by Blair Drake
He quickened his pace just enough to reach what he could see. He grabbed the railing as he reached the mouth of the bridge struggled to see more. Nothing was there. It was just a straight line in front of him that led nowhere.
His eyes were surely playing tricks on him as shadows morphed in front of him with grays and blues mixed into the darkness. It was slow at first. He thought something was there. But then it was gone. He couldn’t make out any of it.
“What is it?” Raven whispered when he slowed his pace.
“I…nothing. Let’s keep going.”
Reese felt as if they weren’t making any progress at all. A quick look over his shoulder didn’t give him any gage of how far they’d come.
The hum of energy he had been so used to throughout his life had returned.
He remembered the word of caution that Endel had given them. Go blindly over the bridge. Be swift and fearless in the dark. How the hell were they going to get to the other side if he didn’t even know how long the bridge was, or even how fast they were going in the dark? If they moved any faster, they could fall off into hole if the railing was suddenly gone.
They needed some light, and they didn’t have any. Surely Reese could use just a tiny bit of his energy to illuminate a small pocket of this room so he could see where they were going and move faster. After all, Endel said to move swiftly. He was only doing what he was told.
Reese felt the tug on the back of his blazer. “What you doing?” Raven whispered.
“I can’t see where I’m going. I’m just giving us a little bit light. Just a little.”
“But Endel said—”
“Endel is not here. We are. He said to go swiftly, and that’s what I’m trying to do. Let’s just keep moving. We’ll get to the other side and then find another tunnel.”
She was distracting him and maybe she was doing it on purpose. He wasn’t sure of his own self anymore. With every step he took, he wondered if he would ever again feel like the kid he’d been before standing on that rooftop at the Gray Cliffs Academy. Something had shifted inside him in the hours he’d been here. Something that seemed permanent. Something as simple as focusing on energy was now automatic.
He moved his legs faster, and felt the flow of energy through his body. He didn’t have to close his eyes to feel himself running. He did it with his eyes wide open. Raven pulled at the back of his jacket, but didn’t speak. He kept going. The sooner they got to the end of the bridge, the sooner they’d get to end of this journey.
Something else penetrated his thoughts and pulled his focus from his task. A sound, something he couldn’t make out, and didn’t know from where it was coming, moved around him. Moved. Whatever it was wasn’t keeping still. The talisman in his pocket began to vibrate, and then hum in a low tone.
“Reese,” Raven whispered as she tugged on his blazer.
And then he heard clicking sounds above the hum of the talisman, still tucked safely in his pocket.
He should have wondered, and should have been scared. But he wanted it over. He wanted to reach the end of the bridge as if it were the goal line in a race. He closed his eyes and imagined himself running on the track at school. Running faster. He could feel the wind whipping past is faced, and his hair pushing back against his head as he cut through the air.
“Reese don’t.”
He opened his eyes and the clicking was louder. Louder and stronger. It was almost like a drumbeat or…the ticking of a clock.
The space around them was still dark but something had shifted. Something was different. It was almost as if Reese was coming out of the fog and seeing what was around him for the first time, but he couldn’t make anything out. Light begin to fill the fog and take shape. But none of it made sense.
The bridge in front of him began to come into view as the energy pumping through him filled the space around them with more light. He still couldn’t see the expanse of the room, but what he did see wasn’t much. The platform ahead of him was empty almost all the way to end. There was a lever on the other side. Behind it was a swinging pendulum up against a wall. The ticking. It must be a clock. But Reese still couldn’t see it because it still looked foggy.
Reese thought of the way the fog rolled in over the ocean and surrounded the Cliffs in the morning. He used to run in the fog all the time. But this wasn’t the same. It didn’t feel humid or moist inside the room like it was on the track when he ran in the morning. There was no dew or rain. Why was there fog?
His stomach clenched as the smell tickled his nose. It wasn’t fog at all. It was a smoke screen.
There was nothing to see. No movement except the smoke creeping in and out of the bridge ahead of them. The swinging pendulum of one large clock bigger than the one in Endel’s shop caught his attention.
Raven tugged on the back of his blazer with urgency. “We have to get out of here, Reese. Fast.”
“No.” Reese focused on the railing, and followed it as far as his eyes could see. “The end of the bridge isn’t too far. We can make it.”
“No,” she whimpered. “Something doesn’t feel right.”
Reese couldn’t argue about that. He couldn’t figure out what was wrong but something was definitely off. This was the bridge they were supposed to cross. He could see to the end of it now. They were almost there. But something…
“Okay,” he said. But instead of running with his feet, he only ran in his mind. His feet felt like lead as he glanced around. The long bridge in front of him seemed to suddenly end. He could see everything clear enough now but there was so much to see and so much movement that he didn’t know where to look first.
“Reese!”
He glanced over his shoulder and saw the horror in Raven’s expression, and then quickly turned back to see what she was looking at. Through the fog, he began to see an image come into focus slowly. He saw the feet first. Metal boots that went up to the figure’s calves, and then covered by a long dark blue coat with a run of gold buttons on a double-breasted coat. Reese reached out his hand and grabbed Raven’s arm and held it tight as the smoke lifted and metal hands that almost looked like talons rather than fingers came into view. As the rest of the smoke rose, a snarling face came into view.
It wasn’t human. It was like a statue. Or so Reese thought until it took one step toward them. The sound the metal boots made on the ground was familiar. Reese searched his mind to figure out where he’d heard that sound before. And then it hit him. This is what had been chasing them in the tunnel. They thought they’d escaped from it once. But maybe this thing had come here to wait for them.
“What the hell is that?” Reese asked Raven. “It looks like a pirate.”
“The mechanical creatures. They’re real,” she whispered.
“There’s only one,” he said. He gauged the distance between where they were and where the metal guy was standing. The bridge was wide enough. If they got close and metal man charged them, he could push metal man out of the way, and give Raven a running shot to get past it. Then they could race the rest of the way out of here to the next set of tunnels if they could find them.
Metal man used one long metal finger to tap on the railing as the rest of the smoke began to lift. On the wall behind him, Reese could see the pendulum swinging and a large clock above it became clearer. Beyond that were two narrow paths that led to an open area.
He squeezed Raven’s arm and dragged her with him toward metal man.
“We’re going to make a run for it,” he whispered to Raven.
But then he heard the clanking behind him. Not one footstep on the bridge, but what sounded like an army of soldiers moving fast.
Raven whimpered and then cried. They both looked behind them to see several other metal creatures advancing toward them.
“Shit!” Reese said. “We can take one of them, but not all of them.”
As he ran with Raven toward the first metal creature, the smoke lifted until he could see the entire open room. The bridge was suspended over
an open pit of some kind. He couldn’t see the bottom of it. It was like a black hole that would swallow them whole if they fell from the bridge.
“The lights. You need to kill the lights, Reese,” Raven said, barely keeping up with him as he moved toward the end of the bridge.
Go blindly over the bridge. Be swift and fearless in the dark.
Was that what Endel had meant? Had he summoned these creatures by turning the lights on?
Movement behind him got louder, letting Reese know that the metal creatures were moving faster and getting closer. The sound of metal against metal was so loud that it filled his head and drowned out the ticking of the clock and the humming he always heard in his head when he ran. He couldn’t stop it though. He couldn’t stop the adrenaline flowing inside him enough to make the lights dim. He didn’t even know if that would stop the events he’d accidentally set in motion by illuminating the bridge.
“Reese, we can’t get around him,” Raven said, sucking in each breath deeply as she ran.
“I’ll push him aside and you get around him. Just run. Do you hear me? Run. I’ll be right behind you.”
“Oh…okay,”
As they got closer, Reese saw just how mammoth this creature was in size. He had to stand at least seven feet tall. Metal man reached inside his jacket, and pulled out what looked like a sword. But it wasn’t a sword. It was more of a club with spikes on the end of it. He swung it around over his head and then in front of him as if showing off his form.
“They’re almost on top of us, Reese!”
Reese didn’t bother to turn around and lose time. He knew the others were gaining on them. If they were anything close to the size of the mighty one at the end of the bridge, their strides were longer than his and they could overtake them. Reese fixed on metal man’s face and saw his expression change from void emotion to a snarl. His eyes glowed red as his mouth opened wide.
Raven stopped short and grabbed the railing. “We’re trapped. We can’t get past him.”
Looking both ways, Reese knew she was right. He’d trapped them on the bridge.
“I’m going to fight him,” Reese said. “It’s the only way you can get around him. Stay close to the railing. Hang on to the railing, do you hear me?”
The others were almost upon them.
“Go!” Reese yelled.
He lurched toward metal man and shielded himself from a blow from the club as he got closer. Raven ducked down and held the railing with both hands. The metal creature swung the club toward Reese, but he grabbed the creatures arm, shocking him. He felt the jolt of electricity flow through his body and exit through his fingers as it flowed to metal man, stunning him long enough for Raven to slip by.
“Reese, hurry!”
“Run! Get out of here!” he yelled. But he saw out of the corner of his eye that Raven hadn’t moved from the end of the bridge.
He managed to get metal man down to the ground and jumped past him but he knew freedom was only fleeting. Within seconds, the others would be close enough to strike another blow. He couldn’t fight them all at once.
“Hold on!” he called out as he ran. As soon as he got to the end of the bridge, he saw the lever. He wasn’t sure exactly what it controlled, but since he had no other tricks up his sleeve, he pushed the lever as he ran by it.
Just as he reached Raven, the bridge collapsed beneath him. He grabbed at the floor and then railing in an effort to keep from falling into the darkness below. Metal man roared as he clawed at the bridge’s floor. Scrapping metal against metal and distorted screams echoed against the walls around them as the other metal creatures fell into the chasm below. Looking up, he saw Raven holding on to the railing with sheer terror.
She leaned forward and screamed. “Hold on, Reese!”
He had a good hold on the railing and hooked his arm around it to secure him there. He managed to wedge his foot into an opening to get a bit of stability. But he knew he’d need to get past metal man if he was going to be able to climb to the platform above.
“Run, Raven!” Reese called up as he saw metal man begin to climb the bridge floor which was now vertical and bouncing against the wall with every movement metal man made. It was hard to see, but it looked like the creature’s jacket was caught on something, preventing it from moving.
For a moment, he saw Raven’s face disappear, and he was left with a sense of relief and a little despair. But at least Reese didn’t have to worry about her safety if he needed to fight metal man on the way to the top.
His heart pumped wildly in his chest as he struggled to remain steady on the dangling bridge. With every beat, the lights flared and then dimmed. With every beat, metal man seemed to come alive and find strength. Still, Reese found a foothold and continued to climb. If metal man was struggling, perhaps Reese would be able to climb to safety on the opposite side of the railing before he freed himself.
A pipe appeared suspended above them and he feared the worst. Raven had come back.
“Grab on to this!” she called out, leaning over the edge.
“What are you doing? Stay back!”
Metal man’s frustration was growing in leaps and bounds. He thrashed about, twisting and trying to free himself from whatever was hanging him up. Reese continued to climb the outer rail, hoping that he’d be able to make it high enough to reach Raven before the metal creature freed itself.
A rush of cold air suddenly blasted up from below as if someone had opened a doorway and the frigid cold from outside was bursting in. His body was still warm, but his hands were cold and became clumsy as he grabbed the sidewall railing. He had to force himself to hold on as the cold seeped into his skin. How had the railing become so cold, so fast?
Metal man yanked himself around and grabbed the sidewall railing. Despite his screams, Reese heard the fabric of his jacket ripping as the metal creature pulled himself free. Before he could yell out to Raven, metal man was scaling the sidewall, and wrenched the pipe out of Raven’s hand causing her to stumble forward and drop over the side of the platform.
In horror, Reese watched Raven fall toward him.
“No!” he cried out.
The look on her face showed her terror. Raven’s arms flailed about as she desperately tried to grab onto something. Her arm hit the sidewall hard. He could see from the expression on her face that it hurt but she continued to grab at the railing. It slowed down her fall, but she didn’t have a firm grip on anything. Reese held on tight to the rail and leaned over as far as he could so he could grab her as she slid by him.
It all happened in a matter of seconds. But to Reese, it felt as if it were happening in slow motion, as if someone had stopped that clock on the wall and made time stand still.
And then it occurred to him that perhaps that is what was happening. Something was making time slow down. His heart hammered in his chest, but he fought to slow it down, to remain calm, and to focus on Raven who was now falling close enough for him to reach her.
As he focused on the palm of his hand, and on his grip, he felt energy surge through him, making him stronger. His hand felt wider as if that would make a difference. His fingers connected with her baggy sweatshirt, but it wasn’t enough. To his horror, Raven slid right past him and disappeared into the cold darkness below.
“No!” he yelled. He brushed her fingers, and the fabric of her shirt. But that was all. She slid past him so quickly that he had to take a second to process what had happened and how he’d lost her.
After a few terrifying seconds, Reese heard Raven’s voice calling up to him from the darkness. “I’m here, Reese!”
Relief surged through him. “Are you okay?”
“My arm hurts bad. I don’t think I can make it up…there.” Her sob tore at his chest.
“I’m coming down to get you!”
As Reese started the climb down, he felt bridge rocking against the wall. He looked up and saw metal man now standing on the platform delivering a sharp blow to the last connection the bridge had t
o the wall. If he managed to break that free, Reese and Raven would tumble into the darkness.
For a split second he was torn. If Reese went down to save Raven, then metal man might actually succeed in tearing the bridge connection from the wall and they’d both die. If he climbed up to stop metal man, then Raven could very well lose her grip and fall. He couldn’t live with that.
But he had no choice. Reese had to stop the destruction of the bridge if they were to have any chance of living.
“Hold on, Raven. Just hold on no matter what happens!”
Reese started his climb toward the platform where metal man was beating on the bolts connecting the bridge to the rock. He couldn’t get close to the metal creature without it pummeling him with the pipe and its strong metal arm. He got about twenty feet from the top before he had an idea.
Time is just time. Raven had said that to him when he’d arrived. And when he’d seen Raven falling, it was almost as if time was slowing down. What if he could speed it up? What if he could make the clock on the wall reach the top of the hour and peal like the school bell did? Would that be enough of a distraction for metal man to give him a chance to come closer?
It was the only thing Reese could think of. Endel had taught him to quiet his mind and to play with lights. But he’d also shown him how to make the hands of his watch move.
As metal man continued to bash the bolts, Reese cleared his mind and then focused on the big clock with the pendulum on the wall. At first, he made the pendulum swing faster. Within seconds, he could see the minute hand move. But to his amazement, the hum inside him began to grow strong. He held on to the sidewall tight as the bridge began to shake, slowly at first and then in a rhythm that matched the beating of his heart.
“What’s happening?” Raven called up to him.
“Just hold on tight!”
Small rocks tumbled down upon him. Reese ducked to avoid a few, but couldn’t stop one of them from hitting him on the head and briefly distracting him. But then the hum inside him grew louder until he could hear it with his own ears. It got stronger until he realized it was his vibration shaking the bridge, not metal man’s efforts.