I shuffled the deck of facts I had so far: 1) She was absolutely silent. She had snuck up on me twice. On the bus I hadn’t woken when she got on, nor did I sense her presence when she returned from the bathroom. Check on major stealth. 2) She was fast and nimble. She had jumped over my seat on the bus and landed with barely a rustle. When she had attacked the thug in red, I could barely even track her with my eyes. Check on inhuman speed and dexterity. And 3) most importantly, she didn’t stay the fuck down. The blue thug had delivered a punch that should have mushed her brain, but Rei had managed to stand back up. She was spitting up blood-tinged foam one moment and cutting people in half in the next. Heck, besides a vague bruising on her cheek, you couldn’t even tell Rei had been in a fistfight.
I crossed my arms. “Okay, fine. I’ve been around long enough to know the limits of the human body. I’ve seen a bunch of full-contact martial arts matches, and I’ve been in a bunch of nasty fights myself. You are stronger, faster, and quieter than any human I’ve ever seen.”
She nodded.
“I watched that giant collapse your fucking lung…but here we are talking.”
Rei took a deep breath and then nodded in agreement. I guessed I was amusing her. That was fine with me; it was better than pissing her off.
“And what you did to that goon in blue was physically impossible with any type of blade. You would need a fucking laser to do that. I worked in a kitchen all the way through high school. When you butcher meat, you go for the joints. You never aim for the bones. That’s the fastest way to ruin a blade.”
Rei stifled a giggle. “That one wasn’t all me. I had a bit of help.” She waved her hands. “But please continue your guessing. It is most amusing. You’re getting warmer, Imperiti spawn. Let’s see how close you can come.”
I felt the blood rushing to my cheeks as my temper flared. I had no idea what the heck Rei was talking about, and I hated it. That’s probably half the reason I study so hard. I can’t stand being in the dark.
“Oh,” she purred. “This look I like.” She raised her eyebrow expectantly.
My jaw tensed. When faced with something we don’t want to accept, humans are rather predictable. I was beating around the bush. I was staring at a heaping pile of evidence with a very obvious explanation, but I kept on dancing around it. Then again, I wasn’t sure if the end of this conversation entailed the end of me breathing…Unsure if I would get another, I took a deep breath.
“Alright, Rei. In the middle of the day, you wore a huge hoodie, long pants, and gloves without breaking a sweat, yet at night, you were comfortable in a tank top. You move too fast. I can never tell where you are. You never smile, and you know way too much about human anatomy for the average high school—”
“Excuse me!” she interjected. “I will have you know that I am nearly two decades old.” She crossed her arms in front of her. “I’m going to be a sophomore in college this year!”
“Well I’m sure you’ll be thankful you look youthful later in life…” Caution told me not to, but I was getting frustrated. “Then again, I doubt aging will be much of an issue.”
Rei broke out into a full-blown smile.
Bingo.
I flinched. God, she was gorgeous. She was covered in a mixture of guts and grime, her hair was matted with the blood of three dead men, but it didn’t matter, as that silly smile blossomed, she was perfect. Like a bloodied angel. (I decided to pencil in some serious therapy if I ever made it out of this warehouse alive.) But there were two small problems with that lovely smile. The uneven lighting accentuated them. They were probably the two reasons she avoided smiling in public. Rei didn’t have incisors. She had fangs.
I swallowed. So there was a reason my gut instinct screamed predator. There was a time in human history when we lived or died by such intuitions. Nowadays, we ignore the scratching at the window, but back in the day we would have started for the nearest sharp object. Modern day reasoning tells us it’s probably just a tree branch. We train our children to overcome such fears. We try to explain them away. We make our sons and daughters look under the bed, confirm their error, and rinse and repeat as necessary. And we haven’t stopped there. We’ve turned all our ancient boogiemen into caricatures. We’ve relegated them to works of fiction. It makes the supernatural abstract, safely walls the monsters off from reality. It makes us feel powerful. It makes us feel safe. Only the old superstitions remain. We still knock on wood, open umbrella’s outdoors, and think twice before crossing a black cat’s path. They’re the last vestiges of those ancient instincts. But acknowledging that history is frightening. It means that long ago scary things really did go bump in the night. And it begs an even scarier question. Where exactly did all those scary things go?
“The name Bathory…” I asked as quietly as I could. “Is that some kind of joke?”
Rei looked at me appraisingly. “And well read to boot,” she said. “You are not the average peasant, Dieter Resnick.”
I was starting to shake. Stars above, I thought to myself. This has to be a fucking joke, right? Bathory? No. Seriously. Bathory?
Rei glanced over at me in annoyance. “Relax, please. We don’t need you blasting any more holes. I have been sent to guide you, not harm you.”
“What?” I mumbled. Confused, I noticed that a tension had built in the air around me. It almost felt like a physical pressure…but as I noticed it, the strange sensation began to fade away.
“Thank you,” she purred. Seemingly satisfied, Rei continued. “No, Dieter, my family’s name is not some kind of jest. It is an old name. One that few Imperiti remain acquainted with.” She stared past me. “A long time ago, Bathory was considered a noble name. Did you know this?”
“I’m only familiar with, um, Liz.” I had to be careful. I didn’t know whom I was addressing.
“Liz…? Ah. You speak of Erzsébet.” Rei gave a sad smile. “Yes, the Lady of Cachtice tends to grab the headlines. Alas. Still, it is impressive that you know of her.”
I exhaled. “So you aren’t…”
Rei looked at me with surprise. “Goodness, no. Erzsébet is long dead. Whatever gave you that insane idea?”
I glanced over at what was left of the tall man.
“Oh, please, that is entirely different!” she exclaimed.
It was my turn to raise an eyebrow. “Clearly.”
Flustered, Rei crossed her arms. “He tried to kill me.”
“Uh, huh.”
“He tried to kill you—twice!”
“Well, I did hit him with a pipe.”
Rei rolled her eyes. “Ah. Yes. That was when you attempted to come to my aid but managed to electrocute yourself instead, correct?”
“Well how the hell was I supposed to know that was going to happen?” I asked, recalling just how helpful I had been to the damsel in distress. “What did you want me do, sit back and watch as they kicked you inside out?” I crossed my arms in frustration—and winced as my palms brushed against my shirt. “Damn it!” I yelped.
At the sight of my hands, Rei jumped off the desk. She was holding my burnt fingers before I even knew what was happening.
“I owe you an apology. I thought you would sit quietly and wait for our next bus. I thought you would remain oblivious. I hoped to lure them here, kill them, dispose of their bodies, and return before the next leg of our journey—at which point I planned to bum another cup of that coffee beverage off you. I did not anticipate the use of an ACT device, and I did not anticipate your…gallantry.”
I looked at her in confusion. The mere brush of cotton had sent waves of pain down my forearms, but Rei’s touch was painless.
“This will not do. These are third-degree burns. The palms are ruined. You will lose most of your fingers, perhaps one of your thumbs.” Rei looked me straight in the eyes and frowned. “I apologize, Dieter, but I cannot deliver you damaged.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but Rei reached up and placed a finger over my lips. A wave of heat danced across my cheek
s.
“Hush,” she ordered. “Trust in me.”
Before I could object, she whipped out her box-cutter and opened up her left palm. She repeated the motion on her right. Her dark blood dribbled onto the floor. I barely had enough time to let out a gasp before she started slashing my own. I stood stunned, too scared to do anything about it. Finished cutting, she put the boxcutter back into her cargos and grasped my palms with her own.
I began to pull away, but to my surprise, I found the pain in my hands was easing. I looked up at her in confusion only to realize how close we were. I could feel the cool breeze of her breath, count her eyelashes, smell her perfume.
As our blood mixed, Rei looked at me serenely. Perhaps she was feeling as good as I was…
“Fascinating,” she muttered. “It is just like Bátor’s poem.”
“Rei,” I asked meekly. “This isn’t going to…” What was the word for it?
Rei was looking a bit woozy. “No. You needn’t to concern yourself with that.” She shook her head clear. “However, I would appreciate if you never mention this. It could be easily misconstrued.”
I stared at our hands warily.
“My most anxious baggage, relax. I owe you this. I did not expect you would sense another mage. I did not expect you would pursue a killer exuding such an obvious killing intent. And I certainly did not expect that after observing our opponent’s power, you would still attempt to intervene. I miscalculated badly. It was my fault you were injured.”
I tried to respond, but I was feeling rather odd. Euphoric, maybe.
Rei seemed to notice the transition and released her grip.
“That should be about enough,” she said. “Now observe this.” Wiping off her hands, Rei walked over to the dead man and kicked the chair. It began to spin around in circles. For some reason, it reminded me of those revolving meat thingies at Greek sandwich shops. My growing euphoria mixed with a new sense of nausea. I guess that was the point. Rei was leveling my high.
Rei turned away from me, her expression troubled.
“I also did not anticipate you would form a weft-link while dying of a heart attack.”
My head spinning, I tried to focus on her. Giggle or throw-up? That was the question.
“What?” I managed.
“Unbelievable. You don’t remember the spell at all, do you?”
I shook my head no. If I opened my mouth I was definitely going to throw up.
“Fascinating…you certainly can’t be lying to me now.” She strummed her chin. “It is common for mages to whiteout when they lack control. And your file did note another such incident…but a partnering permutation? At your level, to be able to conduit that complex a spell…and on a diversion?” Rei shook her head. “Some people have all the luck.”
“Luck?” My head was swimming. I was trying to hold on to the conversation, but I’d much rather be running to the bathroom. “I’m sorry. What are we talking about?”
Rei sighed and wiped some of the dried blood off her face.
“Dieter, if I told you outright you would say something like ‘oh, you’ve got to be kidding me’ or ‘but that’s impossible.’ You Imperiti are all the same. You reject that which conflicts with your beliefs. If you do not puzzle it out yourself, you will not accept it.” Rei put her hand on my shoulder. Her palm wasn’t bleeding anymore. “My most impossible charge, you appear to have a brain—use it.”
I knew I needed to focus, but little sparkles were dancing on the periphery of my vision, and my skin felt warm and fuzzy. I bit down on my lip to cut through the haze. I think I understood what Rei was getting at: We pick up facts one by one. Take them in. Memorize them. Recall them. But concepts? Concepts are different. You have to work at concepts. Build a foundation. Tease out the details. Run through examples. If you keep working at it day after day, things finally start to click. You can’t explain concepts like you can explain facts. You can’t memorize them. You have to earn them. And sometimes that can hurt…
The flashback came before I expected it, and this time the memory was more vivid, more tactile, than it had ever been in the past. It had to be because of what Rei had done to me. It was like…like…I was on drugs.
“Rei,” I muttered, “I don’t feel so good.”
“Relax,” her voice said from somewhere nearby. “Wooziness is a well documented side-effect. Not much reached your bloodstream. The sensation should pass soon.”
“Should?” But that wasn’t what I was worried about. That wasn’t what was driving my heart faster. Ripples of energy danced in front of my eyes. I knew them well. They preceded the punches. I learned to listen to them the hard way. Failing meant pain. They spoke the truth. They protected me. I wanted to linger and stare at them a while longer. I felt safe here, not alone, but I floated past them. I could sense people approaching too. It was useful to know when my father was coming home. It let me know when I should go up to my room. It helped me avoid getting hit. I frowned as it finally occurred to me: I had always told myself my hearing was just a little better than other people, but that wasn’t right. I could sense my father from over a block away. It was why I rarely bumped into him. I had always been using my Sight that way. Not thinking about it. Just doing it.
I didn’t like this. My mind was too pliant. The carefully constructed barriers were melting. What had Rei done to me? Without the barriers…without the barriers my mind was going to go there. My sub-conscious was always trying to go there. I didn’t want to think about it. I didn’t want to go back…but it was already too late.
A rock.
Flames.
Screaming.
Splatter.
I panicked. I couldn’t get the images to stop. I needed them to stop. The tall man standing over me laughing. The sparks erupting from his hand. My own left hand absorbing them. My right hand pointing at Rei. The sea of white. The panic was driving forward out of control. I started getting dizzy. Rei was shaking me, shouting, but it didn’t matter, the pressure was building again. I saw the flash of fear in her eyes. Saw her dive out the window, glass shattering. Lights popped. Timber crackled. The office plunged into darkness. A sharp pain surged in my skull. Overcome, I dropped to my knees. My memories returned, and I started to scream.
Dust caked my nostrils. Sirens sounded in the distance. My right hand reached up. It knew what to do. It grabbed hold of Tyrone’s face and snapped down like a vice. He looked at me through my fingers. He was confused…no…petrified. I stared back in fury and tightened my hold. He tried to pull away, but my grip was stronger. Too strong. Ferocious. Unnatural. He wasn’t getting away…not ever again.
And then the power surged out. Tyrone’s face crackled like chicken skin on a spit. He started to scream. The smell of singed hair mixed with something else. The smell shook my resolve. He was in so much pain. Too much pain. I tried to stop it. It was savagery, inhuman savagery. It needed to stop, but my hand kept its grip. His eyes bulged under some unseen strain. The left went first. Then the right. The warm fluid ran through my fingers.
Like warm jelly.
Enough, my mind screamed.
Not safe, a voice echoed back.
Tyrone wasn’t fighting anymore. Hell, he wasn’t ever going to fight again. It needed to stop, but the surge wouldn’t abate. It redoubled instead. The bulge of power inside me was shifting. A barrier was giving way. I could feel it buckling under the strain. And then it tore. Power rushed into my shoulder, surged up my arm, and smacked into Tyrone’s screaming face. Spray masked my vision. The sound of concrete rent to rubble erased my hearing. Heat coursed around me. Whiteness filled my vision. My consciousness slipped. Exhaustion enveloped me. And then it was I who was screaming, the room lit by a dim red glow.
The corpse of a man was strapped to a chair in the corner. His skin was slashed to shreds. His head hung loosely. I had returned to the warehouse—but I could still smell Tyrone burning.
What planet was I on? Who could even invent this shit? Revulsion and shame
overwhelmed me. I puked my guts out in disgust. When I ran out of stuff in my stomach, I kept going till I ran out of air. I puked until my body hit the kill switch, and I collapsed into her outstretched arms.
Chapter 10
BLOOD WASHES OUT
The faint scent of blood mixed with the taste of bile on my tongue.
Not the best wake-up call.
I was lying on a cold tile floor, but the air was hot and moist. I sat up slowly, my vision blurry. I was naked from head to toe. Normally that would concern me, but I didn’t give a damn at the moment. I’d had a rough day, and lack of clothing wasn’t that high on the list. (Realizing you melted someone’s face off tends to realign one’s priorities.) I blinked my eyes and looked around. It was a shower room. That explained the steam. I was grateful. It was helping to wash the smell of blood from my sinuses. I went to rub my head but stopped. I had forgotten about the burns. I probed my fingers carefully. No pain…that was odd. The fierce throbbing had vanished. Bracing myself, I looked down at the damage.
The burns were gone. My hands had healed.
Only a few rough wavy scars remained on my palms. I felt the spot on my forehead where Rei elbowed me. No bump. No bruise. I felt my ribs where the tall man had kicked me. No tenderness. “So that’s real too…” I muttered.
Looking about the room, I spotted my clothes laid out on a nearby bench…someone had rinsed them out. I gulped. They were hanging to dry next to Rei’s. I could deal with the hoodie, fatigues, and tank top—but the panties were kinda freaking me out.
“Pink?” I whispered. “You have got to be kidding me.”
Water splashed in the corner of the room. My body tensed. There was no way she was…
Boys grow up oblivious to the fairer sex. Their daily concerns involve Tonka trucks and Kung-Fu movies. But boys grow older. One day, a girl makes a subtle motion, a swish of hair, a bat of an eye, and suddenly the lad takes notice. That’s when all the problems start. It starts slow. He doesn’t work it out right away. He finds the Spanish teacher’s lectures more interesting. He double takes passing a billboard. Then one morning, he wakes up sticky. He learns to do it manually. He accumulates a collection of porn—a compendium the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the library of Alexandria burnt to the ground. He becomes an expert on female anatomy. He learns breasts. He learns butts. He can mentally image the entire high school cheerleading squad in a dramatic re-enactment of One Thousand and One Arabian Nights. He prepares for all conceivable eventualities—and he’s entirely unprepared for the real thing.
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