by Krista Cairn
“I know it gives you a headache, but…” She looked at Mitch.
He nodded. Looking around, his focus changed. “There are a couple people up there, but we have a ways to go yet. No elevator, right?”
She shook her head. “Let’s just get there.” Suddenly, she had a thought. Sound would carry, right if she just yelled up the staircase, would they come down the line she kept her hands around her and looked up. “Parallax,” she called out. “She called again.
Looking at Mitch, she waited for him to see what he could. “They’re coming.”
Bracing herself mentally for the possibility that it wasn’t Parallax after all, she pressed herself back against the wall, thinking it was better not to be seen until the last minute. Mitch copied her. Less than a minute later, parallax rounded the corner and spotted her.
“How did you get up here?” He shook his head. “Never mind follow me.” He travelled past her, continuing down the stairs until they reached the flight before the landing. He pushed a panel at the top of the stairs and it slid open.
It closed behind them. Simone stopped, stunned by where they now stood. This was nowhere near where they were. “Was that a portal?” She muttered.
“Oh? You’re familiar with portals?” Parallax turned, smiling “that’s the only functional one so far. But am working on more.”
“So, where are we, really?” The way things had been going lately, she would not be surprised to wake up and find this was all a strange dream.
“Well, I’m not exactly sure.” He looked around. “Is there somewhere you really need to be?”
“Yes… But, how could you portal know?”
“To be honest, it’s not my portal I have no idea how it works. It has saved my neck, on more than one occasion though.” He looked at Mitch, as though only just noticing him.
“Ah, I see now.”
Parallax had always been odd. Between his Wild West banker outfit complete with thick goggle glasses, and pocket watch, he struck her as a man out of place. Like a time traveller who wouldn’t adapt.
“So, you have finally figured out Hemlock. That’s good.” He looked her over. “And I see you started to figure yourself out, too. Also good. How can I help you?”
“I need to get inside 342 Hollow Brook Lane. Any ideas?”
“You’re asking me, why?”
“You’re the reason couriers could get anywhere.”
“I had wondered if that would be too obvious.” He sighed. “Well, follow me. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Is that passage way bidirectional? Or does it just drop people off?” Mitch wondered.
“It’s one way, unless you carry a key. That’s the real trick of it. The portal starts anywhere.” He pulled the chain out from under his shirt with a large brass key on the end.
“But I mean?” He held it out in front of him against a wall and turned it as though there were a lock there. “When you stepped through, it can tell where you want to go. Fascinating, really. And completely unduplicatable. I’ve tried.”
“Where did you find it?” She asked.
“It’s more like magic, right? I don’t know. The science of it eludes me. I should’ve gone further into the future, that’s what I do know.” He gave an exasperated sigh. “I’ve had it since I was young it used to be able to travel time. I’m stuck here now, though.”
“We’ll have to talk about this later,” she said. “I have to find my brother and stop the modern equivalent of the mad scientist.”
“All in a days work, right?”
He talked like that a lot. Part of why she didn’t always know how to take him. After today though, things were starting to make sense. “You’re a good man, Parallax. Thank you for this. Obviously, we owe you. She grabbed his hand, palm facing up and pulled the pen out from behind his ear. “If you need anything, call this number.” She wrote her cellphone number down and placed the pen on top. “Can you get us in?”
He nodded. “Try to think as specifically as you can. It seems to help.” He held the key out against the wall again and turned it. “Good luck, you two.”
Chapter 27 // Fly
“It’s dark.” Simone said.
“Yes, it is. But it’s warm and dry and there’s air, so that’s good.”
A light flipped on overhead. “It took you long enough, Dylan,” a woman about Justin’s age, stood, dressed in a light blue blouse and navy trousers, as though she were headed to a business meeting.
Simone narrowed her eyes. “I’m guessing you’re Justin’s girl friend, but what part do you have in this?”
“Oh, just the usual. I’m the Administrator. Call me Heather.” She looked at Mitch.
“And, you… you seem familiar.” A derisive smile flickered across her face as she walked toward them. “Ah, you’re the Control.” Her focus shifted back to Simone. “Father thought he should build a Control, as a way to test your limits.”
“Build?” Mitch asked.
“Restructure, morph, mutate… whatever.” She narrowed her eyes and poked Simone’s arm. “You’re solid in light, right?” Heather leaned back on one heel, arms crossed in front of her. “And he’s your antinomy. Interesting. How do you survive when you touch?
That shouldn’t be possible.”
The woman’s analytical curiosity was a little unnerving. “I’m not your lab mouse.”
“I’m not here to hurt you. I want to understand. How did my father succeeded so brilliantly, where so many fail?” Heather rolled her sleeves up as the door opened. “The technology he used was primitive.”
Simone got the impression this woman did more than paperwork, filing, and other administrative tasks. Justin walked in holding a tray.
“Brother,” she growled. “How did she blind you so thoroughly?”
He laughed, not sounding like the brother she remembered. “Her?” He walked up and handed Heather the tray before taking a syringe off it. “She’s cool.” Uncapping the syringe, he walked up. “Mind if we test your blood? I want to make sure you’re okay, internally.”
Simone twitched her arm back, reflexively. “You think I won’t mind?”
He frowned. “Oh, right. I didn’t actually get to explain things to you.”
Mitch pulled Simone around to stand behind him, but said nothing.
“Ah, right. You.” Justin said, looking over at Heather.
Heather smiled and set the tray on a nearby chair. “He can be useful, as more than a way to push her boundaries. He’s cute, right?” She walked over, smiling, and raised her hand to touch his face. He turned away, and she scratched his neck with one of her fingernails.
Suddenly he stopped moving, standing perfectly still.
“What did you do?” Simone screamed, moving forward to see his face.
“It’s just a bit of neurotoxin. It’ll wear off soon enough. In the meantime,” Justin said as he reached out to grab her wrist, “Let’s get a look at what’s making you tick.”
Reacting, Simone pushed the light she’d gathered out, causing a push against Justin.
As he staggered back, she turned to Mitch, wondering how she could help. She’d never tried to ghost him. Ghosting would remove the toxin. That was true. The problem - he was a light source. She didn’t have time to doubt. Justin and Heather were already heads-together, coming up with a strategy.
Mitch suddenly flared up, pulling the radiation from every inch of the room, and further if he could. Simone waited a couple seconds then snapped her hands out to latch onto him firmly. He took hold of her wrists as well and pulled her to him. She used full body contact as her cue. Ghosting, she pushed every ounce of light out, away from them. She didn’t know who was screaming, but they were doing it well.
Her vision shifted and she felt her feet leave the ground. Mitch seemed to be getting closer and she wondered how that was possible. They were slowly sharing the same space, merging into one being. It was… different. She’d think about it later. They turned to face their captors and a
voice she recognized as Mitch’s, she heard, “You really think you can stop us?”
Heather lay unconscious on the floor, but it was Justin she wanted. He was frantically fiddling with a small handheld device. Extending one arm, palm facing Justin, she gathered energy into her hand. Into their hand, she corrected . Not to kill, they agreed. Stop him only.
Releasing the energy in a stream, it hit Justin in the legs, causing them to buckle as his the electrical impulses were disrupted. When he hit the ground, the item fell out of his hands and rolled away, out of reach.
Legs paralysed, he turned to face them, a look of horror spreading across his face as he did. The sense of justice served was as good this time as when she’d traumatized Sid’s murderer. The irony of it was good, too. He had caused his own defeat.
“How many people have died because of you?” They asked. “What pain have you caused families, and how many homes have been torn apart because of your girlfriend?”
Justin twitched a couple times and fell over sideways. It was not uncommon for the victim to become a criminal themselves. Who were these “others” he’d called, and how soon would they be here?
I want to take him somewhere and find out the details of what he’s been doing, she thought.
Have Rene interrogate him, Mitch responded.
Exactly, she agreed.
Hovering over to his body, they reached out and picked him up. He changed to look like her ghosted form.
He’s light now, Mitch thought.
That’s what happens, she thought. Let’s go.
Like this?
Unless you have a car handy, she smirked.
It was confusing to figure out who was thinking what, so she tried not to think about it.
Suddenly Mitch seemed to drift away, separating. As he cleared her space, he solidified and dropped to the ground. When he did, she turned to her usual dusty grey ghost.
“I’ll text Rene. You get him back to your house. I’ll find a way back.”
She didn’t like this plan. It was a bad plan.
“We should stay together.”
He finished texting and turned.
“Okay, together.” He opened the door. Just then the spot where they were dropped off by the portal opened up. “Should we go in?” he asked.
“More likely someone is coming through to this side. Run!” Simone said.
It was easier on her, just having to drift quickly. They crossed the lawn to the fence.
As Mitch looked for a way over, Justin started to wake up. He pushed himself free and fell to the ground just in time for Mitch to punch him, knocking him out again. Simone went and picked her brother up.
Mitch turned to stare at the fence. “I know, I know. Faster,” Mitch said. The lowest part seemed about six feet tall.
“No silly, come here. I can lift you both over at the same time. You’d be weightless.”
She held her other hand out.
Chapter 28 // Demonstrate
Rene took Justin and buckled him into his passenger seat.
“I’ll let the police know where they can find Heather,” he said. “They may not get there in time to catch the others, but there will be ways to find them. She may even give names for leniency. Likely those ones will panic when they see their witch lying in a heap on the floor.”
“They’d better leave her there,” Simone said.
“It could happen. When I’m done with your brother, I’ll turn him over to the police.
Nice work, you two,” he beamed at them. “I don’t know how you did. Probably don’t want to know, but this is a great thing you’ve done. He’s been one of the Most Wanted for a few years now. We have enough to convict him, but were never able to apprehend. What do you want him to tell me?”
“You’re going to want his list of accomplices. I’m assuming the police will be searching the castle and surrounding buildings?” Simone said.
“They will. You two go out and have a latte or something. See a movie. I’ll let you know what he says.”
“He got hit on the head a couple times, so he may say some strange things,” Mitch added. “Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me,” he waved them off. “Go. Be a young couple for a while. Ember City will be fine if you take a day or two off.”
Simone smiled at Mitch when he took her hand and started to pull her away. “We have a promise to keep.”
Simone waved goodbye to Rene as she walked away. What promise was he talking about? Seeing what was on at the movies for the first time in years? That sounded like fun.
As they walked, she yawned.
“I hope this isn’t another power nap coming,” Mitch said.
“No, I’m processing. There are questions I haven’t even started asking.” Fear was a strong reason not to ask. Ignorance hadn’t worked in her favour so far, though.
“Like, where is Heather’s father, and has Justin been working for him? Is he dead, or off somewhere else, waiting for reports?”
She nodded. “Questions like that.” Was Justin the one to give her the drink, and if so, what was his part in it back then? “I think I’ll text Rene some questions for him.” She stopped and started pushing phone buttons.
Mitch waited a minute. Only a minute. Reaching out, he put his arm around her waist.
“We can do that later, right?”
“Did that seem too easy to you?”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“It felt like another test.”
He walked silently, she presumed he was thinking.
“Maybe?” he said. “But you know, you are allowed be happy. Take some time to need to figure out the simple things now. Like work. What will you do? You don’t have to be at the hotel, or at Carol’s now that those are resolved.”
“Work. Right. I need to get a new job from Rene,” she sighed. “It seems a little ordinary, though right? I mean, I want to find a use for our new skills.”
“Start a Superhero for Hire thing or join the Zenith Team?”
Simone laughed. “No, I don’t see that being a fit for me.”
“There’s no rush, right?”
“Have you met me?” She laughed again, then stopped walking. “You’re right!”
“Good, what should we do, then? Lunch? Supper? What time is it?”
“Not that.” Simone had an idea. There was no way they were the only mutants the scientist had caused. “Let’s go see if your sister needs a hand. She’s still undercover, right?”
“She’s out now.”
“What? When did that happen?”
“I got a text yesterday.”
Simone sighed deeply. What now? She wanted to do something big. Use the abilities she had, especially now that she was seeing the bigger picture. Pulling out her cellphone, she texted Rene, hoping he needed help.
‘Take a break, kid. You’ve earned it,’ he responded.
She stuffed her phone down into the deepest pocket she had and sighed again.
Laughing, Mitch took her hand. “Let’s go home.”
Her heart jumped in her chest. “Home.” Domestic life, with no distractions or emergencies… could she do it? She could go home and pay bills, rent, and other seemingly dull, everyday things. There was a comfort in that. She felt the tension drain from the back of her neck and shoulders. She didn’t need her guard up. She raised her hand to cover a yawn. “We could go see a movie.” She smiled at Mitch. “Let’s go see a movie.”
“You’ll fall asleep.”
She shrugged.
“No, actually, I’m feeling pretty good. Just relaxed, you know.”
Mitch came to a stop in front of a rustic little building. Simone turned to see what he was looking at and saw a sign.
‘Community Chapel. Come find peace, all you who are weary and heavy burdened.
Priest on duty.’
They even had the door propped open.
Her heart did a flip. She looked at him, eyes wide. “Right now?”
“Can you t
hink of a better time?” he smiled. Turning he took both of her hands in his.
“Marry me. I can’t promise life will settle down. In fact, I can almost guarantee it won’t.”
Simone laughed. “I’d love to. I mean, yes. Let’s get married. But now? Here?”
Mitch turned to face her, taking both of her hands. “Right now. Right here.”
“Well, I guess it fits our schedule.”
“And we do have a mystery to solve, still.”
Heather’s dad. Right. They needed to find him. The sense of peace she felt threatened to seep out onto the sidewalk and leave her filled with anxiety. She squeezed his hands, wanting to hang on to normalcy, just for a little longer. Getting married was a good, normal thing to do. He was the one she would choose, so why play with dating for months or years.
“Let’s get married,” she smiled.
“Then we can see a movie,” he winked.
“And pay bills.”
“And cook supper.”
Happily ever after, maybe. Hopefully. They were designed to be together.
*****
A Note From Krista
Thank you so much for reading this story. I’ve been writing for almost as long as I can remember and have always loved a good story. Please tell me what you thought. I’d love to read your review on the site where you found this book! (Any constructive comment is greatly appreciated.)
You can check out my other stories at my website: http://www.solidsavvy.com. If you’d like to get my books for free in exchange for an honest review, my advance copy reader’s email signup is here: http://eepurl.com/cyvKfz. And thank you again!
About the Author
My stories are clean, exciting, and romantic - even when I write Fantasy, SciFi, Cozy Mysteries, or Steampunk.
Raised in the wilds of central British Columbia by a mother who, when she was young, literally hunted for her family's supper, and a father who daily went into the bowels of the earth to maintain the machines that worked to reveal its inner treasures, an active imagination was not only healthy, it was essential.