Arcene: The Blue Castle

by Al K. Line

  "I don't like this Arcene, why is the floor moving? Why is the ceiling coming down?"

  With the sudden animation of the floor, Arcene had forgotten about the ceiling — it was halfway down the door now and by the time she looked up they were practically prone on the floor, still gripping the rope. Leel was jammed up against the wall; she whimpered and tried to get away but the floor held her fast.

  "It's what happens in Rooms," said Arcene, trying to sound casual and relaxed, like it was just one of those everyday things. "No need to worry, probably stop in a min—"

  Thud.

  The ceiling stopped, it was about four feet above the floor now.

  Clunk.

  Whoosh.

  "Oh dear." Wind gushed in through the glass wall that wasn't any longer. The whole see-through wall had slid back to either side, hidden gears grinding, nothing but open air and a strong wind eddying about them. "Hold on," shouted Arcene, hair caught in the strong breeze. The floor changed direction again; it moved toward the opening.

  "Arcene!" Beamer lost his grip and sprawled onto the floor. Before Arcene could reach, he was taken across the Room. He'd be killed, fall to his death and be nothing but a big mangled splodge on the ground far below.

  "Get up, run!" shouted Arcene, as she let go with one hand and waved Beamer back to her.

  Beamer got onto all fours then jumped up, almost falling again as the floor kept moving, but he got his balance and tried to run to Arcene, feet moving comically, running on the spot, never getting closer to her.

  "Stupid Room, stupid vending machine." Arcene felt the sugar-rush dissipate, giving her some clarity. Her systems felt like they were shutting down, energy reserves depleted, the strange high gone, replaced with a heaviness of body, but at least her mind felt sharper.

  "Leel, you get away from that wall and grab Beamer, and bring him here."

  With ears pricked up at Arcene's order, Leel found purchase on the floor and bounded over to Beamer. She turned at an angle so as she ran she would be carried back to him and hopefully intercept him on her way. She picked up speed, tongue lolling to the side, her snacks giving her energy she really needed. Her ears flapped about her head as she bounced toward Beamer and as she got close Arcene shouted, "Beamer, grab her collar, or the backpack, and get on her back. Don't miss," she added as an afterthought.

  Beamer crouched, still running on the spot, glancing behind at the death-drop that awaited him. Leel skidded to a halt and Beamer grabbed her collar in both hands, leaping onto her back in one fluid motion.

  They both slid toward emptiness.

  There was nothing for it: Arcene let go of the rope. She ran awkwardly in the direction of the moving floor, pulling her sword out as she sped toward certain death if she failed. Crouching forward, trying not to scrape her head on the ceiling, she stopped running as she got closer. Leel whimpered as she scrabbled to move away from the opening; Beamer's head knocked against the ceiling. He ducked, almost lying flat on Leel's back, who herself was trying not to hit it as she ran, getting nowhere.

  Arcene reached Leel and put her left hand on her collar. "You okay Beamer?"

  "No, I don't like this Room Arcene, it's no fun."

  "Gets the heart going though, right?" said Arcene cheerily. "Don't panic, we'll be fine." Arcene glanced at the massive sky, blue and inviting. It promised to be a glorious evening, but not for them unless she thought of something.

  Tightening her grip on the sword's hilt, she hit down hard at the floor, puncturing it with her sword, the blade slicing deep. She grabbed Beamer and said, "Let go of Leel, grab the hilt. Sorry Leel." It was a terrible decision to make, but she had to save Beamer over Leel if it came to that. She hoped that as the floor moved the sword would hit the edge and stop it. She hoped.

  Beamer stood, then did as he was told. There was little room for both his and Arcene's hands, so Arcene used one.

  "Leel, you better run away. Fast!" They were almost at the opening now, the wind strong, as if it was sucking the floor out. Leel took the hint and began her comical attempt at escape again, not getting far past the sword before her efforts resulted in little but running on the spot.

  Arcene looked out into nothingness; they were almost there.

  "Get ready. Hold on, hold on really tight."

  Clunk.

  Phew, that was a close one.

  The floor stopped. Arcene let go of the sword, knuckles white from her fierce grip.

  Clunk, clunk.

  "No!"

  It began again. Arcene grabbed the hilt moments before she found herself dangling over the edge, feet kicking in mid-air at nothing.

  "Arcene! I can't hold on," cried Beamer, as Leel tumbled past, almost hitting them.

  Beamer's grip slipped. He fell.

  Arcene reached out a hand but it was no use, he was gone. Then her grip faltered and she too fell into nothingness.

  "Ugh."

  "Ugh."

  Woof.

  They'd fallen precisely six feet onto a wide ledge jutting out of the building, covered in netting to prevent them from falling even if they'd wanted to. As they lay in a heap, trying to catch their breath and calm frayed nerves, the ledge rose and before they could even understand what had happened they were back in the Room, back on the floor. This time it carried them to the center of the Room.

  Arcene reached for her sword and pulled herself onto her knees. With a hard yank it came out of the floor and she sheathed it.

  She turned in time to see the window slide back into place, the Room suddenly silent without the wind and their screams.

  Beamer was sat on the floor grinning from ear to ear, slapping the ground with the palms of his hands, head wobbling animatedly, eyes alive with energy. "That was cool, and scary. I thought we were going to die."

  "Yeah, me too. Told you Rooms were a little crazy."

  Boom.

  The Room was pitch-black, as black as the floor. Windows darkened; lights went out. There was nothing.

  Woof?

  "I don't know, just wait and see."

  Arcene felt the floor move, reached above her and found that the ceiling had retreated — she couldn't feel it so she stood up, stretching like a cat after a long nap.

  "Arcene? Are you there?" came a timid voice from her left-hand side.

  She felt about until she touched Beamer's hair. "I'm here. Grab my hand. You can stand up now." Arcene felt Beamer's hand on hers so gripped it tightly and helped him to his feet. She could hear Leel's panting so put her other hand on her head, scratching behind an ear to calm her nerves. "Good girl Leel, that was exciting wasn't it?"

  Woof. Woof.

  "Well, I thought it was."

  A series of scrapes and knocks could be heard, and Arcene also realized that the floor had stopped moving.

  "It's very dark Arcene, I don't like it. This place is really odd."

  "Yeah, they always are," said Arcene, glad Beamer couldn't see her wince from the tight grip on her hand.

  Woof!

  "Good girl Leel. Don't worry, I'm sure that—"

  Thunk. Crack.

  Weird, high-pitched music played, and Arcene couldn't resist the urge to spin in a circle for some reason.

  Lights flashed through every color of the rainbow, the black floor alive with reflected color, the space back to being huge, empty once more.

  "Whoa! Look out Beamer. You too Leel." Arcene ran away from where the floor was lifting, dragging a shocked Beamer with her. Leel was already well away from the trouble before Arcene had even finished her warning.

  The lights blinked out, leaving them lost and feeling vulnerable again, but a split-second later they were back: red, orange and yellow glows danced on the floor as a circular space slowly spun away and up, the lights revealed.

  The strange music began to play again, music Arcene was sure she had heard before. It was the sound of the fairground — she'd seen such things in movies, even been on a roller coaster once.

  "All rides are fre
e!" came the disembodied voice. "Grab your seats."

  "What is it Arcene?" asked Beamer as he clutched her tight, before he peeked to take in the latest mystery.

  Arcene was concentrating hard, watching what was happening, body ready for action but muscles relaxed.

  "Arcene?" Beamer tugged at her vest.

  "Eh? Huh?"

  "What is it? What's happening?"

  "I think it's a Merry-Go-Round. Looks like fun, right?" Arcene took in the wonder, searching for hidden surprises, but it looked innocuous enough. Fun, it looked like fun.

  The circular platform that had come out of the floor was now high up above the opening, lights on its underside running around its circumference, strobing slow and random. The ride itself was set in a matching disk, identical lights around the edge. In the center was a large pole, striped and thick; struts near the top fanned out to support the floor that was now its roof.

  But this was just background to the real attraction: large horses painted in bright and gaudy colors, almost as big as the real thing. They bobbed up and down in time to the loud music. The whole thing spun clockwise, a gentle motion that would make it easy to hop up onto the platform and clamber onto the horses — kitted out with genuine leather stirrups, saddles and bridles.

  "Shall we?" asked Arcene, eyes glued to the ride. "I love cool stuff like this. You ever been on a horse?" She turned to Beamer who just shook his head. "Never?"

  "No, there aren't horses in the city, and they are really large." He watched the fake animals suspiciously, his fear fighting with the excitement he felt, deciding which would be victorious. "Let's do it," he said, determined, being brave.

  "Yes!" Arcene twirled, itching to jump up, but just as she was about to run to the ride she stopped — she should act like an adult. "It's okay, I'll help you."

  Beamer smiled in delight and took her hand as they walked up to the ride while Leel made menacing noises at the revolving base, trying to bite it into submission.

  "Leel you silly dog, it's not going to feel that."

  Grrr. Grr. Yip, yip.

  "Okay, ready?"

  Beamer nodded. "Ready."

  "Let's go." Arcene picked Beamer up as he raised his arms and put him down fast on the revolving platform. "Be careful," she warned, "and hold onto something or you might go flying off."

  Beamer hugged the neck of a pastel blue horse and clung on as Arcene gracefully hopped up next to him. She steadied herself then let go, pigtails bouncing with the spin, kilt flapping.

  Leel tried to subdue the machine with a final bite but gave up and leapt up beside them to see what all the fuss was about.

  "Now, left foot in the stirrup," instructed Arcene. Beamer looked at her blankly. "Oh, yeah, sorry. It's this thing here. Put your left foot in, then you sort of, um, push down with it, raise your other leg, and hop onto its back. Ready?" Beamer didn't look convinced, but put his foot in. Arcene held him and said, "Go," and before Beamer had the chance to change his mind, he was up and straddling the horse. "Now, hold on to the reins, the straps in front of you." Beamer did as he was told, sat up ramrod straight and smiled like he'd just won a grand prize.

  Arcene clapped, then rushed to the horse next to him on the right, closer to the center of the ride. She hopped up easily but caught her sword as she tried to sit, muttered under her breath about stupid swords then tried to recover elegantly and sat down like she knew what she was doing — she didn't, but Beamer didn't know that.

  Grabbing her own reins, Arcene leaned toward Beamer and smiled. "Bet you've never done anything like this before, eh?"

  Beamer was flushed, pupils dilated, gripping the reins for all he was worth. "No, never," he panted. "And I've never thought I'd fly to my death or eaten chocolate or had a fizzy drink or eaten—" Beamer was cut off by the invisible voice.

  "Hold tight Ladies and Gents. Here we gooooooooooooo."

  "Uh-oh," gasped Arcene, as she sat upright again and wrapped the reins around a wrist. The ride spun faster and faster. "Don't let go Beamer, hold on tight. Very tight."

  Beamer looked petrified and leaned forward to grab the horse's head, cuddling into it like a giant bedtime toy. "Arcene!" It was barely a whisper.

  Music got louder; lights strobed faster.

  Yowl.

  Leel flew off the platform, skidding across the floor as claws as large as human fingers scrabbled for purchase to no avail on the perfectly smooth surface. She came to a halt halfway across the Room and was instantly on her feet, hackles raised, barking as loud as she could at the ride; she stayed where she was though, warning from a distance.

  So brave, thought Arcene, trying not to get flung off too.

  "Here we go," came the voice, followed by a clunk and a sudden pouring in of light from above.

  Arcene looked up only to see the entire roof retract at speed to reveal what must have been the remaining upper stories of the skyscraper, now open.

  This is mad.

  They were rising, up and up. The carousel thankfully slowed, until they were far above the Room, Leel's barking lost to the wind.

  "I don't like Rooms Arcene, I want to go home," moaned Beamer, hanging half off the horse, righting himself as the ride slowed.

  "Don't worry, it'll be all right. We're probably in for the fun part now. I hope."

  "Make it stop. Make it stop."

  "I can't, I don't know how." Arcene wondered if they would get out of their predicament alive.

  Clack.

  The platform stopped rising and they found themselves a few feet above the top of the building, the cityscape spread out below, bleak and broken. But it was impressive from such a height, seeing what man had accomplished, how far it spread in all directions, signs of ancient roads visible where plants grew differently than in the more built up areas.

  There was no doubt about it, Arcene had to admit it was impressive, and must have been much more so when it was new, full of people and cars.

  The ride slowed more, giving them time to take in the view properly. Arcene had remained calm, controlling adrenaline levels easily to stop herself freaking out, but the same couldn't be said for Beamer. She'd almost forgotten that he would be terrified, unable to stop what his body did in an attempt to get him ready to react to the stress. Arcene turned, expecting him to be in tears, mortified and wailing to get off.

  "Um, you not scared?" asked Arcene, surprised to see the young boy happy.

  Beamer rocked back and forth in his saddle as if goading his ride to go faster again. "I was, but I trust you Arcene, and, well, it was kinda fun. Scary too."

  "Wow! You're so brave. Look, I think it's going back down."

  Arcene was right, they came to a stop then the Merry-Go-Round rotated in the opposite direction, a sedate spin that took them gently back down into the room. It began to sink into the floor.

  "Jump off, quick. I think that's enough fun for one day, don't you?"

  "Plenty," said Beamer, as he hopped down and jumped from the platform. He tripped, landing on his knees, but at least he was on the floor.

  Wasting no time, Arcene did the same, managing to keep her balance as she landed next to him. Leel was already licking Beamer, tail thumping into Arcene's legs — it was like being whacked with a stick that had a mind of its own.

  "Thank you for riding with us today," came the voice, before the ride disappeared.

  The floor sealed up with a thunk. It was as if it had never been.

  Click.

  The door popped open.

  "I think it's time to go," said Arcene.

  "Aw, really?"

  "Yes, really. Come on Leel."

  Arcene ushered Leel and Beamer out into the corridor, peeked around the door sneakily, then closed it gently behind her. She locked the door, put the key back where she'd found it, and took a deep breath.

  "Time to go home?"

  "Time to go home," agreed Beamer, sweaty but happy. "My belly still hurts," he moaned.

  "Mine too," said Arcene, patting
the little lump that was making her kilt feel a little too tight.

  Woof!

  A Good Father

  Drem smiled to himself, something he hadn't done for some time. It surprised him — he thought he'd never smile again. Not that he ever had done much of it in the first place. Maybe that was the problem?

  Sure, life was hard, his mind preoccupied with keeping Beamer and himself safe and alive, but that wasn't really an excuse, was it? How had he become like his own father — morose, unhappy, not showing enough affection? He'd chosen to be that way; this way.

  Obsessed with keeping Beamer away from the wild world they were alone in had finally had the opposite effect to what he'd wanted — the boy had gone precisely because of the things he did, the way he was. It had all been for nothing and he'd done the one thing he'd promised he would never do when he grew up — act like a grown-up, at least, the grown-ups he'd known: his parents.

  He'd wanted something different, hadn't he? Yet here he was, alone, scared sick for his child, regretting the way he'd brought him up, making Beamer timid, insular and unable to fend for himself if the need arose.

  "What was I thinking?" muttered Drem to himself, before he smiled again as he put his prize into an increasingly heavy sack. He slung it over his shoulder then moved on, there was plenty more to do. You had to have hope, stay positive, but it wasn't easy. He'd conditioned himself to be this way, hadn't he? Stopped himself from wanting to act like a young man or a child again, thinking that parental responsibility meant always being the one to say, "No!" when really it meant doing what needed to be done to see a smile on a young boy's face, watching him roll around on the floor and hear him giggle.

  When had Beamer ever done that? When had he himself ever played? Not when he was young, or with Beamer either. No, it had all been busy, busy, busy, making life hard on purpose, kidding himself it meant safety and protection.

  What kind of man lives so high he has to struggle for half a day to haul wood up? It was masochistic; he'd been a fool.

  When Beamer came home things would be different. Better.