by Alex Fedyr
“There was a knock at the door. I took the coat off my head peeked through the slats in the closet door to see Mom walk over to the front window. When she saw who was at the door, her smile disappeared and she called Dad over. Dad heard the sharp edge in her voice the same as I did and he came running into the living room saying, ‘What? What is it?’ Mom seemed upset, confused. She lowered her voice and said something to him. They talked quietly for a minute, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. Dad started smiling and he started to rub her arm. I think he was trying to tell her that it was okay. But then he went to look out the window, and his smile disappeared as well. Mom and Dad looked at each other, confusion and concern mirrored on both their faces. I almost came out of the closet to ask what was going on, but then the doorbell rang. I hunkered down in the shoes and watched as Dad took a deep breath and opened the door.
“And there he was, Terin, exactly as he looks today, with Xamic standing behind him. He took one look at Mom and his eyes widened. They stared at each other for a moment, Mom and Terin. Xamic was smiling like an idiot in the background, and Dad stood behind Mom protectively. Then Terin stepped forward, and before Dad could stop him, he hugged Mom. She went limp. Dad put a hand on Terin’s arm to pull her away, but then he screamed. I had never heard a man scream before, and Dad’s scream was terrifying. And that was it. Terin stepped back and they both fell to the floor like dolls. But Terin... something crazy, something totally happy washed across his face.” Kalei’s eyes fixed on the memory in the distance. She sat like that for a moment, staring into the past with her mind’s eye. She could still see that ridiculous smile on Terin’s face. She could still hear Dad’s scream ringing in her ears.... She closed her eyes and continued, “When Xamic stepped into the room, Terin seemed to wake up. He froze when he saw them lying there. Xamic said something like, ‘How does it feel to be free?’ I don’t know if that’s right, that’s just how I remember it. Anyway, Terin began sobbing and pulling at Mom’s body. He pulled her into his lap and started rocking back and forth, holding her head close and talking to her like she was going to wake up.... I didn’t know what to do. I was so scared...
“I think I started crying, because Xamic heard something and came over to the closet. I didn’t think I could get any more scared, but I became so terrified that I started to claw at the back wall of the closet, as though I could make a door appear and escape. I heard Terin scream, there was a lot of crashing, and then it went quiet. After a few minutes, I gathered enough courage to look through the slats again. Xamic and Terin were gone. All that remained were Mom and Dad’s bodies on the floor in front of the open door. It felt like an eternity sitting in that closet, crying my eyes out, unable to take my eyes off their corpses. Sometimes, it feels like I never left. But I guess I did. The next thing I remember, I was in the police station and some detective was feeding me candy and fishing for answers. Not that I ate any candy, and I don’t think he liked my answers.” Kalei shrugged, staring at her nails, losing herself in the full wash of black that painted them. The pain from the night bled into the pain of the darkness and threatened to rip her in half. She muttered, “Now you know.”
They were both silent. Jenna nodded her head quietly. After a while, Kalei started to re-draw the swirls on her nails as she asked, “What about you? They told me you were dead. We had your funeral and everything...”
Jenna pulled her glove back on, clenching her fists lightly as she said, “Nothin’ so dramatic. I was at Brandy’s place — you remember Brandy? Anyway, so Landen shows up in a cop uniform and says somethin’ happened to you guys. He wasn’ famous yet. Tusic didn’ get big ‘til after E-day. So Brandy’s parents had no fucking clue he wasn’t a cop. He showed the badge and everythin’. Anyway, so Brandy’s parents let him take me to come see you. I mean, why not? They had no fucking way o’ knowin’...” Jenna uncrossed her legs and pulled one knee up to her chin, resting her head on it for a minute before she went on, “But he didn’ take me to you guys. He took me to his apartment in the city. He said you was all dead and he was gonna be my new dad from here on out. I believed him. Hell, I was twelve, I didn’ know...” She paused again, watching the grey clouds gather outside the open window. “All those years...” She tucked her head behind her knee and started crying. “I’m so sorry, Kalei. It’s my fault, it’s all my fault...You should never... I’m so sorry, sis.” Her crying turned to weeping.
Kalei’s swirls were back in place now, but they began to flex and dance. “Whoa, whoa. What are you talking about?” Kalei slid down onto the floor in front of her sister.
Jenna sucked in a sob. “I didn’ know you were alive... I hated Landen, I hated that he wouldn’ let me leave the penthouse without a guard, I hated tha’ he wouldn’ let me be Estranged... He was fuckin’ suffocatin’ me. I told him, if he would jus’ let me be Estranged, he wouldn’ have ta worry about anyone hurtin’ me. I would be immortal! Ev’ry year at E-night, he would go on about how great bein’ an Estranged was. But he wouldn’ let me be one. It was total bullshit! He was never a dad to me, more like a fuckin’ Warden...”
Kalei kept her silence.
“So when I was nineteen, I snuck out and met with some o’ his thugs. I’d been hangin’ out with them for years at that point. Usually jus’ at the house, but sometimes, I snuck out an’ caught up with them. They were pretty cool bout helpin’ me avoid Landen, but I found out later they were reportin’ back to him on every fuckin’ step I took... what good friends they were. When I found out, I was pissed. Even sneakin’ out of tha house, I could never be free of that bastard. But if I could jus’ be Estranged, if I could just get someone to give me a touch, I could leave and say a big ‘fuck you’ to ‘em all! Of course, none of Landen’s guys would do it. They was scared shitless of what Landen would do to ‘em. But one guy, Garron, he wasn’t scared o’ nothin’. He was just loyal as fuck. And he would...” Jenna trailed off. The tears came back. She sat there, crying. Kalei clasped her hands together and held them in her lap. She stared at her black swirls and wished there was something she could do to comfort her sister.
Eventually, Jenna silenced her sobs and sat up straighter. She stared at an abandoned soda can for a moment and clenched her jaw. Finally, she said, “I touched Garron when he wasn’ looking. Landen made sure I was there to watch when he killed him.” Jenna looked down at her hands again and the muscles in her jaw twitched.
Kalei waited. She picked at the hem of her shorts. Then she asked, “What does this have to do with me?”
Jenna looked up at Kalei, her glare fierce as the corners of her eyes glistened. “You don’ get it, do you?” She shook her head and looked up at the ceiling. “Landen was using me to keep Terin off his back. So long as I was Untouched, SWORDE wouldn’ – it’s my fault Landen dug up Xamic, it’s my fault your family was attacked, it’s my fault my little sister is a fucking Estranged!” She picked up the soda can and flung it behind Kalei.
Kalei heard it clang as it ricocheted off the beam. “Hey! Whoa, easy there.” The voice was male.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Making Friends
A young boy, probably in his early teens, judging by his short, scrawny build and lack of facial hair, entered the doorway behind Kalei. His dark hair shot out at odd angles, as though he’d just rolled out of bed. He looked a bit like a scarecrow beneath his baggy jeans and T-shirt, but he had a square, somewhat handsome face. If Kalei looked at him from the neck up, she could believe he was an athlete. She looked down at his hands to check his nails: full black.
He said, “Sorry to interrupt. It’s just—you threw the can and I—”
Jenna shouted, “How long have you been there? You been eavesdropping?”
“I’ve been here the whole time, but I wasn’t listening, I promise I—”
Kalei ignored him and asked Jenna, “What did you mean, ‘Landen dug up Xamic’?”
Jenna glanced over at her sister, but before she could say anything, the boy interrupted, “Uh
, hey.” He glanced over his shoulder at a pile of decimated electronics. Phones, computers, keyboards; all piled in one heap. Somewhere within the mound’s depths, a red light was flashing. The boy looked back at the girls and said, “You might wanna know, there are some Wardens coming up the stairs.”
Kalei asked, “You serious?” Before he could answer, Kalei turned back to Jenna. “SWORDE only uses the earring for tracking, right?” She and Jenna had torn out the ear cameras when they escaped Downtown.
“Yeah. I mean, as far as I know,” Jenna replied. “But Landen—”
“Girls,” the boy interrupted again. “Sorry, but I’ve really got to go. You can come if you want. I, uh... I’m assuming you don’t want the SWORDE peeps to find you. But I know a back door we can use... uh, that is, if you want to come with me.”
Kalei looked at Jenna and shrugged. She stood up and said, “Alright.”
The boy fidgeted nervously, his eyes locked on Jenna’s breasts as he said, “Well, it’s not really a back door so much as a really good hiding place.”
Jenna growled, “Jus’ shuddup and lead.”
The boy’s eyes snapped up to her face and he said, “Right! Um, yeah, follow me.” They walked a few steps past the tarp where Kalei had originally been sitting, then the boy turned around and offered Jenna his hand. “I’m Josh, by the way.”
“What the hell? This ain’t no time to get high, kid,” Jenna spat.
Josh was abashed. “What? I mean, I know we can’t touch normal people, but I thought touching other Estranged is—”
“Have you ever touched another Estranged?” Kalei asked.
“No, I...”
“Good. Keep it that way.” She pointed forward and Josh obligingly turned and continued to lead.
On the other side of the desolate space, Josh entered the men’s restroom. Jenna glanced at Kalei with an eyebrow reaching for the ceiling. The two women stopped outside the broken doorway.
Meanwhile, Josh headed to the second stall and yanked and pulled on the toilet until finally it moved free, revealing a hole in the floor. Josh straightened up and ran a hand through his hair. “Uhh...”
“What?” Jenna demanded.
He glanced at them and then quickly looked away. “I don’t think we can fit more than one person in there.”
“Are you serious? You didn’ think of that before?” Jenna looked like she was about to strangle the kid.
“I—well, usually it’s just me. I didn’t plan on—”
“You didn’ plan on havin’ two girls walk in on your lovely little shithole of a home?” Jenna looked him up and down. “I can see why.”
Kalei interjected, “Hey, cut it out.”
Josh turned red and started studying the floor tiles. Jenna watched Kalei, crossing her arms and waiting for her to say something. Kalei glanced from Jenna to Josh. The boy looked up at them briefly, then hastily turned away to study the stalls. Kalei turned away and said, “Come on, Jenna. We’ve gotta get out of here.”
The girls took one step for the door before Josh blurted out, “There’s another place we could hide.”
Jenna turned back. “Is it another hidey-hole excuse to cuddle?”
“Jenna!”
“What?”
Josh responded, “No, there’s plenty of space. I promise.”
A few minutes later, standing on a six-inch ledge seventy feet above the ground, Kalei had to acknowledge that there was definitely plenty of space. Perhaps too much.
The sun was directly above them in a clear blue sky, creating a bright reflection off the apartment building across from them. Kalei couldn’t decide which was more annoying, the blinding light or the steady wind. But then again, it was an improvement on listening to Jenna bitch at Josh. Kalei had positioned herself between the two for a reason.
Jenna yelled, “How the hell did he convince me to get out here?”
“Shut up! Do you want the Wardens to hear us?” Kalei called back.
“What? We’re just a couple birds squawkin’! Ain’t no one in there can hear us!”
Something below caught Kalei’s eye. Against her better judgment, she looked down. Far below, three small ants in SWORDE uniform milled around the entrance, standing close to their van in case they needed to use it for cover. One of them looked up. “Shit! They spotted us!”
Jenna rolled her eyes. “No they didn’t! They can’t see shit from down there!”
The window to Jenna’s left slid open. “Do you believe me now?” Kalei asked.
“Shit!”
Josh was already moving. He turned around on the ledge and reached both hands up to the next ledge above, pulling himself up to the next floor. He called back, “Come on!”
Jenna paled. “Aw, shit.”
Kalei laughed. “Look at it this way: it’s not like you’re going to fall to your death.”
“I hate you both!” Jenna replied, latching onto the building and turning herself around.
At the window, a Warden stuck his head out, saw Jenna, and shouted, “Hey!”
Out of the corner of her eye, Kalei saw Jenna jump and lose her grip. Kalei’s immediate instinct was to reach back and help her sister, but she had already pulled her upper body clear of the next ledge and she couldn’t free up her arm in time to reach back for her sister. She struggled to pull the rest of her body onto the ledge, frantically pulling and kicking in an effort to move faster. When she was finally clear, she looked back and saw Jenna hugging a gargoyle and yelling at the Warden, “Fuck you!”
Kalei laughed.
Kalei shifted back from the ledge and grabbed the windowsill with her left hand, leaning forward to offer Jenna her right.
Jenna said, “I ain’t no freaking pansy. Get the fuck out of here.” She grabbed the ledge, stooped as low as she could without letting go, then launched herself so hard and so fast that she flew over the ledge, over Kalei, and in through the open window. She landed on her feet, much to Kalei’s surprise, then turned around to smile at Kalei and Josh, casually flopping down on her back. Panting, she said, “I fucking hate heights.”
Josh and Kalei climbed in after her. Kalei nudged her sister with her shoe. “Get up. We’re not done yet. Josh, what’s the quickest way out of here?”
“Out of here? Wait, we can’t leave. All of my stuff is here. I—”
Kalei cut him off. “SWORDE knows we’re in the building. They won’t leave until they’ve turned over every toilet in this dump. We have to get out.”
Josh stared at her for a moment, chewing on one corner of his lip as he puzzled something out. Finally, he said, “Fine, let’s go.” He turned and jogged across the open space of the barren eighth story. Jenna hopped up onto her feet and the two followed after him.
Josh found a flight of stairs, glanced down, and then headed up. Kalei raised an eyebrow, but followed without question, but Jenna was more vocal with her objections.
“No more heights.”
Josh didn’t look at them as he continued up the stairs. “No, I just have to grab something.”
Kalei might have been okay with following Josh through an odd escape route or two, but she was not okay with running back into a burning building for the kid’s blankie. “We don’t have time for your keepsakes. We have to go.”
He kept climbing. “It’ll just take a minute.”
“I don’t care how long it will take. It’s too long. If you’re so set on rescuing whatever it is, then tell us the way and we’ll let ourselves out.”
Josh stopped and looked back. “You’d abandon me like that?”
Jenna replied, “Yup.”
Josh’s face grew serious. “You guys are cold.”
Jenna laughed and retorted, “We’re gals. Guys don’t come as cold as us.”
Kalei snorted.
Josh started going back up the stairs. “Alright, go ahead then, ditch me.”
“Which way?” Jenna asked.
“Figure it out yourselves. Why should I help a pair of cold-hearte
d women?”
Kalei sighed and told Jenna, “Let’s just follow him.”
“No, let’s find our own way.”
Josh had reached the top of the stairs and was walking through the door-less frame. Kalei glanced at him and then back at Jenna. Her sister was probably right for once, but that didn’t mean Kalei was going to listen her. The thought of ditching the kid just felt wrong. “I don’t want to leave him. The kid doesn’t know what he’s doing, he could get into some serious trouble.”
“He’s thirteen! He’s Estranged! It’s what they do!”
“He’s thirteen about as much as you’re eighteen. What if he wanders off and starts shaking hands with people? What if Landen picks him up? What if Terin throws him into a glass tube for helping us? We can’t let that happen.”
Jenna shifted her jaw back and forth as she considered Kalei. “Fine.”
They started heading up the stairs.
When they cleared the stairwell, they found that the walls on this floor were still intact, creating a long white hallway in front of them. Even the carpet was still there, a very tight weave with geometric patterns of blue and green squares. At the far end of the hall, two pairs of boots stepped out onto the carpet, filled with a pair of Wardens. They were maybe fifty feet away when they spotted Kalei and Jenna on the stairwell, and without missing a beat, they raised their weapons, shouting, “Hold it!”
“Dammit!” Kalei and Jenna dodged back into the stairwell. Kalei hadn’t spotted Josh in that brief moment, only the Wardens.
Jenna yelled out, “Josh! Where the fuck are you!”