’s eyes, I tried to make mine as steely and determined as his. More steely and determined than my insides actually were. For long moments I waited to feel the familiar fire burning of a gunshot wound in my gut. Instead, the coldness began to seep out of Rom’s gaze and in its place was the slightest flicker of uncertainty. Maybe my poker face was better than I’d thought.
“If he shoots me,” I announced with bravado I didn’t feel. “The rest of you be sure to use my blood to open the vortex and push those things back through.” In reality I wanted to cry. Who wouldn’t want to cry if her boyfriend wanted to kill her? But then I seemed to bring out that side of people.
The gun began to tremble.
“Entreaties,” Rom said. “See reason, Kizzy. You observed the wave hit New Rome. When two dimensions are penetrated, and the space-time continuum is disrupted, do you not think there may be consequences for a third dimension?”
“Natural disasters?” I asked in confusion. But then I remembered something about a theoretical butterfly effect: The theory that the flapping of the butterfly’s wings could cause a tornado a half a world away by a ripple effect.
“Natural disasters are not natural," Rom shouted. "The oracle foretold the consequence of your actions Kizzy. My mission here was to stop you from opening a portal from this world to the dimension of Dorcha. That was my sworn duty. I tried to discourage you. I tried to delay you. I tried to stop you short of physical force. Yet I failed and the great wave you call tsunami resulted in my dimension of Augustinia.”
“We don’t even know if the tsunami was real or a vision in the psychomanteum reflecting your fears. You said so yourself.” I knew I was trying to convince myself as much as I wanted to convince Rom. Killing thousands in another world wasn't something I wanted on my conscience.
“I may wish it so, but I know in my heart the truth. If you were to enter Dorcha..." He paused. When he spoke again his words were almost a whisper. "A Clavis in Dorcha? The consequences could be catastrophic not only for Augustinia but for this world as well.”
I nodded. “But isn’t it possible the way to put things right for Augustinia—the way to stop more natural disasters—is to return the ghoul and the ogre to Dorcha and get back Juliette and Franky?"
His frown darkened further.
"Then there would be no further disruption of the—what did you call it?—the space-time continuum,” I continued. “Until what I did is undone, perhaps disasters will continue to strike your world.”
Rom shook his head.
“Your reasoning lacks sense and will lead to destruction.” His tone was harsh but the gun began to shake harder. Did that mean he was about to fire?
The seconds of his indecision crept by as hours. Finally, Rom's expression went from steely to defeated.
“But though I fear the consequences for my family, I find I cannot bring myself to kill you.” Rom lowered the gun. “Once more I have failed in my duty to protect my home, my people. I should have killed you when first I saw you. When I did not yet feel...as I feel now.”
What had just happened? On the one hand, Rom had pointed a gun at me. On the other he'd abandoned his duty—a big thing in his world—out of caring for me. Should I be devastated because he tried to kill me or thrilled he'd chosen me over his honor...or even his own family?
Reaching up a hand, I placed my palm caressingly over his cheek.
“It’s all right. Obviously, I think it’s a good thing you didn’t kill me,” I tried to joke. He didn’t even crack a hint of his quirky smile. “Besides,” I said. “I know I’m right about this.”
“She’s right,” Zen agreed.
“If you are in error—”
“I’m not,” I pretended with more certainty than I felt. I squeezed his arm. “Let’s open this sucker up.”
“Yeah,” piped in Billy. “Would you pussies get going? These monsters smell like rotting garbage. I’m about to hurl here.” He pointed his prod at Senji. “But the smell could be coming from the Chink kid.”
“That’s Jap kid to you, asswipe,” Senji drawled.
“They will try to take you once the vortex is open.” Rom inclined his head toward the monsters.
“Yes. I guess we’ll have to stop them.
Turning on my heel I crossed to Senji and took the Swiss army knife. I held the blade to my palm for a few seconds before chickening out.
“You do it, Senji.�
� I offered the knife back to my friend. “For some reason I can’t cut myself.”
“Let me do it,” Billy said. “I’ve wanted to stab you for a while now, Taylor.”
“Quiet your mouth,“ Rom roared.
“Whatsa matter,” Billy said with a chortle. “Just a minute ago you were gonna shoot her.”
“Quiet your mouth or I shall quiet it.” Rom's words echoed thunderously in the tunnel.
Billy backed away and moved next to Quinn, murmuring to him and laughing as if he’d achieved something by baiting Rom. What an idiot.
I held out my hand to Senji again.
“One more thing before you do that.” Zen strode to a huge hard sided suitcase along the wall I hadn’t noticed before. He must have stashed it there earlier while Rom and I were in my bedroom. Zen opened the case and pulled out what looked like a climbing harness, which he strapped around me. He returned to the suitcase and drew out a length of cord and then attached it to my harness with a carabiner clip. Using a heavy-duty nail gun, he secured a metal loop in the wall and then clipped the other end of the cord to the loop with another carabiner.
“Thanks.” I turned back to a slightly queasy looking Senji.
Covering his eyes with one hand, he made a stabbing motion with the other, completely missing my hand.
“For heavens sake!” Zen grabbed the knife from Senji. “You’re going to cut her hand off.” He scored my hand with the blade before I had time to flinch. The pain burned like the most extreme paper cut I’d ever felt. On the scale of one to ten of lifetime pain, a one. Rom wanting to shoot me scored a seven. My father and all that stuff: an eleven. This cut was not so bad, I decided.
Taking a deep breath, I advanced with careful steps to the entrance to the vortex, my hand held palm up.
“Everybody stay back,” I said, glancing over my shoulder.
“Yeah and keep your attention on the monsters,” Zen cautioned.
When I reached the center of the design’s swirl I tipped my hand over and allowed the blood pooling there to drip down. We waited but nothing happened.
“It’s not working,” Petra exclaimed.
“Your adrenaline is not sufficient," Rom said. “The brain’s imaginings of events of great emotion may assist.”
Squeezing my hand to force out more blood, I imagined the last moments on the bridge with Adam. Clenching my eyes shut, I viewed the memory’s video of the second I was shot and began falling with my brother in my arms. Opening my eyes, I knelt and placed my palm on the floor. A boom sounded and the familiar glow rose to hover over the floor. The concrete beneath my hand shifted. Jerking away, I scrambled upright and stepped back as the swirl began to rotate. The jet engine sound of the vortex rumbled low and grew louder as the velocity of the spin increased.
The ogre trumpeted a cry and the ghoul snickered gleefully. Twisting around I saw the two monsters surrounded by Zen, Petra, Chase, Senji and Billy. Only Zen seemed aggressive in his stance, holding his prod like a sword. The smart guy expression Billy usually wore had switched to fear and his prod almost touched the ground. Petra, Chase and Senji at least held their weapons upright, but they shook so badly I didn't think their prods were usable.
“Bring the monsters. Hurry,” I shouted.
Senji stepped out from in front of them and Zen lunged at the ogre to get him moving. The ogre took one step and then another, trudging forward. The ghoul kept pace with him.
The debris in the tunnel whipped around us and without glancing back I knew the vortex was at full strength.
All seemed to be going as planned until the ghoul spoke.
“Come to me, Kizzy.” The ghoul’s mouth moved, but the voice was that of Prince Leopold and it echoed through the tunnel. The effect was so startling, Petra gasped. The ghoul reacted by pivoting to the side and lurching into Petra’s face. “And you my delicious looking Petra must come too.”
Petra screamed and scurried away, giving the ghoul an opening in the “guard”. He pushed past her before launching himself toward me.
“He’s making a break,” Zen yelled.
Senji and Chase stood rooted to their spots with matching blank expressions. Rom moved to intercept the ghoul and positioned himself between the monster and me. Zen, who had been at the ogre’s back with his prod ready to make contact, made a slight twitch in Rom’s direction as if to assist him.
Taking advantage of the moment of inattention, the ogre rounded on Zen and swung a branch-like arm. The monster knocked Zen off his feet and he landed with a splash in a puddle on the floor of the tunnel.
Billy rushed forward clicking the trigger on his prod as he moved. The ogre stepped into the puddle and brought a snowshoe sized foot up preparing to stomp on Zen’s chest. While the foot was still on the upswing, Billy’s prod jammed into the center of the ogre’s chest and fired its electric charge.
The impact created the same burning flesh smell we knew well by now. But, unlike past strikes, the ogre made no scream. Instead, he twitched and shook before going rigid. His bulging eyes seemed to inflate almost to the bursting point before rolling back until only the greenish whites showed. The ogre teetered like a felled tree and began to topple. After a few seconds of wavering, he dropped face down and unmoving on the ground.
“Omigod.” I crawled to the ogre’s side and turned him on his back. With my ear to his chest I heard no heartbeat. “What do we do?”
The ghoul made an attempt to leap at me and Rom fired at him. The ghoul reeled with the impact to his hip area, falling into the wall of the tunnel. He pulled himself up and limped off down the tunnel in the direction of escape. Rom brought his arm up and aimed with both hands cupping the gun. He fired and the bullet ricocheted off a brick a foot away from the ghoul's head.
“No,” Zen screamed. “A shot to the head could kill him. We need him alive.”
The ghoul’s steps quickened and he disappeared. Billy threw down his cattle prod and dashed after him.
The ogre still hadn’t moved. Electrocution, I thought.
“Does his heart yet beat?” Rom asked.
Shaking my head I did the only thing I could think of: I pounded the ogre’s chest. Sitting with my knees on either side of the ogre's waist, I started regular compressions to what I assumed was his heart area. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the vortex decreasing in area and the jet engine sound faded.
“Somebody. Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation,” I cried.
“No possible way,” Chase said.
“I’m with Chase,” Senji said. “I’m not putting my mouth on that thing’s.”
Zen shook his head. Billy and Petra were nowhere to be seen.
Meanwhile, my attempts to revive him had no effect. The ogre still hadn’t taken a breath.
“Rom? Please,” I said, panting with the exertion of keeping up the compressions.
Our eyes met and after a slight hesitation, he knelt by the ogre’s head.
“Hold his nose shut and blow into his mouth.”
Rom used his fingers to open the ogre’s lips. He inhaled and bent over the ogre. Putting his mouth over the monster's, he exhaled.
Was he a good boyfriend or what? Well, except for that almost shooting me thing.
“Wait a few seconds and do it again,” I instructed.
After about thirty seconds I signaled Rom to stop. “Listen to his heart.”
After spitting, Rom wiped his mouth and put his head to the chest. I paused.
“Faint but a beat nonetheless.” Rom lifted his head.
Scrambling to my feet, I grabbed one ogre leg and Rom the other. We commenced dragging the thing. It felt like I was pulling three hundred pounds myself. When we got closer to the vortex whirlpool, we pushed at the ogre’s body. Praying his heart still beat, we pushed until finally the ogre reached the edge of the whirling area. The floor gave way under the body, sweeping the monster in and down as if he were water going down a drain.
As the ogre sank, a body bubbled up, surfacing. Franky’s body. F
ranky’s limp body.
Chapter Thirteen
At 3:15 a.m. there was no one around to see us as we entered the park with Rom carrying Franky. Rom laid our friend on the first park bench we reached.
“He looks like he’s sleeping.” Petra sniffed.
“No, like a balloon version of Franky,” Chase said. “Except with no air.”
“He looks dead,” I burst out harshly. “Because he's dead. Franky's dead.”
A sob broke from Petra and more followed until they came in great gulping succession. I, on the other hand felt cold, numb, removed. I couldn’t cry. I could only relive the past half-hour when no amount of attempts to revive him had succeeded in bringing Franky back. Eventually, Rom had dragged me away from him.
“Let us depart,” Rom said.
“We can’t just leave him here,” Senji moaned.
“He will be discovered.” Rom placed a hand on Senji's arm.
"I'll alert the police from the call box at the end of the park so he doesn't stay here long," Senji suggested.
“Then Franky may be returned to his family," Rom said.
“A lot of good that will do,” I muttered. “He’ll still be dead.”
Petra’s sobbing rose in volume.
"Do you think I want to leave him here?" I screamed to drown out Petra. "But if we don't, what would we tell the police? Franky's been in another dimension, and this vampire was holding him hostage, and…They'd put us in an asylum."
"The police may arrive momentarily." Rom embraced me from behind. "Even without Senji's call."
I shook off his attempt at comfort.
“Come on,” Chase said. “Rom’s right. The police could show up at any time.”
Zen had already thought about that. He’d taken off back in the tunnel. The big bad special ops guy ran away. What was with that? All he'd said was for us to reconnoiter tomorrow at o-nine-hundred. I personally wanted to reconnoiter all over his head...or the ghoul’s head, or Rom’s head, or Billy’s head…I just basically wanted to bash someone or something.
Franky. Oh God.
Crossing the sidewalk to a nearby trashcan, I put my hands on either side of the opening and kicked it as hard as I could. The pain shooting through my foot from the impact with the metal was a relief.