Synthetic: Dark Beginning

by Shonna Wright

  He loped down the steep wall and a cloud of silt billowed into the water around him. Vaughn found Humphrey beside the hull of a sunken freighter that stretched several stories above their heads. Ruby lay completely unconscious in Humphrey’s flipperish arms, her head tipped back and breasts thrust up like the heroine on a vintage movie poster.

  Humphrey gestured for Vaughn to follow as he swam around to the back. The ship had broken in half when it hit bottom, and the huge chunks of steel stabbing out from the massive gash now looked almost as much a part of the seafloor as the rocks surrounding it. Humphrey slipped through an opening and Vaughn walked in after him, wishing he could attain some form of buoyancy to keep up with his aquatic brother.

  They wound deep into the heart of the ship through what, at one time, must have been the narrow corridors of the engine rooms. Crowds of fish swam in and out of the broken windows like tourists and scattered when they passed. At the bottom, Humphrey pointed to an ancient hatch and Vaughn yanked until it yawned open on corroded hinges. They entered a tight compartment with a ladder leading down into a chamber stacked with chains.

  Vaughn dragged the massive links over to where Humphrey held Ruby down with his foot and piled them on top of her. They both spent the next hour scouring the ship for anything heavy and hauled it down into Ruby’s watery tomb. When the room was nearly full, Vaughn stood before the mountain of corroded metal and bowed his head. He prayed to whatever powers ruled the deep that nothing would wake this siren from her long and troubled sleep.

  Chapter 31

  Vaughn and Humphrey staggered onshore early the next morning. Humphrey swiveled his heavy torso from side to side and grunted with satisfaction. “Ruby was strong, but I seemed to have escaped any permanent damage. We're lucky Kora constructed her so she needed to breathe. Did you see me tossing those chains about like ribbons? My back hasn’t felt this good in years.”

  “I need to find Kora and Iris,” said Vaughn. He swept his eyes from the castle to the Food's silent compound. “What the hell am I supposed to do first?”

  Humphrey reached over and rubbed Vaughn’s shoulder. “We'll figure it out together.”

  “Why didn’t Kora make me stronger? She could have made me powerful enough to protect her and everyone, but instead she gave me perfect ears.” Vaughn kicked at the sand. He was exhausted but there was no time for rest.

  Humphrey raised his bristly brows as he studied Vaughn’s ears. “I never noticed. They are a very nice shape.”

  “If she’d made me strong, none of this could have happened,” he said, frustration pounding through him.

  “Kora knows what it’s like to be around a man with incredible strength who protects you all the time. Who locks you away like a precious jewel. She didn’t want to risk going through that again when she made you as her lover.”

  Vaughn stopped and stared at Humphrey. He could taste blood in his mouth from a cut lip. “She made me for Ruby.”

  Humphrey shook his head. “Caleb told me that Kora made you for herself, as a form of revenge on him, though I'm sure she had other reasons as well. When Ruby finally saw you, she forced Kora to turn you into a vampire, then sold her off to Mirafield.”

  Vaughn waded back into the surf up to his knees. “Why didn't she tell me?” He thought of all the bitter remarks and blame he'd heaped on Kora because of his condition as a vampire. Maybe she still didn't remember. “And why the hell was Caleb so cruel to her?”

  Humphrey waded out to stand next to him. “Our brother has many demons in his past. I tried to warn him not to get close to Ruby, but he wanted too many things that only she could give him.”

  “Like what?”

  “A wife. A child. A family and a life of his own.”

  Vaughn stared at the line where the sea meets the sky. “And Kora was his wife?”

  “You already knew.”

  “I could sense there was history between them.” Vaughn knew he was wasting time, but he felt as helpless onshore as he had at the bottom of the ocean while he watched Ruby swim to the surface. “All I want is to save Kora, Iris, and the others.” A flurry of terrifying images filled Vaughn’s mind. “Kora is probably married to that bastard, and Iris has been sold to some sweatshop by now.”

  “The Food is made up of resourceful people. Who knows? Maybe they saved themselves.”

  Vaughn stared at Humphrey, shocked that he would dangle such a false hope before him, but then he noticed a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. “Why are you saying that?”

  “Amazing that after forty years of power saws with no earplugs, I still hear as well as I do.” Humphrey cupped a flipper to his head and pointed it away from the crashing waves.

  Three huge trucks groaned up the highway. Vaughn jumped to his feet and swept up the beach that was already hot in the early morning sun. He saw Berta behind the wheel of the first truck and when she climbed down from the cab, he threw his arms around her. People poured out of the trailer, hugging and kissing. Berta disappeared to the other side of the cab while Vaughn caught Iris who jumped into his arms. He held her until she sprinted away to join the children who were storming down the beach in a howling pack as if reclaiming their rightful territory.

  Vaughn rounded the truck in search of Berta. He found her bent over Joshua who lay in a pool of blood in the passenger’s seat, barefoot and dressed only in a pair of boxer shorts. “I haven’t told anyone yet, there’s been no time, but he saved us. I saw it happen. I wanted to help but there was nothing I could do. He walked out and acted like the big asshole that he is and—” Berta’s face twisted with anguish. “They beat him to death.” She wiped her eyes with a dirty sleeve.

  “Sounds like something he’d do.” Vaughn lifted Joshua off the seat. He felt heavier than he should for such a thin build, as if part of him had turned to stone.

  “I know he’s dead,” said Berta in a raspy voice.

  Vaughn pressed his fingers deep into Joshua’s swollen neck. “He’s still barely alive.”

  Berta’s face brightened and she reached out to touch Joshua’s hand. “Can we take him to a hospital?”

  “He’s a prisoner. They won’t take him unless Ruby’s with us. Besides, I don’t think a hospital could do much. Only Kora and Ishmael can save him.”

  “Are they still back at the castle?”

  “Randall took them away last night.”

  Berta collapsed against the truck. “The last thing I said to him was that he was worthless. I’ll have to live with that for the rest of my life.”

  Vaughn felt a strange lightness wash over him as he stared at Joshua’s destroyed face. An eye dangled by a thin strand and the flesh was so bloody and swollen he was almost unrecognizable. “We’ll take Joshua to her.”

  “Are you crazy? You want to take him to Mirafield? They’ll never let us in.”

  “Do you have your truck?”

  “I left it behind.”

  “Then we’ll have to take one of these rigs.”

  Vaughn carried Joshua around to the trailer. The celebrating crowd fell silent when they saw him and cleared a path. People reached out to touch Joshua’s hand and Nellie crossed herself and mumbled a prayer.

  Berta climbed into the truck and squatted down beside Joshua while Vaughn turned on a lantern that hung by a wire. “I’ll ride back here with him,” she said.

  “But you’re a better driver than I am,” said Vaughn.

  “He needs me right now. I’m the best one to take care of him.”

  Vaughn turned the truck around when he reached a clearing along the highway and Iris lined up the children to wave at him. He grinned and waved back, thankful that none of the horrible visions that streamed through his head that morning had come true.

  The truck was difficult to drive, even for someone skilled behind the wheel, and as he approached Dume Drive, he saw the Rolls parked across the road with Ivan standing in front of it. He squinted up at Vaughn through the open window. “My Superbird looks like it’s been struck by
a meteor.”

  “I’m sorry, Ivan,” said Vaughn. “I swear, I’ll never ask to borrow another car ever again. I realize now that I’m hopeless.”

  “It’s worse than that, Vaughn. You’re cursed. I’m scared to see you behind the wheel of this monster—move over.”

  “I can’t. I have to go. Joshua is dying in the back and I’m taking him to Kora.”

  “He hasn’t got a chance in hell with you driving.”

  “There’s no other way.”

  “I’ll drive, but first we need something better than this barge. Follow me down to the garage.”

  Gus was waiting with his left foot wrapped in a bandage from when he’d fallen on the beach. Ivan pulled the Winnebago out of the garage and parked it in the driveway. Vaughn and Berta carried Joshua inside and placed him on the spacious bed in the back. With everyone on board, Ivan gunned the RV up the hill to the highway.

  “What if I get carsick again?” asked Gus, who was sitting on the couch.

  “Doesn’t matter in this car,” said Ivan. “You can puke all you want as long as it’s away from me.”

  “I like this thing,” said Vaughn, running his hand over the smooth leather seat. “There’s a sink in the kitchen. Puke there.”

  When they reached Sunset Boulevard, Ivan effortlessly wove through traffic at a breakneck speed. He ignored the lights and only stopped once when he had to push through a crowd spilling into the street from an outdoor market.

  “The city grows more hideous every time I see it,” he said, waving his fist at a pack of tattered children who were throwing rocks at the side of the Winnebago.

  “What made you decide to help us, Ivan?” asked Vaughn. “Not that I'm surprised. I know what an enormous heart you have deep in that gristly little chest.”

  Ivan scowled at Vaughn. “The hell I do. Caleb talked to me last night. Gus set up a sign language translator on an old laptop and so we had a conversation for the first time in forever.” A fond expression relaxed his tense face. “He told me not to hang around caring for him. That he'd be fine. He wanted me to go help Kora.”

  When they reached the towers of Mirafield, Ivan brought the Winnebago to an abrupt stop. Guard towers stood on either side of a broad gate, dividing the twenty-foot walls. “Why does it look like Mirafield takes up all of Santa Monica?” said Vaughn.

  “Because it does,” said Ivan. “They live like kings inside those walls while the rest of the city rots.”

  “Who are you here to see?” asked a guard, stepping out of the tower to get a closer look at Ivan.

  “We’re here to see Kora Lazar,” said Ivan.

  The guard stared but Ivan didn't flinch. “Are you from a company?”

  “We’re from Randall's fabulous, private Malibu prison.”

  “Could you step out of the vehicle please?” asked the guard, his hand on his weapon. “I’m going to have to discuss this with my superiors.”

  Ivan’s face cinched up like an angry pug. “Are you a cop? Who are you to demand I leave my vehicle?”

  “If you want entry, you’ll have to exit the bus while I run this by my supervisor.”

  “Look,” said Ivan, standing on the seat so he could lean out the window. “There’s a guy in the back who’s dying. Kora is irritating as hell, but the best doctor in the world and we need her.”

  “Then you need to turn around and take that man to a hospital.”

  Ivan batted away Vaughn who struggled to drag him from the window. “Listen you poorly-dressed freak,” said Ivan. “Lift the damn gate or I’m going to get crazy on your face with this.” He drew a large kitchen knife from under the cuff of his velvet pants.

  Vaughn finally managed to tear Ivan from the window and stuff him onto the floor. He opened his mouth to speak to the furious guard, who was already calling for backup, when the Winnebago roared forward and busted through the gate. Vaughn latched onto the steering wheel and glanced down to see Ivan sitting on the gas pedal. The RV shot over the manicured lawns and Vaughn managed to kick Ivan off the accelerator before they crashed into the base of a tree. An army of security marched toward them with Alex in the lead, her face grim when she recognized Vaughn through the bus window.

  “At least we didn’t crash,” said Ivan, climbing up off the floor.

  “Only because I hit the brakes,” said Vaughn.

  Ivan smiled and gave Vaughn an affectionate punch on the shoulder. “You know what, vampire? You’re finally starting to learn.”

  Chapter 32

  Alex slipped through the door to the Mirafield prison ward and slithered up to Vaughn’s cell. She’d locked them in only an hour ago and now she was back, alone this time.

  “Come to finish me off?” asked Vaughn.

  “That was fun but no, I’m here to spring you.”

  “And I was just getting comfortable.”

  Alex pressed a hand against the glass, her face almost pleading. “That plastic bag Kora had over her shoulder when I caught you two trying to escape, what was in there?”

  Vaughn hesitated. “Why should I tell you?”

  “See anyone else here to help?” She turned and looked behind her.

  “Stop yakking and open the door.” Ivan banged his fist against the glass. “Joshua is starting to smell in here.”

  Alex glanced down at Ivan, then over to Joshua who lay on the floor. “Why won’t you let me dump the corpse?” she asked Vaughn.

  “He’s still alive. I need to get him to Kora,” said Vaughn.

  “No please, take him away and bury him,” said Ivan.

  Vaughn stood up. He and Alex were the exact same height. “There was a drive in the bag and we think it might contain something important about Kora's past.”

  “I see.” Alex had a tingling feeling that the drive was her ticket. Kora had a lot of dangerous secrets. If she was synthetic, Kora was probably stronger than Alex. It was reasonable to assume that someone as smart as Kora wouldn't give herself some wimpy body. Alex should have dragged Kora through the windshield of that weird car instead of the stupid vampire just to test her out. But no, she needed to use her brain, for once, instead of her fists. Kora had offered to remove Alex's chip in exchange for the hard drive. That was her new goal. With her chip gone, Alex could spend the rest of her long life dishing out revenge.

  Alex's face must have betrayed her thoughts because Vaughn looked suspicious. “What do you need us for? Why not just go get the hard drive on your own. You're Randall's assistant.”

  “At work, but not at play. He's at his pleasure palace, right now. I don't have clearance to enter that area so I'm improvising.” She pressed the button to release the door. Ivan rushed out but Alex caught him up like a rat and held him dangling in the air. “You didn’t think you were coming, did you?” Ivan stretched his neck up and sank his yellow teeth into her arm. She dropped him and stared at the bite in horror. “Does that thing have all of its shots?”

  “I’m not going back in there,” said Ivan.

  Alex held up her arm so Vaughn could see the bite mark. “Would you please capture that mongoose and put him back into the cage.”

  “I’m well acquainted with those teeth. I’m not touching him.”

  “Look at your shoes.” Ivan pointed at Alex’s feet. “Where did you get boats like that?”

  Alex’s face turned bright pink. “I just have big feet, you nasty little toad.” She lunged at Ivan but he was too quick. He shot through the swinging doors and Alex stormed after him.

  Vaughn walked over to Gus and Berta’s cage. He tried to open it by hitting the button like Alex did on their cage, but the doors didn't budge. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  “Good luck,” said Gus through his intercom. “We’ll be fine.”

  When Vaughn caught up with Alex, she was searching the hall for Ivan like a hungry cat.

  “Where are we?” asked Vaughn.

  “The dead floors,” replied Alex. “Where scientists worked before Kora came along and rendered the
m obsolete.”

  With still no sign of Ivan, Vaughn and Alex passed dozens of empty labs outfitted with dusty equipment looming in dark corners. She stopped when she reached the office at the very end. Inside, a stylish black leather couch spread along one wall with a set of matching chairs.

  “That’s what we’re after,” she said, pointing to a rounded door in the corner.

  “Looks like a space-age closet,” said Ivan, appearing out of nowhere.

  Alex eyed him maliciously, but made no move to catch him. “It’s actually an old, forgotten dock for the executive elevator which is our way into the elite part of Mirafield.” She pressed her fingers into the cracks of the door. “Vaughn, help me pry these open.”

  “I’ve got a better idea.” Ivan smacked the glowing button to the right of the door.

  “Why the hell did you do that?” hollered Alex. “Now everyone on the whole damn campus will know that an out-of-use elevator from the prison floor has been activated.” She turned to Vaughn. “I told you we should leave him.”

  “What was your plan?” asked Ivan.

  “Pry open the doors and climb to the top using the emergency ladder in the shaft.”

  Ivan yawned. “We already did something like that yesterday.”

  The door whirled open and Ivan strutted into a room decked out in modern furniture and silk rugs. “This is more like it.” He yanked a bottle of champagne from the fridge and popped the cork.

  Vaughn flopped down on a couch and folded his arms behind his head. “Now that they’re onto us, we should try to land someplace where they won’t be waiting.”