by Sara Beaman
“You’re right,” Haruko says. “You really have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about.”
“All right,” I say. “Come on, guys. Don’t we have more important things to worry about right now?”
Both Haruko and Jennifer look at me like they’d like to throttle me.
“Like, you know, Julian? And Markham?” I smile awkwardly. “Dogs and cats, living together? Mass hysteria?”
“The line is quiet. Nothing’s happening,” Jennifer says. “I need Julian to give me an idea of where we can intercept them.”
“Well, maybe we should listen for that,” I say. “And not talk about this anymore. Sure, Adam’s kind of a slut, but that’s not what’s important right now.”
Jennifer gives me a flat look. “Who said he’s a slut?”
“Oh God, you don’t know the half of it,” Haruko says.
“Look. If you guys can’t focus, then give me the headphones and I’ll listen on my own,” I say.
“No. We’re done talking about this,” says Jennifer. “Have your things ready to go. We might need to leave at any second.”
The line is silent for a long time, except for the muffled sound of the van’s engine. I wonder just what Julian and Markham are doing. Sitting next to one another in silence? Staring at the wall behind the driver’s seat?
What if Julian’s removed the wire? What if…
God, I hope Haruko is right. I hope Julian is just acting. Though I have to admit, after hearing their conversation, the small part of me that feels sorry for Markham is growing. His sincerity was pitiful. I want to write him off, but the more time I have to think about it, the harder it gets for me to do so. What did he really do wrong, after all? He attacked Haruko, but he did so out of loyalty to Julian. And if Mnemosyne sent him to do those things to Julian, who could say if he even had any choice in the matter?
What if Julian is thinking these same things? What if he takes pity on Markham, or even falls for him? What if he decides not to help us after all? What if he runs off with Markham—and the amulet—never to be seen again?
No. That’s stupid. If that were a possibility, Mnemosyne wouldn’t have given him this kind of autonomy. Would she have?
I hear the van pull onto gravel and roll to a stop. The doors open and close. I hear footsteps on the ground.
“What’s happening?” Haruko wonders aloud.
“What’s wrong?” Julian asks.
“I’ve been driving for, uh, sixteen hours straight now,” Matthew says. “I’m starting to lose my concentration.”
“Oh, God, I apologize,” Julian says. “I should have thought. Why don’t you have a rest in the back. I’ll take over driving for now. We’ll find somewhere to spend the day, a bit out of the city. Perhaps in Gary.”
“Thanks,” Matthew says. “I could use a few good hours of sleep. And some food.”
“It’s the least I can do,” Julian says.
“Is it safe?” Markham asks in Aya’s voice.
“Is what safe?” Julian asks.
“To stay in a hotel?”
“Of course,” Julian says. “I brought blackout drapes just in case.”
“I don’t know…”
“If you’d prefer, we can spend the day in the van,” Julian says.
“No,” Aya says. “I trust you.”
“All right, then,” Julian says. “Shall we?”
“That’s it,” Jennifer says, unplugging the wire device and closing the laptop. “Let’s get the rental car and go.”
Hold Still
Soon we’re back in the rental car, on the highway, pulling off at an exit for Gary, Indiana. Haruko sits behind the wheel, concentrating intently, most likely trying to discern where Julian and Markham have gone. Jennifer has one earbud in, listening to Julian’s wire. I sit in the back seat, looking out the window, trying to stay calm. I keep looking at the clock, worried about sunrise, but it’s only one A.M.
“I wish he’d give us some idea of where they went,” Haruko says. “I don’t want to get too close too fast.”
“Will Markham notice us if we get close?” I ask.
“Probably,” Haruko says. “It doesn’t sound like Julian’s really doing much to distract him.”
“Hold on,” Jennifer says. “He’s asking Markham which motel he’d prefer.”
“Good,” Haruko says.
Jennifer listens.
“They picked a Holiday Inn,” she says. “Indoor hallways.”
“I’m going to pull over,” Haruko says. “We don’t want to rush it and tip Markham off.”
Jennifer nods.
Haruko pulls into the deserted parking lot of a hardware store and stops the car.
“Julian sent Matthew in to book adjoining rooms,” Jennifer says, pulling a smartphone out from her back pocket, fiddling with the screen.
I shift anxiously in my seat. “Should I go invisible?”
“You might as well,” Haruko says. “But first, will you hand me my bag?”
“Sure,” I say, grabbing her backpack from the seat next to me.
Haruko unpacks a hooded sweatshirt and a pair of sunglasses from her bag. She puts both on and pulls the drawstrings of the hood tight around her face.
“Sunglasses at night,” I mutter to myself.
She snorts.
“Matthew said they’re in rooms 219 and 221,” Jennifer says.
“Okay,” Haruko says. “Let’s give it fifteen minutes and then go.”
“So, um… for my benefit, could we go over the plan again?” I ask.
“Don’t you have a perfect memory?” Haruko asks.
“I’m nervous, okay?”
“All right,” she says. “We go to the hotel. I’ll wait in the parking lot, and you’ll go inside.”
“How will I get into the room?” I ask. “It’s not like I can knock on the door.”
“Fuck,” Haruko says. “Uh…”
“I’ll text Julian,” Jennifer says.
“No,” Haruko says. “Markham might notice.”
I sigh, frustrated. Why is this such a challenge? Don’t the two of them have tons of experience with this kind of stuff?
“I’ve got it,” I say. “I can send Julian a silent command from outside.”
“Wait. You can send compulsions silently?” Jennifer asks.
Haruko nods.
“I’ll tell him to go get something from the van, I guess,” I continue. “And I’ll follow him back up, so Markham doesn’t see any doors opening on their own.”
“Yeah,” Haruko says. “That should work.”
“And then, once I’m in the room, I’ll put Markham to sleep,” I say.
“Yes,” Jennifer says.
“That’s it. Easy,” I tell myself. “Nothing to worry about.”
“Don’t be nervous,” Jennifer says. “You’ll do fine.”
I give her a weak smile.
Jennifer pushes on the earbud. “They’re talking again.”
“What are they saying?” Haruko asks.
“Nothing important,” Jennifer says. “Just talking. Matthew is going next door to get some food.”
Haruko taps the steering wheel with her thumb.
“How much longer do you think we should wait?” I ask.
“Let’s give them a few more minutes,” Haruko says. “I want to make sure Julian has Markham distracted.”
“Like how?” I ask.
“Do you really need me to fill in those details for you?” Haruko asks.
“But… he’s going to need to come down to the parking lot,” I say.
“They’re going up to the room now,” Jennifer says. “I don’t know. I don’t think we should wait too long. I think we should do this as soon as possible.”
“Whatever,” Haruko says. “Well, Kate, sounds like it’s time to make yourself scarce.”
I nod and concentrate on my reflection in the rear view mirror until I disappear completely.
***
We pull into the parking lot o
f a fast food place next to the hotel. Haruko turns off the ignition, gets out of the car, and opens the door for me. Trying to move silently, I slip out past her and start walking across the pavement to Julian’s van, which is parked just a few yards away.
I look up at the second floor of the Holiday Inn. From the outside, I have no idea which room Julian and Markham are in. I’ve never tried to command anyone I can’t actually see, let alone someone whose location is unknown to me. Pressing my lips together, I try to picture the two of them: Julian, wearing the red tie over his rumpled shirt, and Markham, wearing Aya’s face. I imagine whispering in Julian’s ear with my silent voice: Come out to the van.
Then I wait.
Sure enough, just a minute or so later, Julian emerges from the sliding doors at the entrance to the hotel. He walks toward the van, pulling the keys out from his pocket.
Get something from the glove compartment, I tell him. Doesn’t matter what.
He opens the passenger side door, pulls the glove compartment open, and takes out a map, which he tucks inside his jacket. Matthew’s gun is gone. I wonder if he took it with him.
Go back inside, I tell Julian. Take your time with the doors.
Julian complies in a natural, unconsidered way, closing the door of the van, locking it with the key fob, placing the keys back in the pocket of his trousers. I follow closely behind him as he walks back to the entrance. We pass through the sliding doors together and walk through the musty, dim lobby. He pushes the button to summon the elevator.
We wait. I’m standing so closely behind him, I can count each of his hair follicles individually. He smells pleasant, like mild soap. I want to ask him any number of questions right now, but of course I can’t. The elevator door opens and we step inside. In a few moments we’re on the second floor. I shadow him to room two-nineteen, where he stops in front of the door, fishes the keycard out from his pocket, and puts it in the card reader. The light turns green; he pulls the door open. I slip inside in front of him and flatten myself against the wall, peering into the room.
It’s empty.
“Aya?” Julian says. He opens the bathroom door. “Aya?” He opens the closet and looks inside.
Markham is nowhere to be seen.
“Shit,” Julian says under his breath.
“What do we do?” I mutter as we rush out into the hall.
“I don’t know,” he says. “Come on.”
“What if she went invisible?”
“I don’t know.”
I follow Julian to a stairwell at the end of the hall. He swings the door open and starts running down the stairs two at a time. I rush to keep up, watching with surprise as he pulls a handgun out from beneath his jacket. I’m unarmed, and Markham must be invisible—and he has the amulet, so I can’t count on Haruko to locate him. What the hell am I supposed to do now?
We reach the bottom of the stairwell. Julian opens a door to the parking lot.
“Follow me,” he says, taking off at a run towards a diner next door.
“Where are you going?” I ask.
“To find Matthew,” he says. “I think he might try to steal his keys to the van.”
We cross through a landscaped area full of muddy grass and scrubby bushes and into the parking lot of the diner. The crowd inside is thin, mostly men sitting at tables alone.
“You go in first,” Julian says in a low mutter. “Shout a command to Markham. Tell him to show himself. Then tell him to freeze.”
“Okay,” I say. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know,” Julian says. “Just go.”
I run up to the back entrance of the diner and shove the door open with my shoulder. I pass through the kitchen and slip through the swinging door to the dining room. Matthew is sitting in a booth on the side wall, eating in silence.
“Markham!” I shout. “Show yourself!”
Nothing happens.
I try again. “Become visible!”
The patrons look in my direction, confused. This isn’t working—I don’t see Markham or Aya anywhere. What do I do?
I hear a gunshot outside, over by the hotel. And then another.
“Kate!” Julian shouts. “Come quickly!”
I run through the dining room and out the side entrance of the diner. I hear a third gunshot. Julian takes off at a sprint, and I follow. Halfway through the hotel parking lot, I stumble over my own feet and fall forward. I pull myself up and keep running. Two more gunshots ring through the air. Dimly, from afar, I can see Haruko and Jennifer standing outside the rental car, pistols in hand.
“Kate,” Julian says, “use the commands again. As loudly as you can.”
“Markham!” I shout at the top of my lungs. “Come out! Show yourself!”
In the distance, a shadowy figure appears behind the rental car, silhouetted by the light of a streetlamp.
“Stay where you are!” I shout.
Julian stops short, as does Markham. In an instant, too quickly for me to react, Markham lifts his own gun and shoots Jennifer through the chest. She crumples to the ground. Haruko screams. Without pausing, Markham turns his gun on Haruko.
“Markham, hold still!” I shout, the words rushing out almost incomprehensibly.
Markham pauses, his arm held stock still in midair. Haruko rushes forward, raising her pistol as if to shoot him point blank.
“No!” I shout. “Haruko, wait! We’re supposed to bring him back alive!”
She doesn’t listen. She walks right up to him, gun trained at his head.
“Wait!” I shout. “Haruko, don’t!”
She shoots Markham straight through the left side of his face. He falls to the ground.
She spits on his lifeless body.
***
Matthew comes running across the parking lot with a look of panic on his face as Haruko, Julian and I scramble to get Markham and Jennifer in the back of the van. Sirens blare in the distance.
“What will we do with the rental car?” I ask.
“Just leave it,” Haruko says.
“What about all our stuff?”
“None of it matters,” Haruko says. Then, as an afterthought, she adds: “Go grab her laptop just in case.”
I run back to the rental car, open the passenger’s side door and grab Jennifer’s bag from the seatwell. I slam the door shut and run back to the van. In the distance I see the red and blue of police lights against the black sky.
“Oh my God,” I say. “What do we do?”
Haruko jumps into the driver’s seat. “Stop freaking out and get in.”
Matthew and Julian get into the back of the van. Julian slides the door shut. I rush to the passenger side door and climb inside. As soon as my door is closed, Haruko puts the van in reverse and peels out of the parking spot. She takes off down the two-lane road at sixty miles per hour, away from the direction of the police lights.
“What the hell happened?” I ask.
“Markham must have seen us,” Haruko says. “I saw the side door to the hotel open on its own, so I got out and warded the area around the car. He came at us. When he came inside the ward, he became visible. That’s when I shot him the first time.”
“How’d he get a gun?”
“I don’t know!” Haruko says. “So then he backed off, out of the ward, and disappeared again. And then you guys showed up, and then…”
“Is Jennifer dead?” I ask in a small voice.
“I don’t know,” Haruko says.
In the side mirror, I see police cars turning into the parking lot of the Holiday Inn. Haruko runs a red light and turns left onto a four-lane road, towards the interstate.
“Is Markham dead?” I ask.
She sneers. “No.”
We run another red light through a deserted intersection. The sirens keep wailing. I don’t see any lights in the side mirror anymore, but it seems like the sound is getting closer. I grip the armrest.
“There’s the onramp,” Haruko says. “Calm down.”
<
br /> “What if they catch us?”
“So what if they catch us?” she says. “You’re a Mnemonic!”
I swallow and take a long breath, trying to calm myself. “All right. You’re right.”
We turn onto the onramp. The van’s engine strains as we speed up the incline onto the highway. Haruko stares out at the road, looking perfectly calm.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
I watch as her mask of apathy wavers for just a moment. Her shoulders convulse slightly.
“I’m fine,” she says in a tone of finality.
“I’m really sorry, Haruko,” I say.
“Why are you sorry? It’s not your fault we did such a shitty job back there.”
“I’m sorry I asked you to come with me.”
“Whatever,” she says. “It was my choice.”
“Haruko—“
“Just be quiet, okay, Kate?” she says. “We can talk about this later.”
“All right,” I say. I turn to face the window.
***
Around five-thirty A.M. Haruko finally pulls over at an hourly-rate motel outside of Louisville, Kentucky. Julian goes into the front office for a few minutes and comes back with three keys. Looking exhausted and shell-shocked, Matthew takes a key and disappears into a room. Haruko leaves Julian and I with the other two, volunteering to drive to Wal-Mart for blackout curtains and duct tape.
Julian offers me a key. “I assume you’ll want to stay with Haruko.”
I take the key, but looking around at our run-down surroundings, I feel nervous about being alone. “Do you mind if I wait with you until she gets back?”
He shrugs. “That’s fine.”
Julian opens the door to his room. The interior smells overwhelmingly of cigarette smoke, and the wallpaper and carpet are stained in several places. He closes the door behind me, locks and bolts it, then sits down in an armchair, pulls off his red wire-tie, and closes his eyes. I sit down gingerly on one of the beds, the mattress squeaking beneath my weight.
“Is Jennifer dead?” I ask.
Julian nods.
“Jesus,” I say.
He says nothing.
“If I hadn’t—if I’d given a better command—“
“Katherine, all you did was follow my instructions.”
“Not exactly,” I say. “Actually, I fucked them up pretty bad.”