Rifts

by Nicole Hamlett

  I crouched down and moved silently down the hallway, the blue lights casting shadows across my skin.

  Voices drifted down a dark hallway. I had to stop breathing for a moment to catch what they were saying, it was so quiet.

  "So you've done it then?"

  "Yes my lady. I've slain the child." Hope's voice took on a dreamy quality. It sounded like she was on drugs. If she was high, I wasn't going to kill her quick. I was going to make it slow and painful so she could sober up enough to feel the skin slicing off of her flesh with each swipe of my blades.

  "Good girl," the stranger replied. "You've been such a good girl. I think that tonight, you get to have sweet dreams as a reward. Wouldn't you like that, Hope? I've hated giving you those nightmares, but it's so important to follow through with your threats."

  "Yes Lyssa," she replied softly. "It would be good to sleep at peace. Will you send me my beloved?"

  "Don't get greedy," Lyssa huffed. "I'd hate to have to rescind your reward."

  I came to a complete halt in the hallway, stunned by the conversation I'd just heard. Who was this Lyssa person, and why would she send Hope to kill my son? The hairs on the back of my neck prickled and I crouched at the last second as a blade whispered past my ear. Shit. I really needed to start paying attention. This anger was going to get my head chopped off.

  I reversed the hold on my kukri and stabbed backwards before spinning around to meet my attacker. "Well, now. That's not nice, trying to take a woman's head off before you've even properly introduced yourself," I said.

  "I was wondering when you'd notice me. Hunter training has become completely inadequate if you didn't even hear me clomping down the hall," he said with a leer. This was my first good look at my would-be opponent. Thin, without being emaciated and a shock of white hair that haloed his head in spiky lengths. A rapier rested in his long, tapered fingers, swishing back and forth as he mocked me.

  I rolled my eyes at him and replied, "C'mon. Less talk, more fighting."

  "Oh, I can fight and talk at the same time," he said with a lunge.

  "Bully for you," I replied with another roll of my eyes as I batted the tip of his sword away with one kukri, slashing down with the other at the same time. I caught his rapier at the hilt and broke the blade away. It clattered to the floor and I stepped back, raising a mocking brow.

  I should have just killed him right there, but I was in the mood for a fight, and he'd have to do. "What you got now?"

  His smile was slow and filled with malice. "I have so much more in store for you. I am going to have such fun cutting strips of skin off of that pretty little body of yours. I may even keep you around for a bit after I've cut your head off." Then he winked at me. Ew.

  What do you say to that? If he wanted to monologue, that was fine. I was spoiling for a good old fashioned ruckus, though. He could talk all he wanted, as long as I got to beat the shit out of him in the end. I shrugged and whirled, slashing with both swords. One arm shot for his neck, the other for his abdomen. He moved impossibly fast, dodging my swings with a laugh.

  He called in a pair of kukri that were twins of mine and bowed with a flourish. I didn't even wait for him to start talking. I spun, slashing downwards toward the back of his neck, my swords a blur. The move threw him off balance and he frowned at me for the first time.

  "Well, that was unsportsmanlike," he complained.

  I shrugged and jabbed. My food shot out and caught his hip, spinning him with enough force to put him off balance. My swords didn't stop. They were extensions of my arms, flowing outward in a beautiful dance of blood and pain. I slashed again and struck out, flaying skin from his arm. Without stopping I asked, "Whose skin did you say?"

  His blade whipped up in anger, cutting through my tunic and scraping along the ribs on my left side. I shut down the need to cry out with the pain and kept moving. "Food isn't supposed to talk," he spat angrily.

  "You know, according to the X-Files – eating human flesh makes you crazy. I'm just saying, maybe you should lay off." I ducked a slice and parried the other sword, crossing mine together and shoving forward. He bounced off a light fixture and growled at me before lunging.

  Yeah, I could get into this. I held off on using my new powers. I wanted a brutal sword fight that was slow and dirty. The more pain I felt physically, the less I'd feel emotionally, right?

  I wasn't thinking about Dylan or Drew right now. I was thinking about the dick in front of me who'd nearly sliced off an ear and wanted to eat the rest for breakfast. "What's wrong, big boy? Can't take it when someone talks back?"

  He rushed at me with a burst of speed and laid my arm open from shoulder to elbow. "That all you got?" I taunted. I caught him in the back with the same elbow and shoved him off balance before striking with my other kukri, giving him a new matching scar.

  "I'm just tenderizing you for when Lyssa gets here, love. She'll do so much worse to you than I ever could."

  Delay tactics. I hated them. I wrote them in my books. It was a solid way for the minion to keep the action plodding along until the big bad swooped in to wreak havoc on the surrounding heroes. I wasn't going to let that happen to me. I needed to wrap this up. "Listen, I'm not looking for a date here, if you're trying to seduce me with your saucy wit. I'd like to get this over with, if you don't mind."

  My body ducked his incoming slash and I stabbed upward catching him low as I slipped on the bloodied floor. My kukri pierced his thigh and slid through. His body tensed as he grunted, but he never stopped.

  His sword jabbed down and caught me in the shoulder. Okay, yes. I should have killed him sooner. I grunted and thrust, a little slower this time. That threw him off. He was in super-speed mode and his blade preceded mine, leaving him wide open.

  My smile was pure evil as my weapon slid home, pinning him to the wall momentarily before I pulled back. I could hear someone coming and the spot between my shoulder blades tensed.

  "I would love to stay and play a little longer, but I just don't have the time. So sorry," I said with a slight smirk. I urged the adrenaline to kick in and flew toward him. Everything was a blur as I raised my arm. My kukri slid through his neck and out the other side. Hmmm, I guess I'd expected some resistance, but the blade melted through the tendons and bone as though they were so many strands of silk.

  His head dropped to the floor with a meaty slap and rolled a few inches before stopping at my feet. I gagged a little at the ease with which I'd ended his life and tried not to look into his blank eyes. This couldn't be it. There had to be something more that I had to do to make sure he stayed dead. I certainly didn't want him coming back after I'd gone through all the trouble of killing him.

  Biting my lip, I considered what options I had available in a pinch. The battle hadn't taken long, but we'd made enough noise to gain notice. I could hear movement down the hall. Shit. Closing my eyes, I picked up the head and opened a small Rift to Olympus and chucked the mass through. Man, I really hoped he couldn't grow a new head. I sealed the rift and sprinted toward the end of the hall. Ducking behind a pillar, I held my breath, knowing that if I exhaled someone would find me.

  The adrenaline that had been feeding me was gone with the fight, only to be replaced with grief. I should have stayed with Dylan. What kind of monster had I become to leave him alone? Heph had told me to let the Healers do their jobs. I couldn't stop dwelling on the scene, though. There had been so much blood. It was my fault he was there with his neck sliced open. If only I hadn't been born. If only I hadn't let Drew touch me in the first place, none of this would have happened.

  That thought stopped me cold. Wait a moment. I hadn't known. I threw up my diamond mental shield and tried to recall any mention of a Lyssa and what her powers were.

  "Ah," purred a voice close by. "You've discovered me, it seems. It's unfortunate for your sister that she didn't have the mental fortitude that you have. Maybe then she wouldn't be in her room sobbing over the fact that she's just killed a small child."

&nbs
p; "This is true. And then maybe there wouldn't be a headless body at the end of the hallway. So many things that we can't take back," I replied with snark. Old Grace would have stepped from behind the pillar and engaged. Yeah, I wasn't that girl anymore. I stayed where the Hell I was and waited for her reaction.

  "Dead bodies happen by the dozens here, dear. Nothing to be concerned about, I'm sure."

  Heh, like I was going to fall for her false reassurances. "Well you know, I could say that I haven't wanted to kill a smart-assed Goth kid before – but I'd be lying."

  That got a response. She gasped and I could hear the click-clacking of her shoes as she ran down the hallway toward the headless body. I was already sprinting in the other direction when I heard her howls of anguish.

  Not knowing the layout of the place was a problem and while I didn't want to get caught, using my speed for any prolonged amount of time was just a bad idea. I had a job here and that was to get Hope and get the fuck out.

  Before my little tête-à-tête with Lyssa, I would have just lobbed Hope’s head off here, but I wanted to get her back to Olympus now. I needed to see if Zeus could figure out what the hell was going on inside of her mind.

  I turned a corner and crashed into a solid mass. Fuck.

  "What are you doing here?" The question was asked in a peevish voice.

  I looked up and saw Hope staring me down. Perfect! I whipped my sword hilt up and knocked her upside the temple before she could recover. Her body dropped like a sack of bricks. "Well, that was much easier than I thought it would be," I muttered.

  For some reason I didn't think we were off-world so I grabbed Hope's arm and thought, 'Click those ruby red slippers Dorothy, because I want to go home.’ I was slightly afraid that we'd end up in Colorado Springs and that I'd have to try to get to Olympus again, but oddly enough – we landed in Heph's forge. Uh, when did I start thinking of Hephaestus’ place as home?

  Hope collapsed in a heap at my feet and I kicked her once as an afterthought, before looking around for Heph.

  "Hephaestus! I need you!" I called out to the empty structure, waiting for him to answer.

  "Well, that was quick," was his dry response.

  "Yeah, did you guys get my present?"

  "Oh, that was from you? I should have known that having the severed head of Momus come flying out of nowhere - to smack Athena in the face - would be a gift from you. Care to explain?"

  "I don't know who Momus is, but he was trying to kill me. I lopped off his head and didn't know if it would keep him dead. I need all of the information you have on Lyssa and also," I kicked Hope again. "I need to figure out what to do with her. Whoever this Lyssa is, she's been controlling Hope's mind. I wanted to kill her, but something stopped me. Where did they take Dylan? Can you hold on to this bitch while I check on my kid?"

  Heph wrapped his arms around me and squeezed. "Okay first, you need to take a deep breath because I can practically see your head spinning. You're thinking too much. Second, yes I will take care of the bitch while you go visit your son. He's in Zeus' Lab and he's fine. I was just there."

  I nodded shortly. "Okay. I'll talk to Z about what to do with her. I think maybe we can get some information from her mind. Then I'll kill her. It will be great…and satisfying. Uh, don't let Drew know that she's here. He'll probably try to rescue her or something. I don't want to have to kill him too."

  "Right. That would be bad. Last I checked, you aren't supposed to go around killing the love of your life off, Grace."

  I paused at that and lowered my head. "Yeah, I was wrong. I don't think he's the love of my life after-all. I'll be back as soon as I can." I took a step, visualized Zeus' Lab and disappeared.

  Chapter 22

  A trail of blood led from the door to the table where my son lay. My stomach clenched and I doubled over, trying desperately not to howl. How did this happen? I could point out all of the bad decisions, the mistakes, and the wrong moves here. I wanted to. God, I wanted to flay myself alive right now for putting him in danger.

  "He's not dead, Grace. Your blood saved him," Zeus said quietly, placing a hand on my back.

  "But he's lying on that table because of me. That makes this all bad."

  "No, he's lying on that table because of Nyx. Don't forget that. No matter what you've done - or what you believe you've done - he's here because of that crazy bitch. The only way to keep him safe is to keep her there. Don't fool yourself into believing anything else. Right now, you're thinking of running and hiding because the pain is too much for you to bear. But running doesn't solve anything and there is nowhere you can hide from her."

  My eyes were closed and hands fisted. Of course he read my mind. Of course he knew exactly what to say to me. Seeing Dylan lying here unconscious and broken killed something inside of me. It shattered into a thousand pieces. The compassion and understanding I'd felt for Hope while pulling her out of that place was gone. I was able to thrust Lyssa out of my head. She should have been able to, too. Lyssa had only made my own doubts stronger. Hope wanted to hurt me. She had wanted to hurt my son.

  I shrugged off the anger and walked over to the table. Dylan was still covered in blood but the gaping slash in his neck had sealed itself. I took hold of his hand and remembered a time when it wasn't bigger than mine. He always wanted to compare because he was sure that five minutes from now he'd be bigger and faster and stronger than I was.

  "Heph has Hope secured at his forge. Will you go and try to get whatever information from her that you can…before I go back to kill her?"

  "Are you sure that's what you want to do?"

  "Yeah, I'm sure." The words sounded brittle and cold. It didn't matter. She wouldn't receive mercy from me.

  "You're not that kind of woman, Grace. You think you are right now, but I know better. The woman who survived what you have wouldn't kill someone solely for vengeance."

  I looked him directly in the eye and said coldly, "If you'd tortured my son, I would be. I don't matter. I've never mattered. But he's everything good and wonderful in this world. She fucked up when she messed with that. She doesn't get to live after this. I don't care what she's suffered. Better I put her out of her misery. Do I want her to hurt as much as I do right now? Yeah. I do. I want her to feel this wrenching pain. I want her to know how I feel. But more than that, I want her out of this world."

  "So you'll make it quick?"

  "I don't know," I answered honestly. "It depends on how I'm feeling toward her at the time, and whether or not my kid wakes up. Has he been conscious at all?" I squeezed Dylan's hand, hoping to hear his voice.

  "Not yet."

  "Go, attend to Hope. I'll be fine here in the meantime." I nodded at the door, willing him to leave me to be with my son.

  Instead he wrapped me in a hug and whispered, "Everything will be okay."

  That ended me. I collapsed to my knees and began to sob. The wave of emotion I'd been holding back crashed over me like a tsunami on a killing spree. It was too much. Everything that had happened in my life for the last year was too much. I remember thinking that my life was boring and it needed a little spicing up. I remembered thinking on day I'd signed the divorce papers that nothing would ever hurt as much. I was wrong.

  "Mom?" Dylan's voice cracked with that word. I pulled myself up and ran my fingertips over his forehead.

  "Bubby? Are you awake? It's Mom. I'm here. Talk to me." Leaning in, I pressed my lips against his temple. My tears mixed with the blood on his face causing pink rivulets to run down onto the table.

  "Where am I?" he asked groggily.

  "You're here with me. How are you feeling? Are you okay?"

  "My throat hurts. What happened?"

  "You were hurt in an accident, baby. It's okay, though. You'll be just fine."

  "I feel sticky."

  "I know. There was a lot of blood. But we'll get you in a shower as soon as you can move around without falling down." I gathered his body up into my arms and hugged him to me for all that I was w
orth. "I love you. I love you so much and I'm sorry that this happened. I promise that it won't ever happen again."

  His arms weakly encircled me and squeezed. "It's okay Mom. I'm okay. You can't always be there to keep me safe. This is kind of the life that we live now."

  I sat back, wiped my eyes and let out a bitter laugh. "When did you get so much smarter than me?"

  "Uh, when I was five?"

  "Har! You're a funny kid!" I hugged him tighter and he squeaked. "Oh, sorry. I just wasn't sure you were going to make it through this one, buddy." My voice broke at the end and the tears kicked back up.

  "Mom, from what I understand, you're pretty indestructible. So I should be too, right?"

  "Oh," I paused and thought about it. "Right."

  Zeus chose that time to come back. "I see that our patient is up and getting an eye shower."

  "What's an eye shower?" Dylan asked.

  "It’s what you get when your mom can't stop the waterworks."

  I groaned at the absurdity of his joke and shook my head. "You are such a dork."

  "What is this ‘dork’ you speak of? Is it fantastic?"

  Dylan and I glanced at each other and he laughed. "Yeah, it's something like that," I replied.

  "You need to stop bathing him with your ridiculous tears, Grace. The boy needs something to eat and I want to monitor him for a bit before I let him go."

  "I know you're not kicking me out," I said with a raised eyebrow.

  "Actually, I am. You have duties to attend to…and an explanation to give on a certain severed head," he replied with an eyebrow raised just a fraction higher than mine.

  "And if I don't leave?"