Deadly Designs

by Dale Mayer

  “Yes.”

  “How…” Unexpected tears threatened to clog her vision. She cleared her throat. “How was my mother?”

  “I am not exactly sure.” He stared at her thoughtfully. “They know you’re missing, because they came into your room while I hid in the closet.”

  “They,” she said, her heart sinking. “My father was there?’

  “Yes.”

  “So, the stylus was right again,” she muttered, pulling the stylus out of her pocket. “Stylus, are you back to full working power yet?”

  She didn’t need paper to see her hand outline No in the air. “Damn.”

  “What’s that all about?”

  “We were separated too long, so it went into sleep mode, power saver mode or something. Now that it’s with me it’s recharging – if that’s the proper word for what it’s doing – but it’s not all there yet. I can ask questions, but I don’t think he can reach Paxton yet. Every time I ask about how long, he just says soon.”

  Just then noises from inside the cupboard, followed by scurrying feet, had her jumping back and out of the way as the skorl raced out. Eric was faster. He scooped it up and tucked into the front of his coat.

  The little creature struggled and squealed worse than a pig only in a much higher-pitched voice. The sound rose in volume like a damned siren. Storey clapped her hands over her ears. “Make it stop.”

  With a grimace, he said, “I don’t know how.” He looked around. “Find something to carry it in, will you?”

  Storey raced to the cupboard. Surely there’d be a container of some kind.

  The sound of running feet was her only warning, then Eric yelled, “Hey, stop that!”

  Storey spun around to find the Louer child, at least she figured that’s what it was, screaming at Eric and pounding on his chest.

  And what a noise came out of her mouth. Storey had never heard anything like it. And didn’t want to again. Jesus. The squealing skorl had nothing on her. “Eric. Give it to her. She thinks you’re hurting it.”

  “What?”

  Storey shook her head and raced over. Eric was getting pounded on from both sides. And getting madder by the minute. She couldn’t blame him. Storey wrapped her arms securely around the child, who came up to her ribs, but was probably close to Storey in weight, and pulled her back off Eric. Then she clapped a hand over the child’s mouth to try to stop the weird noise coming out of her mouth.

  It helped, but only a little bit. “Eric, show her the pet. She needs to see that it is okay.”

  Eric rolled his eyes and reached inside his jacket for the squealing animal. As soon as the skorl saw the child and the child saw her pet, they both shut up. The child put out her arms and Eric placed the animal in them. The girl’s arms squeezed the small animal tight.

  Silence.

  Except for a sniffling sound out of the little girl. Eric closed his eyes for a moment. “Blessed silence.”

  Storey couldn’t agree more.

  “Can you talk to her?”

  He glared at her in horror. “I don’t speak Louer. No one does.”

  “Wrong. My stylus does.”

  The child rained kisses on the matted varmint. And didn’t the damn thing stay like it needed the affection as much as the child did? Storey shook her head and on a corner of the first of the two papers Eric had brought, she asked her stylus if he could write Louer.

  “Yes.”

  “Can you write a note to this child that we mean her no harm and we’d like to help her, please?”

  Her hand instantly started to move, writing out weird and wonderful characters in a close, tightly woven script similar to those on the side of the stylus itself. The writing had a delicate grace to the flowing characters. When she finally stopped writing, she’d filled the top quarter of the paper. And fast. The message was illegible. “Stylus, are you sure she can’t read English?”

  She’s too young to read written English. Her native language speaks to her differently.

  “Differently how?”

  But she stood up to hold the paper in front of the child. Hoping she could understand it.

  The child’s eyes widened as she looked at the writing, some of the fear dropped off her face and relief filled her gaze. Her gaze went from Eric, to the paper and then Storey. Tears filled her eyes and she threw herself into Storey’s arms, crumpling rodent and paper together.

  Storey had to wrap her arms around her. But staring at Eric over top of the girl’s head, she asked, “Do you have any idea what the stylus wrote?”

  “Heck no.”

  Chapter 7

  They’d agreed to bring the child to Eric’s home. There they could enlist Paxton’s help in finding the right way to return her to her family. At the moment, they hadn’t been able to do even that.

  Eric couldn’t get his codexes to work.

  The child – they so needed to find out what her name was – had curled up in a tight ball at Storey’s feet. Sleeping as if she hadn’t slept in months or at least since she’d been left alone. The skorl, although not asleep if the malevolent look in its beady eyes was anything to go by, had tucked itself into the curve of the girl’s waist.

  Storey studied the chunky looking girl. She could see the similarities to the Louers they’d banished earlier from the Toran dimension. They were a taller, stocky race, but she hadn’t had an idea of what the females looked like. She still had the broad forehead, thick nose and flat high cheekbones. Yet there was a more delicate, feminine cast to her features.

  Regardless of her misgivings, the child had to be returned to her parents. That’s all there was to it.

  And who knew better than Storey how that process would go? “Are the codexes really broken or are you looking for a way to avoid taking us back?” Not that she’d blame him if he was. She might pull that very trick if their positions were reversed.

  He snapped, “The codex problem has nothing to do with her. They worked originally, then there was a set of weird musical commands that I didn’t, and still don’t, understand. The last thing was a message in Toranee code that I finally understood to be your name. But before I could understand what or why, you were there, standing in front of me.”

  “The stylus. It probably contacted your codex to let you know my location.”

  Eric frowned. “Is that possible? Did he ever contact my codex before?”

  It was Storey’s turn to frown down at the codex. “I know it’s tracked your codex, because that’s how I found it when you lost it in the basement that time. But I don’t know if the stylus ever tried to contact it directly. Then again, who knows.”

  Eric bent his head to the codex again. Once more he typed in Paxton’s lab and once again, nothing happened.

  “I wonder if the stylus did something so you couldn’t go back without me. So I wouldn’t be left here.”

  He glowered at her. “Then you’d better ask it.”

  With a soft groan, she pulled the stylus out of her pocket and grabbed the one piece of paper she had at her disposal. “Stylus, are you getting stronger?”

  Yes.

  She smiled triumphantly at Eric. “See. It even feels stronger in my hand.”

  “Yes, but is it ready to go? We need to get moving.” He pointed out the sleeping pair at their feet. “We’re going to have enough trouble when she wakes up. And communicating is going to be one of the biggest problems. Not to mention she’ll expect us to help her and we don’t even know what the stylus wrote in the message to her.”

  “Then let’s start there with the questions.” She twisted the paper so that she had a clean corner to write on. “Stylus, what did you tell the Louer girl?”

  Her hand wrote quickly. That she is safe now and that you were going to take her to her parents. And that she should trust you as you’d see her safely home.

  Eric groaned. “Why would it say that? We don’t even know how to help ourselves at this point, let alone getting her home.”

  Storey stared at the
words she’d written. “Maybe because that’s how I felt.” She gazed at Eric soberly. “The connection between us has deepened. It’s almost as if I know what it’s going to say. Maybe it has the same impression of my feelings?”

  “That doesn’t make sense. Why would it deepen when you’d been separated to the point where it almost went to sleep?”

  “Maybe that’s exactly why. To keep the connection there, to save the Louer souls inside from becoming a nothing shell like the other styluses that were outgrown, packed away and forgotten.”

  Storey studied the stylus in her hand. The connection did feel different. It was a little hard to explain but it felt deeper. Odd, but not unpleasant.

  “Stylus, are the other styluses asleep like you were?”

  Like I was in the process of becoming, yes.

  “But there are souls in each one?”

  Yes, especially the broken one.

  She frowned. “What can we do for them?”

  Nothing at the moment. Keep them safe.

  “And later? Is there something we can do later?”

  Yes.

  Good. Glancing at Eric, she asked. “Stylus, did you do something to Eric’s codex so that he couldn’t leave without me?”

  No. Had to change his codex to old programming to tell him you were here. His codex works but it needs to be programmed manually.

  From the look of horror on Eric’s face, she assumed the news wasn’t to his liking.

  “Stylus, can you revert the process on Eric’s codex or reprogram it so we can return to Paxton’s lab?”

  Yes. But it takes time and energy.

  Back to square one. The stylus wasn’t fully up yet. Shit. The more she asked it to do, the more it wore down. And she was almost out of paper. Storey frowned. “Is there more paper here, Stylus?”

  No.

  “So, I have to go back to Paxton’s lab to get something to write on?”

  No. Go home. Paper there.

  Ah. Storey sat back, an idea firing in the back of her mind.

  “Why is it I don’t think I’m going to like whatever you’re thinking?” Eric’s voice broke through her reverie.

  “Let’s go to my house. There’s paper there, beds and food. I have no idea about my parents. We’ll deal with that when we get there. Hopefully we can be there at least long enough for us to restock, reevaluate and figure out what to do. It’s obvious we can’t stay here. We have to go somewhere, and if you don’t want to go to her new dimension, or take us to your dimension, then that only leaves my dimension.” She thought she’d been the voice of reason, but from the frown on Eric’s face, it didn’t appear as if he agreed.

  “And how are we going to get there? The codexes are on ‘manual mode,’ remember? Do you know how to program mine or your dimension on my codex so we can go anywhere?” he asked, the sarcasm thick on his voice.

  She flipped the paper over and held up the portals. “We still have these.” Although, she’d written on the portal to Bankhead mine, the other portal that she’d used to travel Paxton’s lab from her bedroom, hadn’t been touched. “I can change this so we can portal to my bedroom.”

  He closed his eyes and bowed his head. “It’s not perfect, but it’s better than staying in this hellhole. From there I can always go see Paxton and try to sort out the next step in this mess.” With a nod toward the sleeping child, he said, “What about her?”

  Storey was already working on adapting the one portal entrance. Thankfully it was almost perfect for here. She lifted her head from the sketch. “We take her with us. Believe me, I’d rather take her to her dimension right away, but not without a fully functioning stylus and lots of paper, thank you. Not to mention having your codexes working properly again.” Storey shook her head. “No thank you.”

  “So, we hide away at your place until the stylus is stronger?” He cocked his head and waited.

  “Unless you want to hide away in your dimension, instead.”

  “Paxton will see us. They’ve stepped up the monitoring of all crossings since the Louer invasion.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Fine. Let’s go then. I don’t know how we’re going to keep her quiet though. That squeal of hers and her pet is going to cause a ruckus at your house.”

  “Another reason to have the stylus get back to full strength and to have more paper so he can write messages to her. If she understands we have to be quiet to get her home, then maybe – and I’m only saying maybe – she’ll listen. I do know she’s expecting us to solve her problems now and that includes me feeding her. Do you want to tell her there’s no food when she wakes up?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

  He stood. “Let’s go now. I won’t rest until we’re out of here.”

  *

  Eric glared at the codexes. How was he going to fix them?

  Storey nudged his arm and pointed at the child who was starting to stir.

  With an eye roll, he said, “Let’s go then.”

  Bending over, Storey laid the paper on the floor. “I think this should work.”

  “Think.” He didn’t like the sound of that. “What if it doesn’t? Can’t you draw a new one?”

  “Not really.” She studied his expression briefly. “The stylus is not up to full power, remember? We can’t overdo it.”

  He couldn’t believe how dependent they were on technology right now. He felt naked with his codex not working properly.

  “Let’s go.” Once again, he studied the girl and her pet. “Do we pick her up and carry her?”

  “It might be best. Except for her pet. It’s liable to bite your hand off.”

  “Yet if we wake her…”

  Storey grinned at him, that clear, honest, so open grin of hers. He couldn’t help but smile back, his good humor rapidly returning. If nothing else, life with Storey was an adventure. “You’re the ranger, remember. And you’re the male here.”

  “She’s no lightweight.”

  “So it’s a good thing she isn’t any older.” Storey motioned toward the sleeping girl. “Now would be a good time.”

  Eric took a deep breath and caught up child and rodent in one scoop before either could wake. He took two steps toward Storey and walked into the portal.

  *

  Storey watched the three disappear into her portal and whispered a prayer that this path would lead them home. She grabbed a corner of the paper and hopped in herself. The last thing she saw was the dark, dank cold of the Louer world.

  Good riddance.

  She tumbled into sunshine. Sunshine and nothing else – no buildings and definitely no bedroom.

  “Oh shit.”

  “Ya think?” Eric stood beside her, still holding the sleeping child. Her pet, now awake, glared at them. Maybe as long as it was being held tight in the child’s arms he wouldn’t take off. Storey would have much preferred to have had it in a cage.

  First things first. “Any idea where we are?”

  “No. You?”

  “Not yet.” She turned around, puzzled. “But I will. This can only be one of three dimensions.”

  “Great.” Eric shifted the load in his arms. “If we get caught by Louers, this isn’t going to look so good.”

  He was right.

  Time to get serious, again. “Stylus, we need help and now. I don’t know where we are. We’re trying to get to my house. Help.”

  In a shaky script, the stylus wrote, You’re only halfway. Go through the portal again.

  Storey and Eric stared at each other in horror.

  Eric spun around at her words. “What. We are? Here?” He shook his head. “As in the new Louer dimension?”

  She put the sheet of paper with the portal back on the ground. “Let’s take another jump and see if it will take us to the right destination.”

  With a nervous glance around, Eric gave an abrupt nod and stepped in. Storey followed immediately.

  And fell into her room.

  “We’re home,” she crowed. She turned around a huge grin
on her face. “Finally.”

  She couldn’t believe how good it felt. Her bedroom. Different than she remembered, it looked like her mother had changed her bedding. Still, after all she’d been through, she was finally home. Clean clothes, a shower, food. Definitely food.

  She motioned to the bed for Eric to lay the child down.

  He did so carefully, asking, “What about your parents?”

  Her smile fell away. “Right. That problem. Damn it.” She studied Eric. How could she explain he was a ranger from another dimension and they’d brought a child of yet a third dimension and a weird pet home? What could she possibly say?

  Shit. Instead of solving one problem, she had three more. Not that Eric was a problem. He was about the only good thing here.

  Were her parents at home? How could she find out without drawing attention to herself and her entourage? She wanted a shower and a change of clothes so bad. The clothes she could grab. The shower – not if her parents were home. She looked out the window, realizing it was daytime. And likely early. She didn’t know what day of the week or what day of the month it was, but at least the sun was shining. That meant there was a chance, a slim chance that her parents weren’t home.

  She opened her bedroom door and stuck her head around the corner. The house was silent. For the moment. “Eric, I’m going to slip downstairs and see if we are alone. If we are, I’ll search for food. Stay here with her.”

  Eric frowned.

  “It’s the only way. Don’t wake her up.”

  Eric’s gaze widened in horror, panic starting in his eyes. “You can’t leave me with her.”

  “I’ll be back soon.” She closed the door softly and crept down the hallway to her mother’s room. The door was ajar and it was dark inside. Empty. That was a good sign. At the top of the stairs, she cocked an ear and listened.

  So far, so good. Skipping the second stair, which squeaked, she made her way to the first landing and poked her head around the corner. Nothing. And no one. Thank heavens for that. In the den, she stopped and frowned. Different furniture. Had they bought new furniture while she’d been gone? She crossed to the corner of the den where the Louers had tried to enter the house. A smirk broke free. Typical. Her mother had already repainted.