Steven screamed and ducked under Migalo as the agent was being battered and ran into the hallway only to see Lohet, Sirel, and Penipe. Lohet reached out for him when he heard a loud rumble and suddenly he was knocked off his feet, slamming into the ceiling then back into the ground. The multistory complex started collapsing, and a huge boulder crashed through the ceiling blocking, off part of the hallway. The rest of the complex started coming down around them piece by piece and Steven was off running again, dodging falling concrete beams and steel.
Chapter 27
The wolfman burst in the door, and Steven took one look at him and involuntarily screamed. This wasn't a dream. He was sure of it. But then he wasn't so sure. He did doze off on the way there. But he also woke up. This place was so real. Jacob was real. Being shot at and chased for two days was surely real. Now he was faced with a character from his nightmares while he was awake.
But the creature looked different. It was wearing some sort of armor. As if pulling apart a piece of bread, it had ripped one of the agents apart and was starting to pummel the other agent with a severed leg and arm while it roared in fury. Steven ducked and ran between the two and bolted for the door. He couldn't believe this was happening. Part of him wondered if they had drugged him or something. But everything seemed so normal up until just a moment ago when Jacob showed him a video of something he was certain was a nightmare, a dream. Then pandemonium broke loose. Was he having an episode?
As he skidded into the hall Steven fell over backwards in surprise. The vampire was standing right there. He felt a strange popping sensation in his head and suddenly the ground became animated. He rode it up then back down on all fours, watching as others were bodily tossed about. The furry woman was there. She was also wearing some sort of armor, but he still recognized her. And a little girl. He recognized her from the tree house. She had no armor on, but didn't appear to miss it. She was ducking as the other two were tossed up into the ceiling.
With his monsters distracted by the destruction that was happening around him, Steven started running. He had to get away or hide. He doubted he could truly hide. They found him here and he was deeper underground than he had ever been before. A huge bolder fell through the ceiling, blocking off part of the passageway behind him and he hoped it would stop them, or at least slow them down. His brain raced, trying to find a solution. He wasn't running away from Laurence and his team. They were human and were avoidable, in spite of the challenge they gave him the past couple of days. But hiding from these monsters that seemed to be able to find him no matter where he went seemed an act of futility. Steven felt like he was going mad.
He looked back to see if anyone was following him. All three had gathered themselves together and the wolfman jumped into the hallway as well, slipping on the now bloody floor and sliding into the wall. They were coming toward him. Fear bolted through Steven like an electric charge, and time slowed down. Even so, the vampire seemed to speed toward him at a terrifying rate. Steven's heart jumped in terror as he knew he'd not be able to outrun him. Everything was in slow motion except for the vampire who was almost upon him. Steven screamed in terror and put his arms up. Suddenly a huge boulder slammed down on top of the vampire with a distinct crunch as the floor below cracked and the boulder broke apart. Time caught up with him with a whoosh, and suddenly things were happening very quickly. Steven kept running, scrambling over and through debris in a panic driven sprint as the other three climbed around the bolder and continued chasing him.
Rubble was falling everywhere now as the earthquake was dragging on. The walls were buckling and cracking and the floor was heaving. Chunks of the cave ceiling were raining down through the structure as if through paper. In several places the floor gave way to expose a basement below. Steven jumped over several gaps as he ran, trying to get to anyone that could help him.
Steven almost ran into a mass of rubble caving in and narrowly squeezed by before it filled most of the hall. He hoped that would slow his pursuers down. As he ran he saw Jacob, who was looking rather dazed and had a large bleeding gash on his head. His golf car was a heap of wreckage and Steven wondered if the earthquake had anything to do with that. He ran up to him and almost dragged him out of the wreckage. "Jacob, they're after me!" Steven yelled. "Where are your soldiers!"
Jacob shook himself back to his wits and looked back the way Steven had come. The aliens were starting to break through the wreckage. "This way." He grabbed Steven's arm and dragged him down another hall, ducking falling chunks of the ceiling and the floors overhead. "We need to get out of this complex."
Steven heard a loud roar and looked back. The three had broken through and they were running after him quickly. The little girl pulled ahead of them, dodging debris from the ceiling as she flew. She got hit by a beam and Steven winced as he saw an arc vaporize part of the beam that touched her. Steven's heart jumped again and a fresh set of tremors shook the building, and suddenly the wolfman was buried under debris from the floors above as the roof caved in on top of him. Jacob suddenly let him go and Steven saw him falling into a room as a piece of concrete swung down and hit him. Steven was narrowly able to avoid it as he continued running. Whole sections of the building were coming down now. He sprinted, ducking another cave in, and looked back to see the rubble fall around his last two pursuers. One of them was able to squirm free and he turned and continued running.
The door was just ahead. He was almost out of the building. However, when he got out he had no idea where he would go. The earthquake was extreme and huge chunks of the cavern’s ceiling continued falling in and crashing through the complex. Steven wondered if there would be anything left out there. He ran faster but peeked back and started in surprise to see the woman almost on him. Suddenly she fell, crushed by part of the ceiling. Steven was about to kick it into even higher gear when he heard her scream out in pain. The scream tore through him like a hot knife and ripped at his heart. Spinning and sliding to a stop at the same time he looked back. "Asherah?" he said involuntarily. The voice was so familiar. And yet not. Was he still in a dream or was this really happening?
But he saw the woman. She was half buried under the rubble and was slowly being crushed in spite of her armor. She ripped off her helmet, trying to get air and gasping in desperation. Steven couldn't bear it any more. He had seen so much death and it was eating him up. He just couldn't stand to see anyone suffer like that, no matter who they were. He ran back to her and knelt down. She jerked back, surprised to see him, her eyes wide with fear and pain. Steven looked around and found a block of concrete and shoved it under the beam that was threatening to crush her. That stopped it but not for long. He had to find a way to free her. He looked back at her. "I don't know who or what you are, but you are not going to die this way!" he yelled at her. She looked at the block that Steven had just shoved under the beam, saving her from immediate death then back at him, looking confused.
Steven saw a piece of heavy piping that had fallen through the structure and shoved it under the beam that was pinning and crushing the woman and put his back under it, reaching back to her. She hesitated, then grabbed his hand. Taking a deep breath, Steven stood up as hard as he could, pushing the bar and shifting the steel beam. Pieces of concrete fell off, making it a little easier and Steven pulled on her until he felt her slide out. She got to her knees as Steven held her hand, then stood up, holding her side. She stared at him, her eyes still wide with shock and confusion. Steven was about to say something when he felt another part of the ceiling break loose. Instinctively he grabbed the woman and shoved her down the hall, and then suddenly he found himself buried.
Trying to breathe under the pressure coming down on his shoulders, Steven started squirming as he struggled to get out. Something heavy was on top of him and started to settle down. He heard someone yelling. The woman? Or Asherah? He couldn't tell which. "Asherah!" Steven cried out reflexively. He didn't know why but she was the only one he could think of at the moment. He was dying and the only p
erson he could think of in his last moments was a fantasy of his. He didn't have time to ponder on that as the rubble shifted and he closed his eyes, knowing that it was about to drop down and crush him.
But quite suddenly, whatever was on top of him no longer was. Steven kicked with his feet and pushed out from under the rubble and felt someone grab his arm and pull him down the hall. He looked up and it was the woman. Looking back, he saw the little girl. She was pinned as well but was grinning at him and she winked at him as he gaped. The heavy parts of the ceiling crashed back down where he just was. Steven just shook his head, not knowing what to make of it. He noticed that the rubble was not crushing her, but it was still wedged tight and she was having trouble getting it unwedged.
Turning, he stood up as the woman tripped in pain and fell over on him. Steven caught her and lifted her back up and looked in her eyes. Just like Asherah's. "You can't be real," Steven breathed as he put his arm around her to support her. "You..." Steven shook his head.
She gasped, trying to catch her breath and glanced up at him. "If you don't think this is real, then I don't know what is, deviant." She sagged and Steven got up under her arm and lifted her up and started to pull her to safety. The woman looked at him in wonder, and she pulled off her armored gloves and put her hand on his cheek. It was soft, like Asherah's. Steven put his hand on hers, breathing in sharply at her touch. He wasn't imagining it. Her soft fur was much shorter than Asherah's, but was distinctly the same. Tears welled up in his eyes as he remembered how hard Asherah had tried to convince him.
"You saved me. And risked yourself. You would have died to save me," she said softly. She looked deep into his eyes, completely astonished, and cocked her head. "Why?"
Steven really didn't have a good answer but he felt her in his head and guessed she would figure it out anyway. He breathed in, closing his eyes as she sifted through his memories and motives, a remarkably deep, intimate touch he had not experienced since Asherah. He trembled, but not from fear. He didn't know why but his heart hurt.
Her eyes filled with astonishment. "You have compassion. How is that possible?" She seemed as confused by him as he was with her. She was not the monster he had expected her to be, and nor was he what she expected.
Steven again found himself speechless at the question. How do you answer a question like that? It's like asking why someone can see.
She put her other hand on his face. "You are not what I expected, deviant," Penipe said, her brows furrowed in concentration.
"I'm Steven," Steven said, shuddering under her touch as she reached in and found the other presence that had been with him for years. "You must be Penipe." Steven now recognized her from the drawing that Asherah had sketched of them.
Suddenly she gasped and she jerked back. "Asherah!" Penipe's eyes got wide, filling with pain and terror.
"What?" Steven asked, alarmed and looking around, wondering if Asherah had somehow found herself there.
Penipe grabbed his face and pulled it around so Steven could look at her. "You have to get me to her!" She said firmly, trembling.
Steven moved his mouth to respond but couldn't form a question. Penipe gasped in exasperation looking up and around. "I can't make you do this, Steven. You have to do it yourself." She looked back into his eyes, crying now. "Please! She's dying." Her voice broke as she fought back a sob.
"Asherah?" Steven shook his head, trying to make sense of it.
"My daughter. You can't feel it?" She looked at him, incredulous. She reached back into his head instinctively. "No, she's shielding you. She's dying and trying not to distract you." Penipe had no words for the stunning depth of love her daughter had for this deviant. She continued to hold Steven's face, looking as deep into his eyes, pleading. "Please don't let her die. Please," she begged. "Experience your bond!"
Steven suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe. His throat hurt and the rest of his body hurt in ways he couldn't understand. His arms felt like they were close to being dislocated and his ankles felt like they were constricted tightly. His mouth was parched and his head hurt badly. He got dizzy and weak and this time Penipe was holding him up.
"Yes. That's her," Penipe nodded as she felt the same thing along with Steven. "Take me to her. Please."
"But I don't know what... how." Steven's confusion grew. What was he supposed to do and how was what he wanted to ask, but he was floundering. None of it made any sense.
Penipe took a deep breath, controlling her urge to cry out in frustration. "Where have you seen her the most lately?"
"The greenhouse," Steven said. She was always hanging out there and he had considered moving his computer stuff out of there. "But she's always talking to me no matter where I go."
"That's the bond, Steven. You will never be apart again, unless..." Penipe didn't continue, pursing her lips to not go that route, and refocused back to the task. "The greenhouse. See it."
"I don't..." Steven started to say, but she shook him and looked in his eyes, determined.
"Look inside yourself and see it!" Penipe was exasperated.
Steven recalled the greenhouse, the palms and banana trees, his fig trees, the tons of plants. He looked around, missing it all and wishing he was there.
"Do you see it?" Penipe asked impatiently. Steven nodded. "Make it real," Penipe instructed curtly.
"How?" Steven looked at her, and brushed a palm frond out of his way so he could see her better.
Penipe ducked, looking at the frond, then back at him. "That's how." She released him and walked around the greenhouse. "Okay, now see Asherah."
Steven looked around him, incredulous. He saw his family and friends standing just outside the greenhouse. "Sally," Steven whispered.
"Steven!" Penipe yelled at him. He turned and she was right in his face. "Focus. Please," she said, restraining herself. "Asherah."
"But..." Steven started.
"She's real, Steven. More real than you can imagine. But she's about to die." Penipe grabbed the back of Steven's neck as she embraced him and put her forehead on his. "Please don't let her die. She's my daughter. Please. Asherah. See her. Let your heart open to her."
Steven was trembling, but wasn't sure why. His closeness to Penipe reminded him strongly of Asherah. She was here, touching him. He put his hands on her shoulders and felt her armor. It was real. He could feel her arms under the armor move. Asherah was truly real. He didn't know how, but it couldn't be any other way. Steven took in a deep breath as his heart swelled, then ached with extreme guilt. All these years and she was real all this time, waiting patiently for him while he spent all that time denying her. He spontaneously started crying for her.
"No, Steven. Don't get distracted. Asherah," Penipe said, squeezing the back of his neck gently, bringing him back to the now.
Steven felt something, like a release of pressure as he took a deep breath and he looked around the side of Penipe's face. There she was, sitting on a stool and tied up with zip ties. Asherah was battered and gasping, her neck tightly constricted by a zip tie. She looked at him, silently crying. Penipe turned around to look where Steven was looking, but couldn't see anything but the greenhouse. "You see her, don't you?" she whispered. Steven nodded, unable to take his eyes off Asherah. Even beat up and bleeding she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. "Make it real," Penipe whispered into his ear, embracing him closely as she followed his thoughts. She could see her through his eyes now and what she saw terrified her.
Lohet found himself in a lower access level under a pile of broken chunks of the boulder that slammed into him. He blinked and assessed himself. He was tough, but not invulnerable. He had definitely sustained injuries and at least a couple of fractures. He moved his arm a little. There was a fracture. He winced and stiffened the muscles in that arm. They would serve as a splint until the fracture healed, but the result was an arm that would be largely useless until the bone set. He felt like a leg may have also suffered similar, but moving it didn't produce a similar experience.
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Relieved, Lohet pushed the rubble off him with his good arm and stood up. A lot of his paint had been abraded off and he was bruised and bleeding in a few spots. His blood bled white, oozing down the cuts he incurred from the impact. But no free flowing wounds. All in all he was still sufficiently functional to continue the mission.
As he stood up, he saw a couple of technicians standing there staring at him, their mouths gaping. He could only imagine how he looked to them right now, then it occurred to him that emerging from under the pile of rubble like some sort of undead phoenix probably added an extra kick to that image. He smiled at them, letting his canines show. One of the guys gulped and started backing away. The guy reached forward and grabbed his friend and they both fled as fast as they could through the debris.
"Pretty fast for humans," Lohet observed to himself. He looked up. The boulder had broken up when it hit the floor above, leaving a gaping hole. Lohet jumped up through the hole and found himself faced with a maze of debris. He picked his way through it, moving steel beams and chunks of concrete out of the way as he made himself through.
He finally came up to where Migalo was buried. He could hear him clawing at the rubble that buried him and started pulling parts of the ceiling and the floor that used to be overhead away, revealing a thoroughly disgruntled wolfman. He reached down and lifted Migalo to his feet. "Status?"
Migalo looked down at himself and moved his arms and legs and took a deep breath. "Nothing serious. Scrapes and cuts and some crushing wounds," Migalo responded, feeling relieved that was all it was. "You?"
"Fractured arm, cuts and scrapes," Lohet commented.
"Turn around," Migalo said. He looked at Lohet's back. "You're bleeding a little but it's just oozing." Lohet nodded in confirmation.
Crow - The Awakening Page 60