by Alex Fedyr
Shenaia was having trouble too. She would disappear for hours, days at time. When she returned, she was usually disheveled, disoriented, and a bit too quick in her movements. Kalei recognized the symptoms of an addict, but she didn’t say anything. Erit would have to be the one to kick Shenaia out; Kalei had no authority. And she knew Erit wasn’t an idiot; she knew he saw what was going on. But still, much to Kalei’s aggravation, the boy kept his silence.
Combat practice moved slowly. Even working day and night with their tireless bodies, it took nearly a month before Mar and Kalei could spar without losing control. For Shenaia, it took another four weeks.
Fighting Shenaia was the hardest challenge for Kalei. She had scuffled with gangsters before; it was part of her job description as a cop. They were scrappy fighters, with no regard for the rules or etiquettes of more civilized combat. Shenaia was much the same, except that she took it to a whole new level. Not only did she have no regard for the conventions of fighting, but there was cunning and experience there too. Add a bit of unnatural ferocity to her style, and Shenaia was a beast. In an even fight, she would have won every time. But with the darkness in the mix, Shenaia always lost control first.
During the fifth month since Kalei had entered the recruit program, Kalei and Shenaia were able to extend the length of their matches while maintaining the darkness. As they fought round after round, neither woman would submit to the other, leading to long, drawn-out battles of will. Shenaia even broke her own arm once to get out of Kalei’s hold. But the intense level of fighting that passed between them consistently brought the two women to their limits, and Shenaia would consistently cave first. Sometimes, she would simply collapse. Other times, the darkness would turn her into a monster, ripping at mask and glove to reach Kalei’s skin. Erit, somehow, was able to tame the beast every time.
Then, one Tuesday between bouts, Shenaia began to pace fervently, muttering to herself as she went. Kalei picked up on a few words, “–need it, just one more...”
There it was. Confirmation for what Kalei had been suspecting for weeks. She walked over to Shenaia and stood just inches in front of the young woman, interrupting her pacing. “You need what? What was that you just said?”
Shenaia glanced at Kalei, then furtively dodged to the right as she responded, “Ai-air, that’s what I said, I need air...” She stepped out of the room.
Kalei made to follow, but Erit stopped her with an outstretched arm. She turned her fury on him. “What the hell are you doing? Why are you letting her get away with this! This isn’t some game, Erit.”
“Kalei, you have to understand. Not everyone can handle the darkness as well as you. Wait– Listen to me. Shenaia has been an Estranged for far longer, and under much different circumstances. She has spent the last decade in an environment where highs are accepted, encouraged, even. Rewriting those old habits will take time. I hate it as much as you do, but it is necessary.”
Kalei pushed past him and walked through the door. She decided she needed some air. Real air.
She made her way through the broken foyer doors and sat on the curb, looking out over the desolate, cracked street. The pavement had split and crumbled so much over the years that it looked more like a dried-out riverbed than an actual road. Holes had appeared and swallowed the tires of abandoned vehicles. Patches of dirt attempted to nourish scraggly dandelions. Large slabs that refused to break jutted out at odd angles where the soil beneath had sunk and shifted. Overall, the elements had done their fair share of work over the last twenty years to render the street back to nature.
A moment passed as Kalei took it all in, and she was relieved to be alone. Then she heard something. A slight shuffle of cloth as someone moved behind her. Then,
“I’m sorry.”
Kalei turned around to see Shenaia leaning against the building. Kalei asked, “What?”
“I’m sorry– I...” Whatever she had meant to say faded into silence.
Kalei let it. She turned away from Shenaia and resumed studying the bleak scenery.
After a few moments, Shenaia spoke again. “Who were those girls?”
Kalei didn’t even turn around this time. “Excuse me?”
Shenaia’s voice was quiet. “The girls in that video – in the car when you were attacked. Who were they?”
Kalei spared a glance toward Shenaia. “They’re my nieces.”
“Wait – nieces?”
Kalei was surprised by the shock in Shenaia’s voice.
She turned to look at the young woman. “Yeah, my husband’s brother’s kids.”
Shenaia let out her breath. “Oh, right. I thought—” She laughed. “Never mind.” She looked up at the sky for a moment and Kalei returned her thoughts. Then Shenaia asked, “What are their names?”
“Kas and Teia.”
“Beautiful names.”
“Yeah, I thought so.”
Another pause fell between them. Shenaia said, “Why were they at your house that night?”
A bitter knot clenched at Kalei’s stomach. If Qain didn’t have that damn meeting in Takaio... Kalei explained to Shenaia how Fenn’s brother worked a lot, so they would watch the girls quite frequently. Of course, Qain earned enough money that he could have afforded a nanny, but he preferred to leave the girls with family when he went out of town.
Before she knew it, Kalei was rambling about the girls’ bedtime routine with its shadow puppet stories and their “My Little Dreams” night light. She recalled the time that Kas had helped Fenn build her new big-girl’s bed. She talked about the hundreds of ways Teia had annoyed her bigger sister, and how it had reminded her of her own childhood with her big sister Jenna.
And then she was talking about Jenna. About the big sister who was always there for her, who was always screaming at Kalei to get out of her room. Jenna used to pretend to take the bigger slice of pie just to see Kalei get angry, and then when Kalei was worn out from trying – and failing – to beat up her bigger sister, Jenna would switch the plates around and give Kalei a fork. Kalei loved that. She hadn’t really cared about the bigger piece to begin with, but when she finally got it, when her sister gave it to her, the piece somehow became...special.
So many stories over so many years, and they all just came spilling out as Kalei sat on that curb, talking to the pavement as though it were listening. She forgot Shenaia was even there. After a while, the stories fell silent and Kalei watched the present creep back in where the past had filled the air.
Shenaia said, “It sounds like you had a beautiful life.”
Kalei didn’t look at her. “I did.”
CHAPTER NINE
Promotion
Two months later, Kalei walked along the perimeter fence, and Mar quietly matched pace at her shoulder. It was a fresh day. The rain had just cleared and spring was making itself known. Birds flitted back and forth over the chain-link fence, heedless of the border they traversed. Past the razor wire, Kalei could see the open ocean, brilliant blue with huge cargo ships and a few scattered fishing vessels sailing into East Lake Bay on their way to and from New Port. The ships gleamed as the light glinted off various metal instruments and objects. The bright sunlight reflected off a rolling ocean wave, blinding Kalei. She looked away.
Mar rasped, “Ya think that one will be a problem?” Kalei looked at where the old woman was pointing and saw a lone figure standing on the street corner, anxiously shifting her weight. The person was wearing far too many layers than was appropriate on this warm day. Even from this distance, Kalei could see the winter coat bulging as it tried to contain the bulk of several shirts, causing the figure’s torso to look oddly disproportionate to its legs.
Kalei almost laughed. “Of course she will. That’s Lecia.”
Lecia glanced over her left shoulder and saw the two Wardens. She jumped slightly, as though the sight of the pair had surprised her, then she immediately turned away and started speed walking toward the nearest alley.
Before the woman took more th
an two steps, Kalei called out, “Hey!” She pulled off her Warden’s helmet.
Lecia glanced back at the Wardens again, this time tensing up as though she was preparing to run, but then she noticed– “Kalei? Is that you?” Lecia called back.
“Yup,” Kalei replied as they approached.
Lecia looked her up and down. Kalei stood still for the scrutiny, fully covered with the standard black polyester from head to toe. Minus the helmet, of course. Lecia’s eyes lit up. “You’re a Warden now!”
Kalei shrugged. “Apparently.”
“So? Does that mean they taught you how to kill Estranged?”
Kalei’s grip on her helmet tightened. “No. Supposedly, I need to be an experienced Warden for that.” She consciously loosened her grip and felt the swirls in her nails relax as well. “If you ask me, they’re just stringing me along. But, it doesn’t matter. That’s not why I’m here anyway.” Kalei knew Lecia understood what she meant, but neither of them said it out loud.
Mar pointed at Lecia. “You. Come on.” Mar turned and led the way.
“What she means,” Kalei interpreted, “is that we have orders to escort you out of the district on sight.” She made a sweeping motion with her arm, as if to say, “After you.” Then she said, “It doesn’t mean we can’t talk on the way.”
Lecia pulled her attention away from Mar and seemed to remember Kalei. “Of course! You know—”
“Hold on.” They made a few slow steps as Mar trudged on ahead of them. Once the old woman was out of earshot, Kalei picked up the pace again and said, “You know, you really shouldn’t hang out Downtown. I can come to you.”
“It’s not like I come Downtown just to find you. Besides, most Estranged are too zoned out to really come after me. The typical pattern I’ve observed is that they find a few other Estranged and settle in for a long series of highs. I could jump up and down in front of them and scream my name, but if I’m more than ten feet off, they won’t even bother.”
“Fascinating. Well, anyway, does Landen have the device ready? Have they learned where my family is?”
“Not that I know. My contact with Tusic changed his number right after your meeting, and I haven’t been able to get in touch with any of them since.”
“Then how the hell am I supposed to communicate with Landen?”
“I don’t know. Maybe this is his way of making sure you don’t blow your cover.” Kalei started to make a retort, but Lecia continued, “Anyway, I’ve been trying to dig up information about your family on my own, but all I could find out is what the news reports already say: that your family is safe and in Victim Protection. All the reporters I talked to have their sources locked down tight.”
Kalei paused and chewed absentmindedly on the inside of her cheek for a moment, then said, “Have you tried the police?”
“No, I didn’t think about that.” Lecia grinned and eagerly asked Kalei, “Do you think I should?”
“Yeah, ask for Marley. Tell him—” Tell him what? By now, everyone at the police station would know Kalei was Estranged. It wasn’t hard to piece together when they didn’t have a body. Even Marley wouldn’t listen to anything she had to say now... “Just, ask him for the police report regarding the attack. You might find what you need in there. If he tries to say no, just tell him it’s for your book. He’s a sucker for authors and journalists. He thinks they’re his type.” She laughed.
“Thanks, I will!” There was a moment’s pause. Lecia’s cheeks began to turn red. She looked down at her shoes and then back at Kalei. “So, who is Marley?”
Kalei glanced over at Lecia. “He used to be my partner when I was on the force.” She held up her hand before Lecia could say anything. “And before you get any stupid ideas, I’ll let you know he was my foster mom’s grand-nephew. We’re practically siblings.”
“I wasn’t thinking anything stupid!” Lecia retorted a bit too indignantly.
“Yeah, right. Everyone does. It doesn’t take a career in law enforcement to learn that one.”
Lecia pouted. “You’re always so negative.”
Kalei shrugged and watched Mar’s back as it swayed with the steady motion of her march to the front gate.
Lecia said, “Whatever. It’s my turn now. You promised you would let me interview you for my book.”
“Yeah,” Kalei sighed. “I did.” Normally, Kalei would have done anything she could to avoid the woman, but when Lecia had offered to look for Kalei’s family in exchange for interviews, Kalei could hardly refuse.
Lecia’s head bounced in a quick nod. “Yes, you did. So what did it take to become a Warden?”
Kalei explained the process of bringing the darkness under control, shaping the nail designs, moving on to physical training, and so forth. All the while, Lecia badgered her with more questions.
“But you knew how to fight already, didn’t you?”
Kalei reached back and ran a hand through her two-inch-long hair. Kalei had noticed the other day that it was growing back with black highlights, although, much to her relief, it was still predominantly brown. Kalei said, “Well, fighting is different as an Estranged. It’s like a balancing act... and once you start fighting with the darkness, that’s a whole ‘nother story.”
Lecia’s eyebrows scrunched together. “With the darkness?”
“Yeah. You know how the darkness works, right? When two Estranged touch hands, their darkness reaches out and grabs a piece of the other’s.” Kalei decided to use Shenaia’s example, “Kind of like if you and I each had a cookie in one hand, and I grabbed your cookie while you grabbed mine. Then, when I eat the cookie, A.K.A, when my darkness absorbs your piece of darkness, it releases the high. But there are ways to defend against that. I can solidify my darkness — or close my hand around the cookie – so that you can’t get it. But if I don’t strengthen my grip enough when we come into contact, your darkness can mix in with mine and start trying to pull out a high. But that’s still no big deal, because so long as I am still touching you, I can cut off that contaminated piece of my darkness and push it into you. Kind of like cutting off a hand and throwing it to the wolves.”
“From cookies to amputated hands.” Lecia grimaced.
“Eh, that was the first example that came to mind.”
Lecia shivered and said, “Well, it made your point. Since when did you get so smart?”
It was Kalei’s turn to grimace. “Guess I’ve been spending too much time with Books.”
“Books?”
“Yeah, sorry. I mean Erit. When we became Wardens, we were told to stop using our real names over the comms and start using nicknames based on the patterns we chose for our nails. Erit is Books, I’m Swirls, and Mar over there is Smiles.”
Lecia laughed, despite the fact that Kalei was being serious.
“So what’s your plan now?” Lecia asked.
Kalei checked to see that Mar was still out of earshot. “Well, I guess I’ll just keep on gathering information for Tusic until they contact me. And so long as you keep looking for my family, I’ll share that information with you too.” The gate was only a hundred feet away now. “But this stays between us. Don’t go publishing anything until this is all over.”
“Of course!”
Being a Warden was hardly interesting so far. Most days were spent patrolling along the fence or sparring with Mar and Shenaia to keep sharp.
It was just another Tuesday. Lecia was already well on her way, and Kalei walked along the humming fence, watching chain link after chain link pass to the sound of Mar’s grumbling. Her mind wandered from topic to topic until it flitted through Lecia’s interview questions and settled on the memory of her final test to become a Warden.
It was... different.
Terin had stepped into the room and walked over to the center of the training mats, not quite sucking the air from the room with his stoic nature. He stopped when he reached a seam in the mats that divided the room perfectly in half. With his hands in his pockets, he looked each of
them in the eye, then said, “You’re done with basic training. But we can’t promote you to Wardens until you pass a test, so here it is: go into the district and shake hands with an Estranged. We will be watching through your ear cameras.” He walked back to the door.
Erit stepped forward from where he stood by the wall and added, “Of course, the Estranged you shake hands with cannot be affiliated with SWORDE.” Before the recruits could grasp what either of them had said, Erit waved his hand with a “Best of luck!” and followed Terin out of the room.
Several moments passed in silence, until Shenaia said, “What the hell kind of test is that?”
Kalei raised an eyebrow as she continued to stare at the door. “Who knows?”
Mar added, “Who cares? I’m just gonna do it and get this damn training over with.” The old woman tore off her ski mask, flung it in a corner, and marched out the door.
Shenaia looked at Kalei, a grin on her face as she said, “He didn’t say nothin’ about doin’ this thing solo. Let’s go, little sis! Although I wanna stop by tha closet first. There’s no way in hell I’m passin’ no test in these damn sweats!”
Kalei followed as Shenaia pranced out the door. “What makes you think I’m the little sister? I’m at least a decade older.”
Shenaia looked over her shoulder and smirked. “Trust me, you ain’t no big sister ta me.”
“Do I need to set you straight, little one?”
Shenaia scoffed. “Go ahead and try!”
Out in the street, Kalei glanced left and right as she tried to make sense of where they were. It occurred to her that she had never spent much time outside of SWORDE HQ, except that time when Lecia had taken her to Tusic. Kalei’s sense of direction in the Downtown district was a bit lacking.
She asked, “Where do we find other Estranged?”
“The theatre. They always at tha theatre.” There was no hesitation in Shenaia’s stride; she was already halfway down the block before Kalei caught up to her.