Affinity

by Dianne Wilson

  ~*~

  Granny King settled back against the pillow, eyes bright. “I don’t think you are nuts. Or dreaming, for that matter. Not in the normal sense, anyway. Our bodies limit us to see the stuff of earth, the things we can touch, hold, capture in a painting. But the spirit inside? That is a different matter altogether. God is Spirit and He walks in a realm that is Spirit. What we don’t realize is that they are not as far from each other as what we think.”

  “So you’re saying, the dreams are real?” Evazee frowned, trying to understand.

  “More real than this.” Gran waved a pale hand over her age-damaged body, the room around them. Slumping, she closed her eyes as if the reality of being trapped in a physical body with all its wrinkled limitations had just hit home.

  “He’s dying, Gran. What do I do?” Her voice cracked.

  “Find the contact points. Places that have an echo on both sides, the spiritual and physical. More than that, I don’t know.”

  “I remember something odd.” Evazee rubbed her temple, trying to recall the details. “In one of the dreams I opened a doorway that Kai seemed to think would let him come home. Some men appeared. They made my skin crawl. They ran at me, desperate to get through. I panicked and woke up. It was just a dream, but it scared me.”

  Gran reached for her hand, “There are terrible forces at work here. No time to lose, you have to find a way. Here, take this.” She reached behind her neck, bones creaking with the effort. Age-stiff fingers fumbled with the clasp of a silver necklace.

  “Let me help you, Gran.” The old lady’s arms dropped and she sighed, frustrated and relieved all at once. The chain was held together with an old-fashioned barrel clasp. A few turns and it fell free. A silver pendant in the shape of a delicate feather swung on the chain.

  “Put it on. It suits you.” Gran’s face beamed approval.

  Eva wasn’t one for necklaces, but she was even less for hurting Gran’s feelings. She slipped the chain over her neck. The feather settled on her skin, cold for a moment. Eva leaned forward and kissed Gran’s forehead. “I’d better go do some sleuthing.” Gran had always loved the drama of any situation, and it seemed this was no different. As much as Eva took her warnings with a pinch of salt, she left unsettled.

  ~*~

  Bree’s small shack seemed even smaller with Kai and her brother Elden in it, sitting on the floor with their knees drawn up to their chins. Bree and Kai had crossed the flats back to the OS in good time and hidden themselves amongst the shack dwellers, the soulless. Bree’s aim was good, and a small pebble was enough to get Elden’s attention on his way back from a perimeter run.

  He went red in the face when he saw her, clenching his jaw and hands in turn. He’d agreed to meet with them in an attempt to get Bree away from the OS. Now that he was here, his fury burned bright, kept in check by the tiny space. If her shack had been bigger, he would have been pacing, kicking things.

  Bree sat staring up at him with her lips pulled tight. “Why did you bring her here? I told you to keep her away.”

  Bree sat staring up at him with her lips pulled tight.

  “She needs you. Any fool can see that.” The rusty metal walls pressed in on him.

  “Only a fool would bring her this close to those who are hunting her. You have no idea what you are meddling in.”

  Kai’s temper climbed. “Then tell me. Why are they after her?”

  Elden clamped his mouth shut so tight, his lips went white. Kai reached into his pocket and drew out the disc. It was deep black now, radiating a constant cold that could drop the temperature in a room. “What does this mean? Is she…”

  “Dead? No.” Elden’s gaze slid sideways, as if ashamed. “She is beyond your reach from here. There’s nothing you can do.”

  “Take me. Take me to her now.”

  “You’ve no idea what you are asking.”

  “Then tell me.” He flicked a thumb towards the door. “Outside.” Kai ducked down to fit through the low gap—the doorway to Bree’s home.

  Elden followed him out.

  A shack baby was wailing loudly next door.

  The sound sliced through Kai and made his head hurt. He dropped his voice. “What if I was able to take Bree away from here? So far, they could never get to her. Would you help me?”

  “How far?”

  “A different realm.” The words sounded comical. Before Elden could laugh in his face, Kai held out his arm, palm up. The imprint on the inside of his wrist flashed silver in the low light. He had no idea why he felt it would sway Elden, but it seemed right.

  Elden’s face remained wooden, but his eyes met Kai’s. “Deal.”

  Kai ducked low and shuffled back into Bree’s shack. “Work your magic, Pixie.”

  Elden came back inside as she got up, fetched berries, bug jar, her brush and the bowl. Kai got the distinct feeling that what she did was not so much a favour to him, but rather to get back at Elden for trying to keep her away.

  Kai shut his eyes and allowed Bree to lift his chin. He grimaced as she began painting cold, coppery serpents on his forehead, “If I’m supposed to keep Bree safe, the least you can do is tell me why they want her.”

  “She’s marked. Same as you. Show him, Bree.”

  She stopped painting long enough to hold out her hand. A silvery tattoo marked her skin on the palm. Kai leaned in closer to see.

  “What is that? A brush and a pallet?” He traced his fingers over it feeling for a lifting edge which would make it a stick-on, yet it was completely flush with her skin.

  Bree jerked away and pulled down her sleeve. Kai thought of the mark on his temple, his wrist. Couldn’t be the same thing.

  Without missing a beat, the brush was back in Bree’s hands to finish off his disguise. She berry-juiced his eyes, handed him some rags to wear, and stood back to examine her handy work. “You’re good to go.”

  “And you’re not going anywhere, OK?”

  As Kai turned towards her, Elden stepped forward, speaking at the same time, “Don’t leave this shack, hear me?”

  Bree stared from one to the other, shook her head, and flopped on her bed. “Fine.”

  Elden stared at her for a moment, speechless. He shrugged at Kai and ducked out of the shack.

  There was nothing for Kai to do but follow.

  Elden tied Kai’s hands and marched him through the slum as a captive. Their disguise was perfect, Elden in uniform, Kai in slum rags, nobody asked any questions. They entered and passed through the above-ground levels of the OS unchecked. Everything inside was built in straight lines and right angles, lit green as Kai remembered.

  There were six levels above ground, but also six below which were only spoken of in whispers. The slum dwellers suspected they were there, but none of their own had ever come out of the OS alive to confirm it. OS pack members never gave away secrets.

  Elden dragged Kai along with more force than necessary—his way of getting back at Kai for bringing Bree back. The place was deserted. A black elevator, which seemed out of place, took them down. Kai counted each passing floor.

  “Six floors down?”

  “Congratulations. You can count.” Elden’s angular face looked alien in the green light.

  “So we are underground?”

  “Does that bother you?”

  Kai said nothing, just concentrated on breathing. This is what it would feel like to be buried alive. He tried not to think about that.

  The doors opened to a long, straight passageway ending at a tall column of shimmering green energy—the same shade of green that lit the rest of the OS—the colour of rotting things. It buzzed and snapped as they got closer.

  Elden punched a code into an access panel and the energy field vanished. The absence of noise was deafening.

  The black pathway led through the gap that had been covered by the force field. From inside shone a light so brilliant, Kai covered his eyes. After the green gloom, what could be causing this brightness?

  Elden h
ung back. “She’s in there. This is as far as I go.” He checked a glowing counter embedded in the skin at his wrist. “The troops are heading back. In minutes this place will be crawling. Get moving.”

  Still shading his eyes, Kai edged toward the opening. Would he find Runt chained up, beaten? Blood pounded through him, a gushing waterfall drowning out all sounds but the loud thump of his heart.

  Nothing could have prepared him for what he found.

  Runt was sealed behind thick glass.

  Kai squinted through the brightness and felt the click in his cheek as his jaw dropped.

  Runt, dressed in rags as they’d first found her, was dancing. Each turn spread her hair in fan and cast sparkling rays of brilliance in every direction. She shot up her hand, flinging her fingers upward and crystal sparks flew, exploding in flowers of shimmery brilliance. Her feet tapped out rhythms, intricate and complete, swirling weightless. She lifted her face. Her eyes were shut and her face wore a look that pulled at his heart. Aglow with a radiance unlike anything he’d ever seen before, Runt tilted and twirled in time to some music beyond his hearing. She shone from every pore, face upturned and blissful as if basking in the attention of absolute love.

  He put his hand on the glass and waved with the other to get her to look at him, but she was lost in her own world. He hit the glass, harder this time, stinging his palm. It made no difference. There must be a door.

  “One minute,” Elden called from the passage. He wouldn’t set foot inside the room.

  “Come see this, Elden. I don’t know what to make of it. How do we get her out?”

  Elden peeped, reaching past the corner. “What?”

  “Look at Runt. I’ve never seen her like this.”

  Elden’s gaze slid sideways and he stepped back into the dark. “Time’s up. Let’s go.”

  “I can’t leave her here.”

  Elden stepped forward, his face so close Kai felt the heat of his breath. “She is not suffering. But if they catch you here, you will.” He turned his back on Kai and jogged toward the elevator.

  Kai shot a glance at Runt. Elden was right. She was out of reach, but fine. For now, at least. He ran and slipped into the elevator just as the doors closed behind him with a hiss.

  15

  Evazee sat on Kai’s bed, working through a shopping bag full of papers she’d found underneath. The grey kitten snuggled in her lap, purring so hard her legs vibrated. The orange kitten had backed itself into a corner, all the fur along its back standing on end. It swatted her when she tried to stroke it. Eva un-crumpled the wadded balls of paper one at a time, taking in every discarded word. As she finished reading each one, she spread and smoothed it out onto a flat pile in front of her.

  “So why did he scrunch these up? I think he has something. These are good.”

  The kitten purred and stretched, having no apparent opinions on whether her owner could write song lyrics or not.

  Eva fingered the silver feather. She wasn’t used to necklaces, but the feeling of the delicate edges between her fingers comforted her. She’d switched the silver chain for a thin strip of leather, long enough to slip on and off without fussing over the delicate catch. Gran had said she needed to find contact points. With no idea what that meant, or if it was even a real thing, she was floundering. And her leg was going to sleep beneath the kitten. She shifted her rear, stretching her leg out and the kitten slid sideways, digging its claws in to stop the slide. Evazee absently held the cat’s paws in her palm until the claws retracted.

  The next pile of papers was marked St. Gregory’s School. “According to this, he goes to St. Greg’s.” She absently scratched the soft fur between the cat’s ears. “I’ve heard of St. Greg’s.” She pulled a map from her bag, spread it on the bed, and found Kai’s home street. With a pencil, she marked the warehouse-turned-home that she was sitting in. “Now, where is St Gregory’s?”

  The kitten woke up and followed the movement of her pencil with keen interest. The ginger one had fallen asleep in the corner.

  Eva found the school and marked it. It was too much for the kitten on her lap. She stretched, waggled her bottom, and pounced. A claw hooked Eva’s skin and drew blood. Before Eva could wipe the red bead, it slid off her finger and dripped onto the map. It landed with a splash on the hospital.

  Eva sucked her finger and couldn’t help chuckling. The irony of it all. “Don’t have to mark that one!” What else did she know about him? The hospital, his home, his school…She might as well mark SandSky Gallery as well. Four places. Well that certainly solved the whole mystery.

  The cat, bored with the pencil that wasn’t moving, gave up and crawled back onto her lap, turning in circles before flopping down and going straight to sleep.

  “I guess that will have to be enough, then.”

  ~*~

  The elevator moved up one floor. Zee appeared. Elden pulled his gun on her, the same one he’d fired at Kai.

  “Zee!” Kai slammed the break on the elevator, suspending them somewhere underground. He put a hand on Elden’s arm, lowering his loaded weapon, “This one doesn’t need shooting. I know her.”

  Elden lowered his weapon, but his body stayed tense.

  Zee frowned at Elden but quickly moved on to more important things than getting shot. “Kai, I’m trying to figure out how to get you home—” She stopped short. “Wait, where are we? What is wrong with your eyes? And your forehead…”

  Kai punched the 6 and the lift dropped. “Not real, just a disguise. I need you, Zee. It’s Runt. You have to help me figure out how to free her.”

  “You will get us caught. We have to get out of here.” Elden reached for the panel, but Kai was too quick. He shoved Elden backwards as the lift doors opened. Elden hit his head hard and dropped to the floor.

  Grabbing Zee’s hand, Kai pulled her toward the green force field. He’d watched Elden put in the code, so there was a slim chance he could remember. He typed in numbers, while holding Zee’s hand as if he could stop her leaving. His fingers threaded through hers as a precaution. Her hand felt soft and small in his. He got it on the third try. The energy field pulled back with a snap and brightness assaulted them.

  “You’ve got to see this. I don’t know how to get her out.” Squinting against the light, he dragged Zee into the room where Runt danced, suspended and happy.

  A single breath escaped Zee’s lips. She watched Runt, transfixed, seemingly absorbing every movement as if she was dancing too.

  “She’s sealed in there. I can’t get to her.”

  Zee spoke like a sleepwalker, “What?”

  “How do I get her out?”

  “Out?” She blinked twice. “What is with you? First Bree, now this. What makes you think you have to save everyone? What makes you think you can?”

  “I...” He shrugged.

  “The only one we need to get out of here is you.”

  “Please, Zee.”

  She sighed, threw a puzzled glance at Runt. “It might be that part of her is tied up here, and the other part is trapped back home. We’ll need to get back and find out where she is.”

  “Can you get me back, Zee? How?”

  Elden was coming to, and groaning. Time was nearly up.

  “You need to find the crossover points. Places that are here and there. Then, I don’t know. I’ll have to try to open the gate thing like I did before.”

  Something had shifted in Zee, and Kai couldn’t quite figure it out. She was much more confident, sure of herself. No, it was more than that. Her early visits had been as one dream-walking, but now she was here and fully awake.

  “Let’s get back to Bree.”

  Elden was on his hands and knees, on his way back to being upright. They punched the button for the fourth floor. The lift rocked and he fell on his rear. He stayed in the corner, the bump on his head turning purple.

  Kai stood in the far corner. He still had Zee’s hand in his.

  Elden eyed them like naughty kids who needed bailing out. Aga
in. “I’ll go first. Look the part and don’t say anything.”

  Zee had switched herself into OS brown but seemed to be having difficulty keeping the disguise in place.

  “Focus Zee, keep it together.” Kai squeezed her hand.

  She pulled her hand away and smacked Kai lightly with the back of it. “It’s not as easy as it looks, you know. If my mind wanders at all, this uniform becomes pink unicorn PJ’s. Nothing obvious about that. Besides, my eyes are a dead giveaway.” She pulled her cap down low and dropped her chin.

  They were in trouble the moment the lift doors pulled back. The hallway between them and the way out was crawling, crammed with the Dispossessed.

  Elden shut the lift door, pulled off his jacket, “Here, put this on. You’ll be less obvious than in rags.”

  Kai shrugged into the jacket, buttoning it up. Zee’s face was pinched, probably from the effort of keeping her brown leather in place. Even in the green light, she looked beautiful.

  Elden reached for the door. “Ready?”

  Getting out would be impossible.

  Noise smacked into Kai as the doors drew back.

  One of the Dispossessed climbed up onto a storage chest against the wall. His voice boomed across the racket of the people. “Everyone to the meeting hall. Now.” The volume of his voice made up for his lack of height and the crowd began to press through an open double door on the left. “Move it. Shasta’s waiting.”

  The three were dragged along, caught in a riptide – except not of water but of people. No matter how hard they aimed towards the exit, they were drawn along deeper into the heart of the OS.

  The briefing room was a hollowed-out square in the centre of the OS. Four sets of double doors led in from each side. A raised podium stood in the middle, moulded from the same obsidian as the floor and the walls. A circular rim of green light pulsed through the ceiling, casting strange shadows on faces as if the room were full of ghouls.

  A robed man stood on the podium, turning in a slow circle as the room filled with pack members. The cloak he wore rippled through shades of grey that deflected the green light, instead of reflecting it like everything else in the room.