by Ramsey Isler
“Why is the spread uneven?” I asked.
“The geeks were hoping you knew the answer to that question,” Dominique said. “They’re fairly sure these calculations are a good estimate, and the numbers are supported by reports of what appear to be Rift-kind encounters. I also called up some European field agents when I got your message. I had them do some quick activity measurements in the Rift frequency and their data also supports the calculations. It seems clear that the Rift has spread, and the spread has been more dramatic in Europe. But we still don’t know exactly how far yet.”
“That sucks.”
“More than you know,” Dominique said. “There have already been reports of increased Rift-kind activity. Newton estimates that half a million more people just became unknowing residents of the Rift zone. Things aren’t so bad in Africa because a lot of the affected area is just empty desert. But the Scandinavians are about to get a lot of unwelcome night visitors.”
“What do you want me to do?” I asked.
“Find the reason the Rift is spreading so quickly, and end it. That little incident we had in Long Branch will be nothing compared to what we’re going to start seeing soon.”
I shook my head and rubbed my forehead. “I guess I have to figure out a way to save the world.”
“It would seem so,” Dominique said. “But we do that kind of thing all the time around here. Don’t expect a raise.”
* * *
After that little chat with Dominique, I went back to my office and took a nap. The conversation had drained me, and I’d already been running around with no sleep. I needed rest and the office was quiet and my chair reclined far enough to make a decent bed. I slept peacefully.
When I woke up the sun had shifted and the day was almost gone. I decided it was time to go home. I hadn’t been back in almost two days. I needed food, a shower, and the kind of relaxation I’d never be able to get here. On my way back I stopped by the neighborhood grocery store and picked up a few fresh things. I’d been eating whatever was convenient for the past few days, and I could feel my gut starting to bloat. Man, I missed having the metabolism of a sixteen-year-old.
Everything was absolutely normal that night. The security guards in the lobby were relaxed. The neighbors seemed chipper and greeted me as I walked down the hallway to my apartment. Once I got into my place and put my groceries down, I took a quick dip into the Rift to see if anything was amiss, but I found nothing. I extended my presence further, waiting for even the tiniest ripples in the Rift. Everything seemed nice and quiet.
Too quiet.
Even the Rift-kind were still, as if they were watching and waiting for something they knew was about to happen. It was like there was a predator on the prowl, and all the Rift’s denizens were too afraid to move and possibly attract unwanted attention.
“Oh shit,” I said.
But the trap was already sprung. I felt an irresistible force pulling me down, bending me over backwards, and then there was only the dark.
CHAPTER 8
I was disoriented for a long time. Eventually my head stopped spinning and my body hit solid ground again. My new surroundings were cold, black, and quiet. Only the sound of my own breathing disturbing the silence. The chilly air made me shiver. Despite my circumstances, I wasn’t afraid. The deep darkness was like an old friend draping their arm around my shoulders.
I got up off the ground and felt a great deal of relief when I realized I wasn’t tied up or restrained in any way. Then I groped myself in the dark to make sure there weren’t injuries. I was fine, all things considered. I reached into my jacket pocket for my cell phone, but it was gone. It had either fallen out during my rough teleportation, or had been removed by some spell. Fortunately all the info on my phone was thoroughly encrypted and, as far as I knew, magic hadn’t figured out a way around that yet.
I focused my mind and found the Rift there waiting for me. I could sense my surroundings using the echolocation-like sense that the magic provided. I was in a circular cell made of stone. It was maybe ten feet wide. There was a singular door, wide and made of metal. Besides that, there was nothing.
A sudden breeze caressed my face. I felt another presence in the room, and in the Rift. “Time for your meeting,” said a masculine voice in the dark. Then it felt like the room was spinning, and I think I blacked out. It’s hard to tell when you’re in a room that’s completely dark, but I had a vague sense that I’d lost consciousness for a second or two.
Gradually, the darkness faded and my eyes adjusted to a new azure glow. I was in a different chamber now, and it was at the end of a long hallway. Small spheres of ghostly blue light dotted the darkness along the walls of the narrow, tall hall. The spheres hovered above short glass jars filled with a watery fuel. The floor was made of something that looked like black marble, the walls were glistening obsidian, and the ceiling was some sort of wood painted blood red.
An unseen hand forced me towards a great wooden door with enormous iron knockers. The door opened inwards, and a wave of heat and aromas assaulted me. The warmth was very welcoming after the coldness of my cell. The chamber’s interior was dimly lit with the same blue lights in the hallway. Once I entered, the doors closed behind me.
To my left sat a dark-skinned woman whom I could best describe as “hefty”. Her desk was covered in books, loose sheets of paper, and jars of unidentifiable liquids. The innumerable shelves that covered the walls were littered with similar objects.
“You have two minutes of my time,” she said in some sort of British accent. Or maybe it was Australian, or South African. I couldn’t tell.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“Everyone here calls me Mater,” she said.
Ah ha. The plot thickens.
“I’m assuming Mater is an alias,” I said. “Could you tell me your birth name?”
“No.”
“Okay. How about your date of birth?
She smiled. “It’s not polite to ask a lady that question.”
“Okay then. What am I doing here?”
“Penance,” she said. “You’ve had your nose deep in our business. That has consequences.”
“So, are you going to kill me?”
She tilted her head and smiled. “We’re not murderers, Mr. Kai.”
“Call me Kal,” I said, unsurprised that she knew my name. She obviously knew where I lived, and how to set a trap for me. “So you’re not murderers but you have no problem with kidnapping?”
“Please, boy. You started this, remember?”
“Started what?”
Mater leaned in, glaring at me with impossibly dark eyes. “You kidnapped first. We’re just responding in kind.”
“Ah,” I said.
Mater gave me a curt nod. “Now, it’s time for some questions of my own. What are you trying to do with Madison?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Boy, just get on with it and we’ll end this gently. You won’t even remember any of it.”
“And if I refuse?”
“We keep you in your cell until you break down and give up . . . just like you did last time. I always told Kellar that you didn’t have resolve. Was right about that, wasn’t I?”
I paused for a moment. I needed to let the flash of hot anger pass. Then I said, “A lot of things have changed since then. I might last longer than you think, and some dangerous people might come looking for me.”
“No doubt someone will be looking for you,” Mater said. “But they will not be finding you.”
Something about the way she said that set off a bunch of warning klaxons in my head. There was smarmy conceit in her voice. She knew something I didn’t. She probably knew a lot of things I didn’t, but there was something specific to this particular situation that I was clearly unaware of, and it bothered me.
Before I could ask any more questions, Mater waved her hand and I was enveloped in darkness again. Warmth leeched out of my body as I was surrounded by b
itter cold, and I realized I was no longer in Mater’s office. I was back in my cell. I reached out into the Rift to cast a warming spell, and it actually worked. That struck me as very odd. I was supposed to be a prisoner.
My magic felt strong here. In fact, it was stronger than ever. Through my Rift-sense I could still detect the heavy metal door to my cell. I had a thought, and a thought turned into an idea, and an idea turned into conviction.
I summoned as much power to myself as I could, just like I did in that little neighborhood in Long Branch when I beat Madison. I condensed all that raw power into a little ball of roiling magic. Then I hurled it at the door and hoped I wasn’t about to blow myself to pieces.
The door collapsed with a CRASH so loud it hurt my ears. The thick metal crumpled like it was just aluminum foil, and new air flooded the cell. It smelled odd, kind of like ozone. And this new breeze was even colder than the air in the cell. My skin broke out into goosebumps as I stepped outside, ready to react to whatever would happen next. I expected guards to come rushing at me at any second.
There was nothing.
There was only more darkness outside the cell. No walls. No guards. I reached down to the ground I was standing on to try to get an idea of what was going on. The floor was a mystery like everything else here. It wasn’t grass or stone or carpet or tile. It was just . . . something.
While my mind tried to process this information, I felt a wave of activity through the Rift. Creatures had joined me. I could not see them, and I couldn’t hear them. But I could feel them through the magic, and that gave me more information than eyes or ears ever could. They were small creatures, two-legged and furry. They danced about and tackled each other in carefree playfulness. I’d never encountered any Rift-kind like them before, and I’d certainly never seen any creatures from the Rift actually frolicking with each other. It was like these creatures were relaxed and comfortable, like they were home.
That’s when I realized exactly where I was.
I was on the other side of the Rift.
The nightcrafters had figured out a way to put people through the Rift. That’s where those people I’d been following in London had mysteriously vanished to. I lost track of them because they had gone over to the other side, into another realm where they would have all the power they could ever dream of in a world of eternal night.
Mater would certainly have all the time she needed for me to crack. No one would believe I was here. Even if Newton and his team could somehow figure out where I’d been transported, they’d have no way to get here. There would be no rescue team. I didn’t have the option of waiting things out. I’d have to figure out a way to escape on my own, and soon.
* * *
There was no place for me to go in the vast emptiness that existed here. I wondered if some parts of this place might have interesting land features like hills, valleys, and maybe even lakes if something like water existed here. But I definitely didn’t want to go exploring. So I went back into my cell, and waited.
I fell asleep at some point. When I woke, I opened my eyes slowly and it was just the same as having them closed. I reached into the Rift to expand my senses, and felt another presence in the room.
I jumped to my feet out of reflex and turned in the direction of the presence. I extended myself into the Rift even further and got ready to cast as much magic as I could muster. But just as quickly as I drew power to me, it was drained away back towards the other person in the room. Then I heard a laugh in the dark. The voice paralyzed me, but that had nothing to do with any magic. It was a familiar voice that I hadn’t heard in years, and it wasn’t until this point that I realized I’d missed it.
After a couple of seconds I was able to regain my composure, and I said, “Did you come here just to tease me, Kellar?”
“No,” Kellar answered. “I came to talk.”
I tried to strengthen myself with magic again, but my attempt failed. Kellar could apparently block my access to the Rift’s power even though it surrounded me. I figured that was why my captors had no qualms about leaving me in the dark. They could restrict my nightcrafting as they pleased. I couldn’t see Kellar’s face in this total darkness, but I knew he was smiling.
“You’re here to talk?” I asked Kellar. “Or interrogate?”
Kellar laughed again and said, “There are many things you never learned. And I doubt you remember everything you did learn. So trust me when I say you’re pretty helpless here, and you should cooperate if you want to go back home within the next decade.”
“And how exactly do you think I should . . . cooperate?”
“Easy,” Kellar said. “Just answer a simple question. What do you want from me?”
“What makes you think I want something from you?” I said.
“You kidnapped Madison,” Kellar said, and I could hear a little anger creeping into his voice. “Given our history, I think it’s safe to assume this supremely stupid act was some kind of misguided attempt to get my attention. So, congratulations. I’m here. Now, what do you want? Are you just trying to make my life difficult?”
“No.”
“Well that’s certainly what you’ve done. I’ve had a hell of a lot of questions to answer recently. Mater has been bitching at me constantly since you reappeared with an apparent knack for things you should have no knowledge of anymore.”
“So you answer to Mater now?” I asked.
“I answer to no one,” Kellar said. “I simply got tired of everyone looking to me for all the answers. And everything was wonderfully quiet until you showed up again.”
“Sorry to ruin your retirement,” I said.
“I don’t think you’re sorry at all. I think you’re reveling in it. I even think this is a better outcome than what you originally expected. But I still don’t know exactly what it is you expected to gain from all this. So, we return to the question you still haven’t answered. What do you want?”
I took a moment to think, and then said, “I want answers.”
“To what questions?”
“Why are nightcrafters such assholes?” I said.
“Because only assholes know how to wield power,” Kellar said without missing a beat. “Next question.”
“Why did you leave me with these memories?”
He paused. Everything about him paused. I think he even stopped breathing. I cursed the darkness. I wanted to see his face. I wanted to look into his eyes and see the truth there.
“I’ll make you an offer,” he said after a few moments of silence. “Tell me what I want to know, and I’ll tell you what you want to know. A fair deal.”
Kellar had always been a seductive manipulator. He knew how to get what he wanted by finding a person’s deepest desires and exploiting them. He knew the question that had burned in my mind for all this time, and now he was taking full advantage by offering me answers. I knew that he would keep his word — he would tell me exactly what his motivations were if I just gave him what he wanted. It was tempting. Very tempting.
“No deal,” I said.
“That is unfortunate,” Kellar said. “But I’ll give it time. As you know, the dark has a way of convincing people to change their minds.”
“How long are you going to keep me here?” I asked.
“That,” Kellar said, “is entirely up to you.”
I felt his presence disappear. Kellar had left me alone and in the dark, just as he had long ago when all of this started.
CHAPTER 9
I was seventeen when I first met Kellar at that acting school.
For years after, I was his shadow. Where he went, I went. Sometimes our travels led us to interesting places. There was one time we went on a private yacht to play around with magic in the middle of the ocean. I still remember it like it was yesterday. There’s nothing like night magic in the middle of the vast emptiness of the ocean. We created waves twenty feet high, and lifted whole schools of fish out of the water to make them twirl in the air. That was a life-changing exper
ience, but that kind of outdoor training was rare. Most of the time, my training required me to practice in some dark room somewhere.
While normal teens were out enjoying their high school prom and graduation, I was learning the dark arts . . . the real dark arts. I spent hours upon hours in total darkness. There were times when I desperately longed for the light. Light deprivation has been used as a form of torture by some. For the nightcrafters, that torture is supposed to become comforting. But humans were born to be children of the sun, and nightcrafters-in-training often crack after months away from its warm embrace.
It’s not just about not seeing the light. As Kellar informed me before I started the deep training, our bodies react to light and produce hormones that keep us mentally and physically healthy. Without that natural regular dose of sunshine, depression starts to set in. Anyone who has been through a murky Midwestern winter can tell you the truth in that. Throw in the additional effects of being essentially blind for extended periods, and having to worry about nightmarish creatures devouring you alive if you slip up, and you’ve got a challenge only the toughest students survive.
I was nineteen when it all went to shit for me. Kellar had me training in the basement of an abandoned school at the time. When the school had still been open, the basement level had small rectangular windows right at the bottom of the building so the basement rooms could get natural light, but when I was there they were all boarded up and blacked out. Although the school had been empty for years, it still smelled of rubber cement and crayons. Sheets of paper ruffled under my feet like flat, fallen leaves.
The school had a long and sordid history that led to its closing. There were stories of severe punishment, teacher suicides, and a janitor who went insane. Some people thought the place was haunted, or cursed. The truth was that it just happened to be on a Rift hotspot.