After Darkness II

by J. F. Johns

  'Let me see your wound,' Curtis said.

  Terra lifted her T-shirt up for him to see. His red eyes focused on his work, his robotic hands touching where they needed to touch, always carefully and softly. She wondered what it had felt like, to have been amputated in such a way and to have been given new hands, but no longer human.

  'It looks okay,' he said. 'But you shouldn't move too much.'

  'I know. I just wanted to speak to you about something.' She waited for him to gesture at her to continue, but he remained still and quiet. The little boy, Rife, had made his way to the cot and was crawling beneath it. Giggling, he watched them from his position as if he thought they couldn't see him.

  'Terra has an idea of how to get Scarlet back,' Ten intervened.

  'Well, I wouldn't put it that way.' She shook her hands, dismissing the thought away. 'But I've been thinking... The three of us are connected to Scarlet. It may be through the Destroyer, but still. Perhaps there is a way we could... Connect to her?'

  'You mean communicate with Scarlet?'

  Terra nodded.

  'You'd have to get very close to her.'

  Terra thought back to the moment Scarlet had rescued her in the Government's Headquarters. If she hadn't been dying, would she have been able to reach her? Would Scarlet be with them in the house if she had just tried harder?

  'I don't think she would hurt us,' Terra said.

  'It's risky.' Curtis leaned against the edge of one of the desks. He grabbed a set of black gloves and put them on, hiding his robotic hands. His dark brown hair was messy, as if he had forgotten to brush it. He probably had. He was always busy from what Terra could see.

  'Everything we do is risky,' she said. 'But if we don't try...' She turned to look at Ten and saw the same determination set in the little girl's green eyes. 'If someone can bring her back, it's us.'

  Terra didn't truly believe such a thing, but she needed to try. Scarlet needed saving from such a terrible destiny. Terra didn't believe in injustice and this, this was the biggest injustice of them all.

  'I'll consider it,' Curtis said.

  Terra nodded, her mismatched eyes gleaming with hope.

  'Don't go getting your hopes up,' he added, noticing their faces. 'Go and rest.'

  Terra did as she was told and left Curtis's room. She wasn't sure she'd find her way back to the infirmary, but it didn't really matter. She was somewhere safe where no one was going to hurt her. Sometimes it was okay to get lost.

  Someone grabbed her hand and Terra turned to find Ten, her green eyes shining with worry. 'What's wrong?' Terra asked.

  Ten looked up and down the hallway as if she were frightened that someone might hear them. 'They won't let us go.'

  'You don't know that, Ten.'

  'I do.'

  Deep down Terra knew it too, but wanted to believe that Curtis would help them for Scarlet's sake.

  'Well, let's wait and see,' she said, smiling. 'And if not, we'll just have to rescue Scarlet ourselves.'

  Chapter fourteen

  Capital Four and Six were connected by a train that would take them directly to the station. The difficult part would be getting to the town of Greystone, which wasn't as easily accessed as other locations.

  Eric dreaded the journey, and lit a cigarette as soon as his feet landed on the platform in Capital Six. He kept away from the three X-Prototypes. He wasn't allowed to speak to them or approach them, which in a way, didn't bother him. It was nice having a few hours to himself.

  The platform in Capital Six was small, not at all sleek and modern like the one in Capital One. The floor was made of wood, missing more than one floorboard. There were fewer people too, walking quickly, their thick coats tightly wrapped around their bodies.

  Eric had always enjoyed the fancier things in life; expensive clothes, fast cars and nice homes. But with time, he had learned to appreciate the smaller things. Sitting on the roof at night with Malcolm and Camille laughing and joking was so much better than driving a fast car. Lying in bed with Scarlet and the twins was more beautiful than a fancy house. He didn't need anything if he had his family.

  Even though his family was missing an essential member.

  Getting to Greystone would be a slight challenge. There were a few trucks that would take citizens to all the different locations, but there was only one going to Greystone and it wasn't departing for the next six hours. Walking wasn't an option as the town was way too far for that.

  Eric noticed a man with a few horses. 'You're got to be kidding me,' he muttered, making his way towards the man. 'You renting these?' He stared at the animals with suspicion. He had never ridden a horse, and the idea made him slightly sick. 'I need to get to Greystone.'

  'Then this is the way to go,' the man said, handing over the reins to a black enormous beast.

  Eric opened his mouth to ask for a smaller horse, then realised how unmanly that would sound and puffed his chest out. 'Yes, this one, great. Awesome. Thanks.' He passed his wrist over the man's to make the payment.

  'You can leave the horse in Greystone and someone will pick him up. Or you can return him here.'

  Eric nodded, hardly listening as his ears began to ring at the sight in front of him. How was he supposed to get up? The beast was enormous. For a moment he wondered where Morgana was, then realised it was better she was nowhere nearby or she'd laugh at the sight of him struggling to get up on the horse.

  'You need help?' the man asked, arching an eyebrow.

  'No. Of course not. Been riding horses since I was a kid.' Eric coughed away his awkwardness, and turned his attention to the animal's face. 'Don't screw me over. If you're nice, I'll be nice. That's how partnership works. We can be partners. Friends even. Depending on how this goes.' He realised he was babbling on and on, but it helped his nerves as he grabbed the saddle and tried pushing himself up, his foot in the stirrup. For a moment as his stomach balanced on the seat, he thought he had it all under control. Then his face slowly began to move towards the ground on the other side and he gasped at the thought of falling.

  The man helped him get in a sitting position, pulling faces and snorting the entire time. 'Riding your entire life, huh?'

  'It's been a while. Got knocked over the head a few years back. Lost some memory.'

  'Sure.'

  Eric settled himself as comfortably as possible on the saddle, trying to look regal. By the look the man was giving him, it wasn't working. 'Very well, thank you.' He pulled the reins softly to the right, and surprisingly, the black horse stirred in the same direction.

  'Greystone is in the other direction,' the man said.

  'Right.'

  Eric was glad to finally be out of sight and as the minutes ticked on by, he began to relax. The journey to Greystone would be long, up and down unpaved roads leading towards the tallest mountain in the capital. He wondered if he should've waited at the train station for the X-Prototypes so they could all travel up the mountain together. In such a deserted land, no one was going to say anything if a cyborg was travelling with a few 'humans'.

  'I guess it's just going to be you and me,' Eric said, eyeing the horse suspiciously as if at any moment the animal would throw him off on purpose.

  The knots in Eric's shoulders began to untangle as time passed, and slowly he found himself admiring the views and talking peacefully to the black horse, completely at ease. He wondered what it would be like to have a small cottage in the middle of nowhere with a piano in the living room and maybe two horses to ride; one for him and one for Scarlet. He had never thought of riding before, but now it felt like something he would very much like to do again.

  On his way towards the town of Greystone, Eric came across a few other towns where he stopped to grab something to eat. He munched on his cheese bun leaning against a post, the horse next to him, staring at nothing in particular. 'Maybe I was a cowboy in another life,' he told the horse. 'It's perfectly plausible.' The horse snorted, air exhaling
through its nose. 'Well, I think I could've been a cowboy. No need to be rude.'

  The small towns in Capital Six were dull with little to see. The homes were made of stone, all tightly pushed together. There wasn't much room on a mountain for big cities like in the other capitals. The higher up they went, the smaller the towns became and less vegetation one could find. All the colours from before were suddenly replaced by grey and when Eric looked up, the town of Greystone appeared in view. It was literally built into the mountain itself, some homes hanging over the edge. It made Eric's stomach twist and turn at the sight. He wondered if the people living in such homes couldn't step into certain areas of the house in case they tipped the building over.

  'What do you think?' Eric asked his companion. 'Pretty damn awful, if you ask me.' He leaned forward to look at the horse. 'I guess you don't really care. As long as you got food, you're happy.'

  The town's name was rather fitting.

  Greystone; the town where everything was made from grey stone. No other colour seemed to be allowed or wanted in the area. Even the people wore grey clothes. Eric couldn't help but notice that the majority of citizens were human.

  Eric had heard rumours that citizens caught by Watchers doing illegal things but hadn't been sentenced to death or fined were sent to places like Greystone to live out their days in silence. He had no idea how it worked, whether their families were moved too, or allowed to visit. In a way, he didn't want to know. He couldn't deal with more injustice or he'd explode.

  Eric heard Morgana's laugh even before he saw her. The three X-Prototypes stood by the edge of the town, waiting for him as he approached. 'How did you get here?' he asked them, noticing the lack of transport.

  'We ran.'

  'The whole way?'

  Morgana arched an eyebrow. 'We don't get tired like you do, Thorn. You ought to know these things by now.'

  Eric waved her away, moving past on his horse, feeling suddenly empowered by marching along like kings had done so many years ago. 'I don't pay attention to such commoner problems.' He couldn't help but smile at his own joke.

  'Well, get down then.' Morgana grabbed the reins. 'Or are you planning to stride through town on the horse?'

  'Now that you mention it...'

  'Thorn, get down or I will force you.'

  Getting down was much easier than getting on. Eric leaped off with no trouble at all, thankful that the Prototypes were watching him get off rather than on. Morgana would never let him forget such a thing and she'd make his life a living nightmare.

  They strolled through town with wondrous eyes, unable to take the little there was in. Eric had never seen such a grey looking place in his life. Even the people seemed to be turning slowly grey. 'This place is weird,' he muttered as an old lady passed by, eyeing them suspiciously as she spat on the grey stoned floor, holding her grey walking stick and scratching her back.

  'Isn't this town meant to be a prison?' Morgana asked.

  'Apparently if the government wants to get rid of you but not kill you, they send you here,' Vladimir explained. The street was narrow; one side of its buildings going all the way up the mountain. On the right, smaller and lower constructions had been placed. Behind them; nothing but emptiness.

  'I've heard that sometimes the government calls Watchers to come and push you off the edge,' Vladimir continued. 'If you're sent here but your family continues misbehaving, that's what they'll do.'

  Eric frowned. He wasn't sure if any of it was true, but he'd definitely heard all kinds of strange things about Greystone.

  'Maybe people just like the height,' Morgana said.

  'Suuuuuure. Your brother being one of them?' Eric was starting to think that Morgana's brother was in Greystone for more reasons than they had first suspected. He clearly hadn't come for the views. Even though they were pretty high up, there was a mist that covered everything, making it impossible to see very far.

  'We should separate,' Morgana said, ignoring Eric's comment. 'It'll be easier to find him.'

  'Don't you guys have like this prickly feeling when you're close to each other?' Scarlet had explained to Eric on many occasions how she was able to feel the other Prototypes nearby and whether or not they were in distress.

  'Standing next to each other will just buffer that prickly feeling,' Morgana explained, pulling a face.

  'But if we separate you'll probably just follow each other around because of the prickly feeling,' Eric said.

  'Why are you calling it prickly feeling?'

  'I don't know how else to call it.' Eric turned to stare at the horse that was watching them as if it couldn't quite understand how they were so dumb. He agreed. 'Okay, whatever. We meet back up here in an hour.'

  He watched them set off in different directions. Even though the town wasn't very big, the X-Prototype they were seeking could be anywhere.

  Morgana and her curly blonde locks vanished inside a building. Vladimir continued along the main path, Persephone not far behind, pretending as if she weren't following him. She clearly wasn't going to separate from Vladimir no matter what.

  'Okay then, let's check this place out. You and me again, against the world.' He chuckled at his own stupidity, but moved forward, the reins slack in his hand as the horse followed him, clearly curious.

  The main path of the town went up in a slope, twisting around the arduous mountain. Vladimir had clearly moved off such a path because Eric didn't spot him up ahead. He reached the very top, his breaths coming faster and faster, making him wheeze by the end of the journey. He should've ridden the horse, but the thought of trying to get back on with no help wasn't very appetising.

  At the far end of the path where the ground levelled out, he noticed a sharp cliff where the mountain jutted out, almost as if the sides had collapsed and only a thin shard had survived. A group of people crowded together by the cliff, all dressed in grey.

  The closer Eric got, the easier it was to make out what was happening. Roughly ten people had gathered there, and some of them, the bulkiest of the group, were holding someone down. Before even being able to see the person, Eric knew who it was.

  No one ever made his life easy.

  Clearing his throat to call for the group's attention, he then said, 'Excuse me. I think you have something of mine.'

  Chapter fifteen

  Terra had showered for the twelfth time, brushed through her hair and cleaned her wounds. Someone had left fresh clothes on the infirmary bed and she'd quickly changed, sniffing the smell of clean clothes. She'd lost quite a bit of weight and the jumper that looked like it was probably Camille's fell around her frame way too loosely for her liking.

  Staring at herself in the mirror had been something she'd put off. Fear at what she would see took over and each time she neared the object, she'd quickly turn away, breathing hard.

  'Stop being stupid,' she muttered, squaring her shoulders and stepping forward.

  It was still her, but it was difficult to recognise herself. Her brown hair had grown thin, parts missing where Petra had pulled the strands out. Her face was extremely slim, the bones jutting out like sharp razors. The only thing that hadn't changed were her eyes; one as blue as the sea and the other as white as snow.

  Strange how what I most hated about myself is now my only comfort, she thought as she touched different parts of her face finding cuts and scratches. Pain cut at her side and she glanced down, lifting the jumper to make sure she hadn't pulled a stitch.

  'Terra.'

  She glanced back at the mirror, frowning. The voice had sounded just like...

  The face in the mirror was no longer hers, but Petra's. Her sharp angular face was on the other side, those pink lips curling into a nasty smile. Her blue eyes shone with malice. Her blonde hair, shaved off on one side but long and straight on the other had been brushed to perfection.

  'Did you miss me?'

  Terra fell back from the shock. Her elbows cushioned the fall but she cried out
from the pain that tore up her arms. She stayed on the floor, breathing hard. How could Petra be reflected in the mirror? With trembling hands, she touched her face to make sure it was still her own.

  Time passed as Terra sat there, too afraid to move. At any moment Petra would lunge through the mirror and attack her. But as the minutes continued to tick on and nothing happened, Terra slowly rose to her feet.

  Her own reflection stared back at her, and she wondered if she'd just imagined it all.

  Terra bolted out of the bathroom, unable to stay inside any longer. She ran down the narrow hallways, a stitch or two tearing, blood seeping through. Petra's cold blue eyes kept flashing in front of her until something hard bumped into her, causing Terra to fall back, hissing.

  Hands were on her and then she was biting and kicking, crying out at the thought of Petra touching and hurting her again. She'd die before she let that happen. No one would hurt her ever again.

  'Terra, stop.'

  The voice didn't belong to Petra, and Terra froze. The person holding her was a cyborg boy; Kalem. His silver eyes shone with worry and something else, something she couldn't quite decipher.

  'Let go, please.'

  His robotic fingers were gone in a matter of seconds and the emptiness they left behind became overwhelming. A part of Terra wanted to reach forward to hug Kalem, but another kept telling her to get up and run away from everything, from everyone.

  Suddenly unsure of what to do or say, she wrapped her arms around herself. The gesture made Kalem's face twist, his eyes narrowing as if he'd never seen her hug herself and it didn't look right. 'You're bleeding.'

  Glancing down, Terra winced.

  'Come.'

  He didn't wait for her, instead he just walked away as if he knew she would do as he commanded. Terra felt the need to throw something at him, but bit the inside of her mouth instead, dubious.

  She decided to follow the cyborg with hair as dark as night. If he tried to hurt her, she'd crash his head against the wall and say sorry to Camille afterwards for hurting her son.