Quest SMASH

by Joseph Lallo

  Samuel shrugged and sipped. The tea burnt his lip and caused him to inhale.

  “I want you to try something,” Major said.

  Samuel set the mug on the table. He looked through the greasy window of the cabin and saw Kole and Mara arguing with each other. Mara thought they should be cautious with Samuel while Kole agreed with Major’s plan of testing Samuel’s abilities in the reversion.

  “What are they doing?”

  Major grabbed Samuel’s right wrist with his left hand. “I need you try something.”

  Samuel nodded.

  “There’s a man who might be trapped in the ether. It’s a nowhere place, a void. He might have the ability to punch a hole in this place.”

  “Slip.”

  “That’s right,” Major said. He let a smile creep into the corners of his mouth.

  “We can slip into another place. That’s not to say we escape the existence and go home. That might be lost forever. You know that, right? Mathematically speaking, odds are you’ll never see that place again.”

  “Now you’re a statistician?” Samuel asked.

  Major released Samuel’s wrist and rocked back on his chair. “When you’ve sat at as many table games as I have, you get to know the odds.” Major continued, not allowing Samuel the time to respond. “This guy may be able to punch the hole if he’s not damaged.”

  “Damaged like us?”

  Major laughed.

  “Yeah, like that. Let’s hope he doesn’t swan dive from the top of a skyscraper or shove the end of a shotgun in his mouth. That’s what I call damaged.”

  Samuel looked at Major, not sharing in his lighthearted giggles.

  “Is this hell? Are we dead?”

  “Depends on how you define ‘hell’ and what you mean by ‘dead’,” Major said.

  Samuel fought to remain focused on the conversation. He felt like his head was buzzing with thoughts he couldn’t quite catch.

  “What do you want me to try?” he asked.

  Major raised one hand and let it fall to the table. “I almost forgot.”

  He turned as Kole entered the cabin, followed by Mara. They stood shoulder to shoulder and leaned against the cabin wall. Major looked at them, and then back to Samuel.

  “I’m going to put you in someone else’s head and see if you can get out. You good with that?”

  “He’s a fucking newb,” Kole said.

  Mara was shooting Kole red-hot daggers. She pushed a lock of hair behind one ear. “Give him a chance,” she said.

  Major looked at Kole and Mara, waiting in silence for them to finish their verbal sparring. “Are you ready?” he asked Samuel.

  Samuel nodded. Major looked at his clothes, his eyes pausing on the silver charm resting on Samuel’s chest. He wanted to yank it and run, testing the amulet himself to see if it was the talisman that would get him out of the reversion. But Major knew he had to let Samuel prove he could slip before he made a play for the talisman.

  “Close your eyes,” he said to Samuel. “If you get in deep shit we’ll yank you back.”

  The cabin disintegrated and the accelerated rush of lights filled Samuel’s vision. He looked up and to the right and saw the reflection of his own eyes, but they were not his. He noticed large red eyebrows on pasty skin and touched a finger to a widow’s peak that retreated back toward thinning, red hair tainted with gossamer strands of silver. His hands gripped the steering wheel of an Italian sports car as it blew past the other cars in the right lane of the expressway.

  Samuel looked to his left and was met with a darkened reflection of someone else’s body. It appeared to be mid-forties, paunchy and pampered. The silk tie sat askew on his collar, while a diamond stud penetrated his left ear. The whine of the engine caught Samuel’s attention as the speedometer pushed past ninety-five on the gauge. Rain fell in large, loud drops and obscured the dividing line on the pavement.

  “Death wish,” Samuel said.

  Major looked at Samuel, his eyes closed and his palm wrapped around the ignition key with the blood draining from his fingers.

  “Do you know where you are?” Major asked.

  “In a car, on a highway.”

  Before Major could reply, a force snapped Samuel back into the shell occupying the driver’s seat.

  He saw the glow of brake lights ahead, like the eyes of angry monsters. Samuel caught a glimpse of the approaching off-ramp in the interval between windshield-wiper swipes. He guided the car onto the shoulder amidst the sound of horns trailing off behind him. Samuel turned the wheel to the left and pulled his foot off the accelerator, bringing the car into a controlled fishtail on the rain-slicked pavement. He pushed the flashy BMW to its limits. He snapped the wheel into the turn and straightened the vehicle out as it approached a congested intersection trapped within four walls of suburban, strip-mall hell.

  “Running it into a wall or bridge?” Kole asked.

  Major shook his head. “No. He’s headed somewhere. The driving is reckless, but that’s the emotional state. He has other plans.”

  Samuel felt the car lurch as he downshifted from second to first gear. His breathing felt shallow and rapid as the adrenaline heightened his senses. He followed the flow of traffic while checking his rearview for flashing lights. It would be miles before they caught up, and even then they wouldn’t know which exit he had taken. Samuel made several turns, until he passed the sparkling new sign for Golden Meadow development. Samuel slowed down and drove through the gate and into the private community.

  He turned through several streets designed after the old, inner-ring suburbs of the twentieth century, complete with tree lawns, sidewalks and street lamps. Samuel spun the wheel into the slick, wet asphalt driveway at 1329. His plump finger reached up to the sunshade and punched the button that opened the double-car garage. Samuel pulled the car into the silence so the rain could no longer pummel the roof. With the car’s engine idling in neutral, Samuel hit the button again, which dropped the garage door behind him.

  He sat in the front seat as the song on the CD player came to an end. Samuel let the song fade before hitting the power button. As if in cosmic alliance, the overhead light of the garage-door opener clicked off, leaving him blinded by the reflected rays coming from the car’s headlights. He slammed that button too, sitting in complete darkness. Samuel’s ears adjusted as he heard renegade raindrops crashing into the steel roof of the garage, while the engine continued to idle in neutral.

  Mara stood behind Samuel with her arms crossed while Kole stared at Major. Both of them were becoming agitated with Major’s test of Samuel, what he called a “test slip.” As long as Samuel had a talisman, he would be able to invade the soul of another in a different universe—and those in the reversion with him could watch it as if the entire experience was being broadcast over closed-circuit television. A test slip was temporary but the effects were not. Although nobody but Major saw this happen in a prior reversion, he made it clear that dying in the inhabited soul during a test slip meant dying in the current reversion as well. This was a dead-end in the cycle, not an escape from it. For Kole and Mara, losing Samuel during Major’s test would mean the end of any hope. Major knew it as well but he had to be certain Samuel could return on his own.

  “He can’t do it. I told you he can’t. Pull him out,” Kole said.

  Mara looked at Samuel and then to Major. “Kole’s right. Pull him before it’s too late. You know he can slip.”

  Major shook his head. “No, I need to know if he can get back on his own.”

  Mara huffed. “No you don’t. That doesn’t matter. Pull him.”

  “I’m not watching this,” Kole said. He opened the door and walked from the cabin into the eternal dusk of the locality.

  “Do it or I’ll cut him right now.”

  Mara pulled a knife from her hip and placed it on Samuel’s throat.

  “Is that a threat?” Major said.

  “Yes,” Mara said.


  Major rubbed a hand on the stubble covering his chin. He chuckled and shook his head.

  “I woulda spanked your ass back in the day. Taught you some manners, missy.”

  Mara opened her mouth slightly, hesitated, then closed it. She narrowed her eyes without taking them off Major.

  “Go,” he said with the wave of a hand. “Go in and pull him out of there.”

  Samuel felt his head become lighter, as if he were swimming in ether. He turned the CD player on again and it kicked back around to the first track. Samuel felt the guitar waver through the air and he reached out, almost touching the notes. The engine ran with a smooth, steady purr.

  Samuel tilted his head back until it struck the headrest. He looked at the dull reflection of this other body in the driver’s side window. He saw the eyelids drooping and felt a heavy sleep pushing him down into the leather seat. Samuel blinked and closed these eyes. He could feel the sounds of the car slipping away in the distance, surrounded by the comforting silence.

  He felt the car shake and opened one eye. Another shake came along with a muffled thump.

  “Samuel.”

  He opened both eyes, and a shiver ran across his neck and down his spine. A woman stood on the other side of the glass, pounding it with the meat of her fist. Her jet-black, shoulder-length hair fell across her face. Thin eyebrows narrowed and came together at the top of her thin, pointy nose. Samuel followed the lines of her high cheekbones.

  “Samuel.”

  This time he heard it clearly and knew the woman called his name. He searched in his mind for her name but couldn’t unlock the mystery. Samuel’s mouth was dry, and a dull ache grew from the back of his head, coming forward like a storm cloud.

  “Mara?” He heard himself ask.

  She smiled and said one word. “Duck.”

  A second later, a red brick crashed through his window. Mara took a step forward, reached through the gaping hole and unlocked the power doors. She took another step forward and yanked open the door. Samuel sat there with a grin, amused at the amount of activity around him. Mara turned the ignition off with one hand and slapped the button on the garage door opener with the other. Cool, moist air flooded the garage, and the carbon monoxide oozed into the night. She reached down and released the seatbelt holding Samuel tight.

  “C’mon. Let’s go.”

  Samuel tilted his head sideways like an old drunk. He grinned again and slapped one knee.

  “Not sure how I got here, but thanks for helping me out.” He slurred the words at her.

  “Major got an opening, but I don’t know how long it’ll last. I don’t even know if it’s going to bring us back to that place. But there’s no time to discuss it. Let’s go.”

  Mara turned, and Samuel stared at her lithe form as she walked toward the open garage door. He saw the way her hair rested on the black biker jacket, the chains and zippers glistening like miniature serpents on her back. He followed the coat where it stopped, at the base of her spine. Samuel gawked at her well-proportioned legs, which looked utterly smooth in the tight leather pants, as if she wore an outfit of crude oil.

  “Damn.”

  Mara turned and shook her head. She grabbed Samuel’s arm so hard it made him wince, dragging him upright and tossing his upper body toward the open door. She blew past him with a blur of black and a hint of perfume.

  “Around back and through the tree line,” she said.

  Samuel stumbled behind her as Mara bolted down the driveway and to the gate between two segments of chain-link fence. She flipped the horseshoe up and pushed the gate open, running down the sidewalk and past the gas grill to the fence stretching across the rear of the yard. She stopped and turned to face Samuel, her face appeared to be floating amidst a sea of darkness. Towering trees silhouetted against the rainy night sky swayed above as if daring entry. She waited another second and then motioned for him to hurry before leaping over the fence. Samuel watched as she swung both legs to one side and vaulted over the top. He smiled again before he doubled over with a fit of coughs. The more he hacked, the less air made it to his lungs. Tears filled his eyes and mixed with the steady drizzle on his face.

  “Get up,” she said.

  Samuel rolled over and clawed at the manicured grass with both hands until he felt the cold metal of the fence. He climbed up the links until the top rail was at his waist. He swung one leg up and over the rail and let gravity take over, bringing Samuel crashing over and into a pile of wet leaves. Before he could cry out, Mara was moving again, running between the trees.

  He stumbled forward until another round of coughing arrested his lungs. He collapsed and looked back at the house. Red and blue lights appeared, splashing the white siding with resplendent color. A back porch light came on, as did the house lights of several neighbors.

  “Get up.”

  Mara broke him from his gaze and he scrambled upright and followed her path. The bark of a dog and a bleating car horn reminded him he was running through a copse of trees separating two streets of a modern neighborhood. He ripped the tie from his neck and focused on the light reflecting from Mara’s wet leathers.

  Shouts broke through his hazy head as dark figures burst into the backyard like a black avalanche. He put his hand to his forehead to try to ease the pain. Samuel felt as though a tank had taken a detour through his skull.

  “I can almost see the cabin,” Mara shouted.

  He followed her farther, until he saw it as well. Samuel rubbed his eyes, turning to look at the flurry of activity coming their way, and then back to Mara. She was there. It was there.

  Mara bolted for the door. She lunged and grabbed the doorknob in one motion.

  “C’mon, it only stays open for a second.”

  Mara waited, breathing heavily and looking from side to side.

  Samuel slowed to a trot and placed his hands on his hips. “The cabin?” he asked.

  “If you don’t step through here with me, you will die.”

  Samuel shook his head. He looked down at his clothes, held a hand up to his face. “This ain’t me. I’m dreaming or something.”

  Mara bit her bottom lip. She let go of the doorknob and walked toward him. “I want to show you something.”

  Her voice dropped as though she were breathing the words. A hand came up and stroked the side of Samuel’s face. His eyes met hers and his breath hitched as he tried to encourage his lungs to work while keeping his heartbeat in check. Mara took his hand and turned toward the door of the cabin. She looked over one shoulder and smiled at him. She winked.

  Samuel allowed her to lead this foreign body to the threshold of the door. He no longer cared about the pursuers. He no longer heard the manhunt emerging a few hundred yards from the tree line.

  “Damn. Yeah, sure I’d like for you—”

  Before he could finish, Mara’s knee drove upward into Samuel’s groin. Colors exploded in his vision, and before he could cry out, he felt the sickening crunch of her fist smashing the cartilage in his nose.

  Mara opened the door and dragged his bleeding and disoriented body through with her.

  ***

  “Reckless.”

  “Aren’t we all?”

  Kole stood with both hands wrapped around a mug. He sipped and smirked while tattoos stretched across his bulging muscles.

  “The other guy still trapped in the ether?”

  Major didn’t reply and Kole shook his head.

  “So now we know Samuel can slip, but we don’t know if he can do it alone. Pointless.”

  Major shook his head. “He can,” he said.

  “You don’t know that,” Mara said.

  Mara wanted to believe Samuel could slip, that he could transport them out of this universe and into one that wasn’t eating itself, but the only sure way of knowing would be to try.

  Samuel stirred. His mouth opened and closed as he grimaced in unspoken pain.

  “Worse than a hang
over,” Kole said, before returning to his tea.

  Major shrugged and walked over to Mara. The cabin felt cramped and suffocating. “You volunteered to go get him. Kole would have done it.”

  Mara ran a hand through her stringy, greasy hair. She took a deep breath and exhaled over her bottom lip. Even the short amount of time she spent in the test slip was enough to muddy her thoughts and upset her stomach.

  “Yeah. I did.”

  Major reached out and tapped her shoulder with his fingers. “Deep breaths. You’re here.”

  “Right,” she said, shrugging off his hand like a renegade snowflake. “I’m back here, safe and sound, in this shithole that’s getting eaten by the cloud, with you three assholes.”

  Kole laughed into his mug, sending drops of tea to the floor.

  “Where am I?” Samuel asked.

  Major turned away from Mara and sat on the chair next to him. Samuel’s legs moved beneath the rough, wool blanket like two monsters prowling the depths of the ocean.

  “Back. In this place. Against the odds,” Major said.

  Cramps gripped Samuel’s stomach, and the meager light from the fire hurt his eyes. “Right. That explains it,” he said.

  Kole grinned and walked around the other side of the cabin to face him. “I don’t know what the old man or the little girl have been telling you, champ, but you ain’t ever going home. Once you slip, you’re done.”

  “Don’t listen to him,” Mara said. “He’s a cynical dickhead.”

  “I’m honest. Tell him, Major. Tell him what you know. He deserves to understand the situation, just like we did.”

  Samuel sat up as fireworks exploded behind his forehead. His tongue felt like a ball of yarn inside his mouth. Mara returned from the edges of his vision carrying a cup, presumably one with more of the licorice tea. Samuel accepted it from her, his hunch confirmed.

  “I wasn’t in my body, but I was back in the real world.”

  Major sighed and looked at Kole, and then Mara. They waited, neither speaking nor moving.

  “We thought we could rescue that man, but we couldn’t. We’re on our own. You were in him, and he was determined to find a gruesome end. He probably did, once Mara pulled you back.”