by Rach Elle
Bawli’s ears perked at the sound of footsteps beneath his balcony. Curiously, he looked over the railing to see Elizabeth emerging. She walked out into the middle of the veranda and just stood there, staring at the horizon. She had on a knit sweater and she crossed her arms in front of her chest to help shield herself from the cold. He relaxed a little as he watched her enjoy the view of the apple orchard in the distance; until she lifted her hand and wiped something off of her face. Was she crying? Bawli thought about calling to her, but that would be so impersonal; he was an entire story away. Instead he put down his paper and leaped onto the railing. He dug his fingertips into the stone of the castle, wincing at the strong, rough exterior as it cut into his flesh. He scaled the wall down to the ground and landed lightly on his feet.
Elizabeth stood silent as she listened to the wind and stared at the trees in the distance. A small tear escaped her eye and she cursed herself for even mentioning her illness to Kingsley. She knew he hated talking about it. He couldn’t bear it. It was sweet, in a way; he couldn’t stand the thought of losing her, but it also made her feel very alone.
“Hey Lizzie,” Bawli’s voice cheerfully called to her. She turned around to see the tall, large man approaching. She smiled at the sight of him. He looked silly in his boxer shorts. “Hi Bawli, how are you?” She asked.
“I wanted to ask you the same thing.” He closed the distance between them and looked down into her wet eyes. “You’re crying.”
Her heart danced at the look of genuine concern on his boyish face. “I was,” she said, “but I’m not anymore.”
“You can tell me what’s troubling you, you know.”
Elizabeth took a deep breath and returned her gaze to the horizon. Bawli knew about her illness, but he didn’t know about King’s refusal to accept it; and she didn’t feel right talking about him to another man. Finally she wrapped her arms tighter around her torso and sighed, “I didn’t go on the Eye.”
Bawli creased his brow, “The London Eye?”
Elizabeth nodded. “Kingsley and I were taking in the sights and all day I was looking forward to the Eye. It’s supposed to be the best view of the city. But when it came time to stand in line I was too exhausted to even try. He assured me we would do it first thing the next day, but then we met all of you and, well, you know the rest.”
Bawli knew she was referring to the current house arrest. “It’s only temporary though; just until things calm down a bit with the DAA; then you’re all free to go wherever you like.”
“And how long will that be?” She looked to him with tears welling in her eyes again. In a pained whisper she asked, “What if I never leave?”
Bawli’s stomach churned and his heart ached. He knew what Lizzie was asking. She didn’t know how much time she had left. Her mortality was staring her in the face and although the castle and its property were expansive, she was still forced to stay here. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and assure her it would be alright. Instead he just watched her. He watched her aged eyes embedded in softly wrinkled skin. Another tear escaped her lower lid and slid down her pale, slightly pink cheek. He felt helpless as she looked to him with fear; fear of dying a prisoner.
20
2 weeks ago
Mount Charleston, Nevada…
Jessie woke to the sound of someone entering the corridor. She wished she could run to the door and peer through the peep hole to see who would soon be on the other side, but her wrist had been handcuffed to a pole for the past couple of days. She had tried to squeeze her hand through the metal, but it was too tight. She had tried to rip the pole free from either the ground or ceiling but it was solid as a rock; exposed support beam, she figured. Now she sat silently on the cheaply carpeted floor next to a gallon of warm water and a bucket to defecate into, waiting for the person just outside to open the doggy door and slide a tray of microwaved food into the room. She would have to reach the tray with the heel of her foot in order to pull it close enough for her to grab and she would eat it like a good little hostage, again.
The person in the corridor approached the door with a quickness and rhythm unlike what Jessie was used to. The warden who kept her fed and hydrated these past couple of days walked with a limp. From the hollow thud of every other footfall she figured they walked with a cane. This person, however, had a steady rhythm suggesting equal weight distribution. Jessie’s eyes popped in surprise and her heart began to race at the sound of keys jingling on the other side. They were unlocking the door.
The door soon swung open at a snail’s pace and a strong, female figure stood on the other side. She took two steps into the room and out of the shadow of the corridor.
“Maxi,” Jessie croaked. Despite the water supplied her throat was dry.
Without saying a word Maxi walked to Jessie and knelt down beside her with key in hand. Her long black hair cascaded over her tanned shoulder as she concentrated on the handcuffs. Soon Jessie could feel the tension in her shackles release and she slowly pulled her arm free.
“Let’s go,” Maxi said as she latched onto Jessie’s elbow and helped pull her off of the floor.
Maxi led Jessie down a short corridor and up a flight of steel steps. At the top of the staircase she entered in a code on a keypad and a large steel door slid open in front of them. Suddenly Jessie found herself in what looked to be an average mountain cottage. The place was covered in wood; wood flooring, wood paneling, and wood beams running across the ceiling. Off to the right was a quaint kitchen and to the left sat a living room configured around a large wood burning fireplace. Directly in front of her against the wall sat a table covered in monitors and computers displaying every inch of the home’s perimeter. Jessie looked around in awe before noticing the lack of one thing; windows. When Maxi had found her wandering around on the mountain she blind folded her before reaching the entrance to this place. Considering the steep incline she had to make in order to finally reach her prison cell at the end of the corridor, she figured this entire home was underground. Clearly Maxi did not want to be found.
“Sorry for the dungeon treatment.” Maxi said as she headed for the table of monitors. “We needed to make sure you weren’t followed.”
“We?” Jessie asked, “Who else lives here?” Her head whipped to the left toward the living room at the familiar sound of footfalls; every other one a hollow thud. The person who had kept her fed rounded the corner and soon stood in the middle of the room, his tanned features and black hair illuminated by the crackling fireplace. Jessie couldn’t believe her eyes. “Derek!” She cried as she ran to the man and wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her back with the hand that wasn’t holding onto his cane. “Good to see you Jessie,” he smiled. She pulled away. “But,” she began; her eyes welling with tears, “I thought you…”
“Died? Yeah, well, I’m alive and kicking; sort of.” He motioned to his gimp leg.
“Did they do that to you?”
“Yeah, but they would have done a lot worse if my big sister hadn’t shown up.”
“You didn’t really think I would leave my little brother to the wolves did you?” Maxi asked from across the room.
“No, of course not,” Jessie wiped a tear from her cheek. “It’s just that we were all told…”
“The Dark Angel Alliance says a lot of things. I told you not to believe them, but what did you do? Ignored me; that’s what.”
Jessie lowered her head, “I’m sorry Maxi; I didn’t want to hear it.”
“Yeah, well, neither did I six years ago. It’s a tough lesson to learn.”
“What made you want to leave?” Derek asked as he leaned on his cane.
Jessie’s expression went grave. “There was a prison break at the facility.”
“No shit,” Maxi breathed. “Did any of the Daywalkers make it out alive?”
Jessie shrugged, “I don’t know. They blew the place to high heaven; but if I got out in time, I suppose others could have too. But then again, I knew about the tunnels, t
hanks to you.”
Maxi crooked a brow, “Yeah, well, don’t go sending me no thank you cards or nothin’.”
“This means we’re gonna have Protectors casing the area.” Derek said with concern.
“Shit,” Maxi cursed, “Looks like we’re not going outside for a while.”
“So,” Derek continued, “they actually blew up the facility?”
“Oh yeah,” Maxi sniffed, “that’s their SOP; they’d rather protect their precious secrets than spare anyone’s life. Well, anyone lower than the bigwigs, that is. You didn’t have to sign the contract Derek since you were just a Recruiter, but us Creators had to sign a little document agreeing that in the event of a prison break the higher ups had every right to push the big red button regardless of who was still in the building. I tried to tell you Jessie; that fancy suite and all those amenities they bribed you with were just a ploy to get you to sign your life away; literally.”
Jessie winced at Maxi’s words. She remembered when her best friend came to her six years ago, disheveled and in tears. She tried to tell her about a conversation she’d supposedly overheard about funding running low and the DAA planning to close the facility. She was paranoid and constantly looking over her shoulder as she explained to Jessie that that meant they were probably going to ‘fire’ all of the employees; execution style.
Jessie had worked with Maxi for three years at this point and knew her well. They lived next door to each other in the facility’s housing wing and spent a lot of their time together. As corny as it was, their first year in the faction they even made friendship bracelets. She knew Maxi was not an irrational person. She was level headed and strong. Jessie probably would have taken what she was saying more seriously if the threat of low funding hadn’t been a circulating rumor for the past several years. And besides, she didn’t believe the DAA would really execute them. They would probably just erase their memories just as they did with every Daywalker that entered the facility.
But Maxi soon had a different reason to flee the Creators. Her brother Derek was a Recruiter, and by definition had no idea what happened after escorting a new recruit to the facility’s threshold. One day he ventured too far into the building looking for Maxi and got lost. He stumbled upon something he really shouldn’t have seen; the Eternal Sleepers.
They were Daywalkers whose experiments went a little too well. They had abilities beyond any Creator’s control and therefore had to be taken out of commission. They were dunked into large, vertical tubes of water that were laced with additional oxygen molecules. They were still alive, as far as anybody knew, but in their minds they were dead after having experienced what they thought was drowning. It was a pretty eerie sight to see all of them lining the walls in oversized test tubes. What was worse; an experiment was being conducted in the center of that room when Derek opened the door. He screamed and tried to run away but was tackled almost instantly. That night Maxi plotted her escape. She told Jessie and asked her to run away with her. When Jessie wouldn’t give her a straight answer she told her of some escape tunnels she had found about a year ago. “Meet me at the south side tunnel at midnight if you want to come with me.” Maxi told her. Jessie was a no-show. She had come to the sad conclusion that her friend had lost her mind.
That night alarms boomed throughout the facility and everyone was on high-alert. The next morning they were all gathered and told that Maxi had attempted to leave the facility without approval with her brother. They were told that the two didn’t make it past his holding cell and when they reacted violently the guards had no choice but to execute.
Jessie could remember the sinking, sick feeling in the pit of her stomach at the news her best friend had just been killed. She turned and pushed her way through the crowd of employees and headed down a hall off to the side. She wanted to throw up or scream or punch someone; something, but instead she just kept walking. Soon she found herself at the south end of the building. A sense for what she thought was false hope swept her body and she headed in the direction of the hidden escape tunnel Maxi had told her about. She made sure no one was around before locating it. Yep, it was there, just as her friend had said; a small, thin, unnoticeable slit in the wall appearing as nothing more than a seem. But once she squeezed her body into it far enough it opened into a full-sized tunnel.
The space was completely black. She couldn’t see anything and feared what would happen to her if she was caught venturing any further. She was about to turn to leave when out of the corner of her eye she saw something lying on the ground; illuminated by the small beam of light that seeped in from the hall. Hesitantly, she reached down to retrieve the item; Maxi’s friendship bracelet from their first year. Jessie shoved the item into her pocket and quickly hopped out of the tunnel so no one would catch her. She picked up her pace and headed back to her suite, trying to hide the smile on her face. The Creators were putting up a front. Whether or not Derek survived, she didn’t know; but if Maxi made it to the tunnel then more than likely she was still alive.
“How did you know I was alive? Since you believe everything they tell you, I mean.” Maxi’s words sliced through Jessie’s memory.
“I found your bracelet; in the south tunnel.”
Maxi’s hard exterior seemed to soften just a little at the mention of her bracelet. She quickly regained her composure. “Don’t tell me you went through all this trouble to find me just so you can return it.”
Jessie shook her head, “No, I need help.”
“What kind of help?”
“The DAA doesn’t know I survived, but if I try to start a new life under the same name then I’m bound to pop up on their radar. I don’t know what they’ll do if they find me and I don’t want to know. I need a new identity. A fresh start; like you.”
Maxi laughed. “You call hiding underground a fresh start?”
“Oh come on Maxi, you can’t possibly tell me you never leave this place. You have to get your food and conveniences from somewhere. Not every meal you fed me over the past day or so was identifiable but it was clear they were all microwave dishes. You can’t tell me you just happened upon those while foraging the mountain.”
Maxi crooked a brow. “Alright, yes,” she began, “we both have an alias; but it wasn’t just a matter of printing a fake ID. A lot goes into it. It takes time.”
Jessie smiled, “As luck would have it my schedule just cleared up.”
21
Present Day
London, England…
James woke in a crummy hotel room on an even crummier mattress to an overcast and gray London morning. He heard the running faucet being turned off in the bathroom and soon Regina emerged in nothing but his Metallica t-shirt. He immediately got a hard-on at the sight of her long, slender legs as she sauntered across the room. He wanted to grab her and pull her back into bed, but when his eyes finally managed to read her face he realized she wasn’t in the mood; she was on a mission.
“Are you almost ready?” She asked as she grabbed the same outfit she wore the day before. They hadn’t had time to pack before running to the Portland airport two days ago.
“Um, yeah,” James said as he looked around for his pants. Judging by the urgency in Regina’s tone he figured she wouldn’t allow him the time to shower and shave. He didn’t mind; he knew he pulled off the effortless, gruff look well.
Within moments the two were dressed and ready to scour the city. “What’s our first move?” He asked.
Regina picked up her cell phone. “We’re going to track Dr. Simon Crispin’s cell again. Wherever he is now, that’s probably where you’ll find your daughter.” Regina held her phone to her ear and listened to it ring three times before someone picked up. “It’s me,” Regina began.
“You have a lot of nerve calling here.” The voice on the other end sounded less than enthused.
“What do you mean?”
“I snagged a copy of the police reports. I know what you did.”
Regina turned away from James.
She clenched her jaw and lowered her voice, “I had no other choice. You of all people should understand that.”
There was a moment of silence before the voice finally spoke, “Lose this number.” Click.
Regina’s stomach twisted into a large knot as she slowly lowered the phone from her ear. She stood completely still, closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to collect herself.
“I take it that didn’t go so well.” James observed from across the room.
Regina scowled to herself before throwing on a smile and turning around to face her new bed pal. “No,” she began, “but we still have the address that led us here in the first place. We’ll go there to see if we can find Crispin. Who knows? Maybe that’s where he is now.”
An hour and a half later Regina and James stepped out of a taxi in front of a financial institution; United Financial. Per Regina’s instructions they had first stopped off at a costume shop, a clothing store, and an office supply shop where they gathered a few items to help in their investigation. As a result, the two were now wearing professional sport coats, sporting the most realistic fake law enforcement badges money could buy, and carrying some printed photos they acquired from the internet.
Regina’s hopes were low. She wished the address her friend had texted a couple of days ago would have led to a hotel, or an apartment or something that had promise for furthering their trail. Instead they were standing in front of a financial building. Crispin probably stopped in to do some banking or transferring of funds to start a new double life with James’ daughter Awilda. Undoubtedly, this trail was going to run cold much faster than anticipated. Still, she squared her shoulders and lifted her chin, trying to look as confident and official as possible. Out of her periphery she saw James do the same and together they walked into United Financial and headed straight for the receptionist’s desk.