Looper

by Ann Bakshis

  The guards open the door and the four of us step out. The doors are sealed shut immediately behind us. There’s no going back now. I take Van and Frey by the hand. Brink takes Van’s other hand and I loop us. I could loop us right into Pentras Tower, but something is telling me that isn’t the way to proceed. We land a few seconds later just outside the mansion. Everyone has either scattered from the area, or is dead.

  A massive explosion draws everyone’s attention. The hill the shelter is under buckles and collapses as flames erupt through exposed gas pipes. Fire eats away at the second-level housing, lighting up the evening sky.

  “Mom!” Frey shouts.

  I loop us again before he can run back towards her.

  Twenty-Eight

  We’re at the entrance to the dome when Frey says he needs a break. I don’t give him one, and instead move us quickly through the dome and deep into the Dead Zone. He shakes me loose before I can loop us further and sits on the ground. The Patrician have not ceased their bombing and the glass of the dome is almost cracked completely through.

  “Why? Why would she do that?” Frey asks anyone who will answer him.

  “I’ll tell you when we’re back in Pentras Tower,” I say, reaching my hand down to help him to his feet.

  “You knew?” he asks, swatting my hand away, anger heavy in his voice. He stands, grabs my arms, and begins to squeeze them tightly. “You knew she was going to blow them all up? Why didn’t you stop her?”

  “She was saving us all, Frey,” I say as I try to hide the pain that is flooding my muscles. “You have no idea what the Dracken were going to do.”

  “But I’m one of them, Max. So is Brink. So are you. This doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Can we have this discussion someplace safer?” Van says, pointing to the drones that are moving in on us.

  They open fire as we run. Frey and Brink fire back using the Aedox guns they took from the shelter. Brink runs out of ammunition, so I toss him a clip from my pocket. I reach out for Van and Frey. They each take my hand. Brink grabs hold of Van and I loop us, but not before searing pain shoots up my arm. I can’t hold on to Frey any longer, and he falls out of the void just as we make it to the lobby of the tower. He falls hard onto the concrete steps while the rest of us tumble onto the tile floor. I quickly loop back for him and get him inside just as the drones locate us.

  I collapse onto the ground in agony. One bullet ripped clean through my forearm. Since the suit has short sleeves, it didn’t protect me. Van runs down to the medical supply closet, returning with some gauze and bandages. He puts pressure on the wound and I let out a howl.

  “Explain,” Frey yells at me while Van works to try and stop the bleeding.

  “Your mom wants you to live,” I respond through the searing pain.

  “I would’ve been all right. She didn’t need to kill herself.”

  “Your mother is a Keeper and the Dracken know this. If the Dracken win this war, you’ll be left behind with the others to die.”

  “What do you mean?” Brink asks.

  I tell them what really happened to Pentras, that Frey’s sister was correct in what she discovered, and the truth about the Dracken. “That’s why your sister was killed, Frey. She figured everything out, just like my parents did when they were sent to the Outer Limits. By then it was too late for all of them.”

  “The Patrician killed my sister.”

  “That’s what your father told you, right?”

  He looks contemplative. “Yes.”

  “Just a Dracken leader trying to throw suspicion onto the Patrician, Frey. He’s the one who turned your sister into the Aedox. It’s what a Dracken would do to protect themselves.”

  He steps back, raises the gun, and fires at the displays behind the counter.

  “Feel better?” Brink says when he finally stops.

  “Shut up,” Frey responds.

  “I can’t get the bleeding to stop,” Van says. “We need to take her up to the surgical floor.”

  Brink and Van carry me under the shoulders to the lift. Frey follows and presses the button for the seventeenth floor. We enter the first room we come to when we exit the lift and Brink sets me down on a surgical table while Van scours the cabinets. He locates a contraption similar to the one used on my knee. The device is secured around my arm and I begin to scream as I feel my skin being stitched back together. Van injects a painkiller into my neck, and I start to feel drowsy while the room spins slightly.

  “How long will it take to mend her?” Brink asks Van.

  “About a half-hour,” Van responds.

  “I’ll keep an eye on her, if you two want to find good locations for the detonators,” Brink says.

  Van and Frey leave, much to my disappointment. Especially Frey. He knows Brink’s attitude towards me. Why would he leave me alone in the room with him? Is he that mad that he’s willing to put my safety at risk with Brink? I finger the handle of my Kopis as Brink slides onto the table next to me.

  “I think your boyfriend is mad at you, otherwise why would he leave the two of us alone?” Brink says, sliding closer. He starts to rub my arm, then begins to tug on the suit. “I know Van is wearing one, and I’m sure Frey is also. So, why wasn’t I given one of these high-tech outfits?”

  “Because you’re vile, Brink. I only want to protect those that mean something to me, and you don’t mean anything.”

  He slaps me hard across the face. “You’re still mine, you know.”

  “The Dracken are dead, almost extinct, so whatever promises were made to you, they are no longer valid.”

  “That’s what you think. There are more of us out there. As soon as the Patrician destroy the dome, we’ll be raiding in no time.”

  I try to remove my Kopis, but he’s stronger than I am at the moment and keeps my arm pinned against the table.

  “Who told you all of this?” I ask through clenched teeth.

  “Tilda, of course. Who do you think promised you to me?”

  “She wouldn’t,” I say, choking on tears.

  He takes his free hand and starts caressing my cheek. “Oh but she did, Maxy. She knew who you were the moment Head Master Edom dropped you off at the orphanage. Why do you think she was always so nice to you and no one else? To win your trust.”

  “She told you who I was?”

  “No, not entirely. She only said you were someone who needed protecting. Someone who would make the Dracken whole again. And you’ve done just that, Max, united us.”

  “Where are they?”

  “They’ll be here soon. Nan killed herself for nothing. Those in the shelter were simply followers, not the true Dracken. Not like you.”

  He nuzzles my neck then begins to kiss my cheeks and then my lips. I grapple for my Kopis, but his weight is preventing me from getting a good hold of it. I feel the pouch for his Deer Horn knives and open it, grasp one, and slice him across the side. I push him off me and he lands on the floor, blood seeping through his clothes. I jump down from the table, push him flat onto his back, and place the weapon against his throat as I straddle him.

  “Where are they now?” I ask.

  He just laughs.

  I cut him deep in the thigh. He screams and tries to wriggle out from under me. But my strength is restored.

  “Tell me!” I shout.

  “They never left. You think they needed you to get them into Pentras Tower like the Patrician did? You’re so fucking stupid, Max. They needed you to free them from the tower.”

  “There isn’t anyone in this building but us.”

  “Are you sure?”

  I think back to my encounter with them on the seventh floor. They used the monitor at one of the workstations to talk to me. But how? Is it possible there are others in here? “You’re lying.”

  “Did you ever watch the music videos back in Thrace Tower or at Frey’s house?’

  My expression changes to puzzlement.

  “It was how the Dracken could communicate with the res
t of us. Being stuck in this tower for over a hundred years, they kept evolving and advancing their technology. They’re a part of everything now, but their failsafe prevented them from escaping. The Keepers placing the dome over the Dead Zone sealed the Dracken in. You were the only one able to unlock it all.”

  “You’re crazy, Brink. You couldn’t possibly know any of this. You’re just making shit up.”

  He taps his wristband. “The Keepers and Patrician aren’t the only ones with access to these.”

  I realize at that moment that it’s not Brink talking, but a Dracken. “Where’s Brink?”

  “He’s here, but not for much longer. The Keepers have done wonders giving us a way to survive. If it wasn’t for them, we would never have achieved our greatest scientific accomplishment.”

  “And what is that?”

  “Immortality. With the wristband implanted in all the winners of The Litarian Battles, once the Patrician send them into the Dead Zone and you’ve disabled the security on the building, we’ll choose the most valuable people and take over their bodies. Just like what we’ve done with your friends.”

  Frey and Van. That’s why they left like they did and how Van knew what was needed to fix my arm.

  “I’ll stop you,” I say, gripping the knife tighter in my fist.

  “I’d like to see you try.”

  The blade cuts an inch deep groove into Brink’s neck. I know the Dracken will simply move back into whatever electronic device they’re all hiding in until a new host comes into play. I need to find Van and Frey quickly, but don’t know where they went off to. I remove the healing device from my arm, toss it on the floor, and notice that the wound is perfectly mended. No scarring. I go to the lift and take it down to the eighth floor. I get past the two security doors like I did before and enter the dark room where Hammond was.

  “Hammond!” I shout, hoping he can hear me from wherever he is.

  The security door closes, locking me in the room. Hammond appears in the same spot he did before. “We know,” he says.

  “Where are Frey and Van?”

  “They are lost to you now, Max. The Dracken have them under their control and the Patrician army is at the rim of the dome in Tarsus. There are only a few minutes left before it all comes to a head. We will teleport you now to a safe location.”

  “No,” I yell. “I can do this. Just tell me where Frey is?”

  “Max, please, it is over. We have lost, but you can still be saved,” Hammond says, pleading.

  “Then I’ll find them without you,” I say, and loop up to the fiftieth floor.

  I step towards the window as the glass of the dome explodes. Within moments, the deadly hail of shattered glass rains down on the streets, and there is nothing left above us. I race to the other side of the room to look towards Tarsus. The city itself is just a small dot on the horizon, but I can picture the Patrician army flowing into the Dead Zone.

  The Dracken are stuck in the building until the security failsafe is disabled. If they are in fact controlling Van and Frey, the Dracken can direct them on how to do that. Which would mean they’re on the seventh floor.

  I ignore the lift and loop right in front of the gate separating the room from the lifts. Van is in front of the plasma display with his back towards me, his bag of detonators at his feet. I remove my Kopis and side-step around the area until I’m on the other side of the room. He’s so focused on tapping symbols on the plasma screen that he doesn’t see me approach.

  “Where’s Frey?” I ask, holding my Kopis up by my shoulder with both hands.

  Van looks up, but I can tell it’s not really him. “He’s around.”

  “Van’s dead, isn’t he?”

  “Yes, Max, he is.”

  “Then killing you won’t hurt so much.”

  I jump onto the display, but Van is ready with one of the Aedox rifles. I instinctively tell the suit to protect me. It covers my entire body and the bullets sail through me, but my Kopis doesn’t do any damage to Van either since he has instructed his suit to do the same as mine. I change tactics and go for the detonators, grabbing the bag as I fall to the floor. I sheathe my Kopis and loop into the void, then land next to the bank of computers that Lok had worked on, arm a detonator, adhere it inside the box, and loop again.

  Van has to chase me around the floor, but I’m much faster. The first detonator ignites as I’m activating one on the last of the four computer banks and Van is blown across the room and against a concrete wall, then drops. I secure the bag around my shoulder and loop over next to him. He doesn’t have a pulse. I step over to the plasma screen and apply five detonators all around the table. I loop behind the security gate and smile as the room lights up like a candle. I know this will bring down the security for the building, but it should also destroy any remnants of the Dracken.

  I begin looping up one floor at a time. Frey is collapsed next to the main console on the twelfth floor. I run up to him, turn him onto his back, and begin shaking him.

  “Frey, wake up,” I say. “You’re stronger than they are.”

  I look for his pulse, but can’t find one.

  “Damnit, Frey,” I whisper through tears. “Wake up.” I pound on his chest, then finally just rest my head on it.

  I stand, go over to the exact spot where I landed when I looped, and take a deep breath. I close my eyes, clear my mind, and pick my point in time. Back in time. I visualize myself being on the seventh floor, landing just on the outside of the gate, but that’s not where I project myself. I take that same instant in time and picture myself on the twelfth floor, right where I’m standing now. The suit retracts to its normal design as I slip into the void. I open my eyes as time rewinds in front of me. I feel myself split as the past begins again. I’m much weaker since I’m technically in two places at the same time.

  I step out of the void and approach Frey cautiously. He’s sitting at the console, just like Lok had before. His fingers fly through the various configurations that change every few seconds, but he’s solving the puzzles, which means he has been taken over by a Dracken. I stop just behind his chair. My breaths are coming out slowly as my energy is being mainly used by my other-half.

  “Frey,” I say, my voice almost as soft as a whisper.

  He turns and recognition shows on his face, but it’s short lived. He removes his blade, knocks me to the ground, and holds the weapon high above his head.

  “You can’t stop us, Max,” the Dracken says using Frey’s voice.

  “Frey, I know you’re there. You’re stronger than they are. Fight back.”

  “It’s too late, Max. Frey doesn’t exist anymore.”

  “You’re wrong. I saw the recognition in his eyes when he saw me just a moment ago,” I say, getting weaker by the moment.

  Now I understand why it’s so hard to loop back in time. You’re not as strong or as in control. I’ve made myself very vulnerable and time is running out.

  “Max?” Frey says.

  I smile at him. “Fight them.”

  He cringes as the conflict inside erupts. His hand holding his blade wavers, then firms up.

  “He’s losing, Max,” the Dracken says, almost with a laugh.

  “No!” I shout with all my effort. “Frey, listen to me. You have to win. You’ll be dead in a few of seconds. Please, you have to win.”

  The blade comes down, but falls through the opening in the rails around the walkway. Frey screams as his mind is torn apart. I feel myself slipping away. Time is catching up. Frey gets to his feet, grabbing the sides of his head, then stumbles towards the lift and collapses. I fade as the void pulls me back to actual time. I find myself standing behind the security gate on the seventh floor once again, my suit still covering my entire body. I quickly loop back to the twelfth floor and kneel next to Frey who is currently moaning.

  “Frey,” I say, cautiously reaching out towards him as my suit covering retracts from my hands.

  His eyes flicker open and relief floods his face. He r
eaches for me and I hold him to me.

  “I thought you died,” he says. “You were there and then not.”

  “I time looped backwards.”

  He raises his head so our eyes meet. “I told you I didn’t recommend you doing that.”

  “I second that,” I say, standing and helping Frey to his feet. “We need to destroy what we can. The Patrician are on their way now.”

  I go back to the main console, attach a couple of detonators, take Frey’s hand, and loop us to the floor above just as the explosives go off. I instruct Frey to take off the suit, which he does while I secure detonators to the imagers. He puts his other clothes back on. I can’t strip down since I have nothing else to wear at the moment. I’ll destroy my suit later, but I need to take care of the machine used to create them.

  Frey and I go into the clean room where the suits are stored. I take the two from my pocket, then Frey’s, and loop myself behind the plate glass window separating the machine from everything else.

  I drop the suits and the necklace onto the conveyor belt, take the remaining detonators, and stick them to various points along the machine. I’m not sure if the impeding fire will destroy the suits since nothing else has, but at least it’ll bury them. I set the timers for one minute, turn, and am about to loop back when I see him.

  Garrett’s arrow pierces Frey’s chest. I scream, but no one can hear me. Garrett looks up at me after relishing his kill. His hand has been completely restored, but without the wristband. I step back, plastering myself against the machine.

  “You won’t win,” I say, even though he can’t hear me.

  The blast is bright, almost blinding. I feel my body crash through the glass as it shatters, finally coming to a rest by the damaged imagers. My ears are ringing and my vision is blurry, but I’m alive. The suit retracts again. I never instructed it to protect me against the blast, but it did anyway. I look up and Garrett is standing over me, grinning ear to ear.

  “We’re the Patrician. We always win,” he says.