by Tracey Ward
“We are not going to hurt you,” he tells them slowly, clearly. “We are going to set you free. Free. Do you understand?”
“Free,” the high voice repeats.
“Yes. Can you come into the light?”
The eyes blink, heads turning toward each other. They whisper to one another furtively before the first face starts to push forward out of the shadows. She comes into the light slowly, her sweet, round face innocent and beautiful with full lips and round, dark eyes. She’s a young girl, probably around eleven, with dirty, wet clothing that hangs from her emaciated body like an afterthought. Behind her comes a girl about my age in exactly the same kind of clothing. Her face is tight, pinched with worry and fear, but her mouth is set firmly. She’s afraid but she’s a fighter. I can see it in her eyes. I remind myself not to move too quickly around her.
Two more girls come out behind her. All in all, they range from the twelve-year-old girl to probably around thirty or so. It’s hard to tell for sure in the dark with their faces painted with fear. It ages a person. I see it in myself every time I look in the mirror.
I smile at them hesitantly. “Can I touch you? Please.”
I don’t know if they understand my words, but when I put my hands out to them, two of them take hold of me without hesitation. Whatever or whoever I am, in their eyes, I have to be better than what they’ve endured here. The thought hurts me down to my soul but I keep on a brave smile as I reach the other two, making contact with all of them at once. They’re surrounding me, that sour smell stronger than ever, and I think it’s their clothes. I wonder why they’re wet in this arid place.
“Don’t be afraid,” I whisper to them reassuringly, wishing they could understand me. Wishing I could take even an ounce of their terror from them.
Nick touches my shoulder from behind me. He squeezes it once gently. He pours a little encouraging energy inside, and just like that, my Slip is happening. We’re flying. We’re free.
I land us in the desert with the boys, exactly where we left them. The women I’ve Slipped with us cling to me hard, fingerprints probably embedding as bruises into my skin. I wince under the pressure, gritting my teeth, but I keep quiet. I wait it out through the pain as they look around in amazement at their new surroundings. Their wide eyes blink against the blinding sun, a far cry from the cave of a cell they were just in. One of them whimpers. Another starts to cry. I wish I knew if it was from fear or from joy, but then I figure it out. They tell me in the only way they can.
The first girl who took my hands hugs me. She yanks me in close and wraps her arms around me tightly, speaking so fast I wouldn’t be able to understand her even if it was in English. But while I can’t understand the words, I understand the meaning. She’s grateful. And so are the other three who collapse around me, squeezing me hard. Hurting me in new ways that I welcome with a laugh.
“I think they’re happy to be out,” I tell the guys.
Campbell grins. “They’re definitely into you, that’s for sure.”
“She’s a woman,” Nick reasons. “They’ve been kept prisoner by men and now Alex busted them out. One of their own. They love her.”
“Probably should have brought Jonnie with us to keep them company while you go back for the rest.”
“Yeah, hindsight’s 20-20 on that one.”
“Naomi,” Beck says darkly.
I snort, gently extricating myself from the ball of love and joy encasing me. I smile at each one of them with all the love in my heart, praying they feel it. “We can’t leave them close to Naomi. She’ll terrify them.”
“Not a problem,” Campbell says quietly, his voice taking a dip down into his chest. “She’s gone.”
I whip around, my blood flooding my veins. He’s right. Naomi is not where we left her. She’s vanished without a trace, not a single footprint leading away from where she stood. But there is a small mound surrounding it. A ripple in the sand forming a perfect circle. I look down at my feet, beyond my stance to the outer edge where the women stood, and I die a little inside when I see what I was looking for. What I was hoping I wouldn’t find. A ring, identical to Naomi’s.
“She Slipped,” I say sadly. “There’s a ring around where she stood, where the energy of the Slip shoved the sand away like a shockwave. I’ve got the same ring around me.”
Campbell, Nick, and Beck double check my assumption, shoulders slacking low when they realize I’m right.
Nick curses under his breath. “She followed us into the prison.”
The sound of a siren rises in the distance, faint but angry. It’s coming from the west. About three miles, I’d say.
What we have lost has just been found.
“Naomi went to the prison?” Beck asks incredulously.
I sigh, slowly backing away from the women. “She followed me there.”
“Kitchen,” one of the women says urgently, watching me go. “Food. Kitchen.”
“There are more of you in the kitchen?” Nick asks carefully.
They nod repeatedly, like they can’t make it stop. I know that feeling.
Nick looks at me hard, his game face on. “Ready to go back?”
“We have to get Naomi first. Then the girls in the kitchen.”
“Do it. On my count. Three. Two.” He takes my hands, giving them a soft squeeze that’s entirely unprofessional for this PJ but perfectly acceptable to me. Maybe even necessary. “One.”
I Slip us back to the cell, deviating from the plan barely ten minutes into it, but I tell myself that’s okay. Nothing ever goes according to plan. Not perfectly. We’re imperfect creatures playing with the laws of life like they’re suggestions. Guidelines. How can you expect anything to run smoothly when you’re working with pure magic?
Or pure evil.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
NICK
The cell Alex Slips us into is not the same one we just Slipped out of. Geographically, yes, it is, but visually, emotionally, it’s not. It’s nothing like it. Nothing on Earth is or ever should be.
The shadows are darker, stronger, filling every ounce of space inside the cell. When we land, I’m not sure we’re out of the void yet. That’s how messed up it is inside. It’s pure darkness, swirling madness and cold that chills you down to the marrow and leaves you shaking afraid. Even me, who can’t feel fear, is put off by the place. I can’t even imagine what it’s like for everyone else. Especially Alex.
I draw my gun, but I do it one-handed, holding onto Alex with the other. I won’t let her go. Not a chance. I keep a stable flow of my energy pouring into her to help keep her steady. To remind her I’m there with her. Always. She clings to my hand with strength in her grip that I didn’t know she had, but I’m glad to feel it because it means she’s there. She’s with me.
Even though I can’t see, I can hear, and it’s pure madness. The siren we heard from a distance is screaming in my ears from overhead. Men are shouting in every direction, from near and far, their cries punctuated by the steady fire of gunshot from automatic weapons. They’re fighting against nothing and that’s exactly what their bullets will do; nothing. Naomi’s nightmares don’t respond to modern weaponry or reason or logic. They don’t respond to anything but her, so that’s what I have to find. I have to get us to the source and shut it off if I can.
“Alex!” I shout over the chaos.
She takes a step closer, hugging my arm with her free hand. “I’m here!”
“We have to find Naomi!”
“She’s right there!”
“Right where? How can you see anything?”
“I can feel her! Can’t you?”
I can’t, and it’s one of those rare times that my lack of fear is a handicap. I’ll have to use Alex’s like a GPS to guide us into the eye of this storm.
“Show me!” I tell her.
Her grip on me flexes. She hesitates for half a second, but then she’s leading me forward. We step slowly, gingerly, trying to avoid tripping on anything in the total
darkness. The sound of metal scraping against metal pierces my eardrums from my left and I think the doors to the cell are being bent or broken. Probably ripped from their hinges in Naomi’s fury. I wonder if that’s why she’s doing this. Did she follow Alex’s Slip and find herself trapped in a cage with no way out, the same way her dad trapped her for all those years? I don’t imagine she’d take well to that. If it were me, I’d lash out. I’d tear the building down around my head if I had the power. And she does. She very obviously does because that’s exactly what she’s doing.
Wind rushes by us, the sound of rubble toppling down somewhere nearby. A wall. A ceiling. Something big has broken and we’re in the center of it.
Alex throws herself against me, burying her face into my neck with a muffled scream. I feel her vibrate, shaking scared, dancing dangerously close to a Slip because that’s what her body is telling her to do.
Get. Out.
I put my mouth by her ear, nuzzling my face into hers. “It’s okay. It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay,” she replies shakily. She’s crying and I’m dying inside. It’s killing me.
“We’ll get her and get out.”
“What about the other girls?”
“Once Naomi is out, we can think about them. But there’s no way we’ll find them in this. Naomi has to go and we’re the only ones who can get her out.” I pause before playing my ace, doing a gut check to make sure I’m not pushing her too far. “They’ll die if she keeps this up. You’re the only one who can save them.”
Alex doesn’t respond right away. She holds onto me for a few seconds longer and I start to heavily consider telling her to Slip us out of here. To let Naomi bring the place down, reduce it to rubble, and we’ll come back to look for survivors when it’s done.
The floor shakes under out feet. It tilts violently, tossing us to the side. I let go of Alex’s hand to wrap my arm around her, to brace her, but she holds on tighter than ever and launches us forward, running us uphill into the dark.
It gets colder the closer we get to Naomi, and surprisingly lighter. It’s still dark, but it’s graying. Shapes take form, black on black outlines of the nightmare as it pours from Naomi’s mouth. I catch a glimpse of her hair, white and wild in the vortex she’s created. In the hole she’s punched in the world that’s swallowing this building up, brick by brick. Her white skin glows violently, casting light. Casting shadow. She’s a supernova star in the center of a dark sky, her face inhuman as her mouth opens too wide to be real, pure evil spilling out of it.
Alex runs toward her, straight into the fray with a power I didn’t know she had. She’s not pulling from me right now. This isn’t one of our tricks. She’s running at Naomi with the force of pure bravery, a feeling I can’t understand, I can’t manufacture, but I respect it because I know how hard it is for her. This is her hell and she’s darting headlong into it.
She calls me her hero, but she’s stronger than she knows. Braver than I’ll ever be. Better than anyone I’ve ever known.
When Alex reaches for Naomi, my heart stops. I worry. I worry so hard I wonder if it’s fear. It’s damn close to it. I’m worried Naomi will throw her off. I’m worried Naomi will swallow her into the void. I’m worried Naomi will kill her on the spot. I’m worried I’ll have to kill Naomi if she tries.
I’m worried I won’t be able to.
Alex’s hand wraps around Naomi’s wrist. Her skin looks dull against the smaller, madder girl’s. It looks so delicately human, it makes me dizzy. Sick inside because she’s a girl against a monster, but that’s the problem everyone has had through all of this. It was Dr. Evans’ downfall. It was Liam’s first mistake.
Everyone underestimates Alex.
When I feel the vibrations start, I give her everything I’ve got. I pour power into her to help her yank Naomi from this corner of the world to the next, and still it’s difficult. Even with both our strengths combined, Naomi does not go willingly. Alex pulls on her again and again, but it’s like trying to move a mountain. Like pulling the sword from the stone, until finally she does it. She gets her footing, ramps up her power, and throws the three of us from the base with all the strength and energy we have between us.
The Slip is bumpy. The worst I’ve ever been on with her, and when we land, I collapse to the ground. I don’t throw up. I’m beyond that. I feel like my head will explode, like I’ve gone blind. Deaf. Dumb. I can’t find my mind for a second. I blink into the ground, taking way too long to realize it’s not sand. It’s wood. Worn hardwood flooring in a warm room with warm light and warm bodies gathering around us.
I try to stand up but I don’t make it very far. I end up on my elbows, my eyes looking blurrily at the rug on the ground. Someone kneels next to me, their face dropping down into view. I stare back, dazed, finally recognizing them. It’s Jonnie.
“What happened?” she asks anxiously, her voice distorted and slow.
I shake my head. “I don’t know. Naomi was tearing the base down. Alex Slipped us out.” I sit up quickly, my head sloshing like it’s full of lukewarm water. “Where’s Alex?”
“She left again. She dropped you and Naomi down in the middle of the living room and Slipped right back out. I think she went back for Max and Marcus.”
“Is Naomi still here?”
Jonnie’s face is dark with concern. “Yeah,” she answers reluctantly. “She’s here. And she’s on full blast.”
Jonnie puts an arm under my shoulders as I try to stand. I hate to admit it, but I wouldn’t make it up without her. I’m weak. Drained from boosting Alex to help her Slip Naomi, and I’m seriously amazed that she had the strength to get out of here again. How is she still Slipping when I can barely stand?
When I’m up, I look down. Naomi is in the center of the rug, her blond hair spilled out over the rough fibers like slashed silk. Her face is peaceful. Her eyes closed. Her skin looks normal, not glowing like it was. Most importantly, the shadows are gone. Her nightmare or whatever it was she was using to destroy that base were left behind when we Slipped her out. She’s neutralized. For now.
“What’s happened?” Liam demands, thundering down the stairs. He misses a step when he sees Naomi, sliding down a couple of the stairs on gravity’s good graces alone before he picks up his pace and runs the rest of the way. He collapses next to his sister, taking her hand and feeling for a pulse. He’s rigid for a long time until finally breathing again when he finds what he’s looking for. She’s alive.
He looks around the group angrily. Everyone is here except for Alex, Campbell, and Beck. Everyone is looking down at his sister with open distrust, fear, and loathing.
“Nick,” he growls. “What is Naomi doing in here? What happened to her?”
“How long have you known she could Slip?” I snap back, leaning heavily on Jonnie as I glare down at him.
Liam’s face blanches immediately. “Naomi can’t Slip.”
“She did. She showed up in the desert when we were prepping to go into the base. She said she followed the light.”
“Alex’s trail,” Jonnie whispers knowingly.
Liam scowls, looking down at his sister for answers. Her eyes are closed, her body still. She’s not giving any. “Impossible.”
“Obviously not. She followed Alex and I to the desert, then she followed us inside the cell where we rescued the prisoners.”
“Did you get all of them out?” Britta asks hopefully.
I shake my head. “Not all. Not yet. We got four of the six Jonnie told us about, but when we went back for the rest, Naomi was tearing the place apart. We couldn’t see a thing, but we could hear the building in chaos. Slipping her out was the only way to stop it before she killed everyone.”
Liam raises his head slowly. “You Slipped her away while she was in the middle of…”
“Finish that sentence,” I challenge him, too tired to care about being nice. Naomi almost killed Alex and I today. I’m not being polite about this crap anymore. “I dare you to find a nice w
ay to say she was vomiting horror all over the place because that’s what she was doing. Same thing she did on the island, on the boat, only much, much bigger.”
“You’ve killed her,” he whispers vehemently.
“Is she breathing?”
“Yes.”
“Then she isn’t dead.”
“Do you know why we never Slipped you while you were inside your stones?” he demands, rising to his feet. “Do you have any idea?!”
“You said it would destroy him,” Brody answers quietly, his eyes on the girl on the floor.
“Exactly! And that’s what you’ve done. You’ve destroyed her mind. The monster you saw at the base, it’s still there, Nick! It’s part of her. She’s still with it. She didn’t retrieve it, so where do you think it went?”
“What?” I bark back. “You’re saying if you Slipped me while I was making it rain blood, it would have rained blood forever?”
“Until the day you died. Only then would your creation finally die with you.”
“Wait,” Justin butts in, glancing uncertainly between us. “You’re saying her monster will keep tearing things up in that desert until she dies?”
“Or until she goes back and shuts it down,” Brody answers.
We all look down at Naomi. Her eyes are still closed. She doesn’t show a single sign of waking up any time soon, meaning her monster will wreak havoc on the world for as long as it likes.
That can’t be good.
I take my weight off of Jonnie, standing on my own two feet. I shake my head at Liam as my hands shake with exhaustion at my sides. “I didn’t know.”
“You didn’t think because you’re careless,” he spits with disgust. “You and Alex, you’re childish. You’re impulsive, playing with things you don’t understand. Any lives lost by this miscalculation will be on your head, not Naomi’s.”
“That’s not fair,” Britta argues hotly. “You can’t put that on Nick.”
“It’s fine,” I tell her blandly.