The Night Market

by Rawlins, Zachary

  “This is folly, girl! Madness!”

  “It is neither,” Yael said boldly, glaring at him with withering contempt. “It is a declaration of war. I will oppose you and the whole of the Outer Dark.”

  She didn’t know where the words came from, but they sounded right, so she was grateful. He might have said something more, but it was unintelligible and she was already headed for the door, her heart racing and her legs shaking so powerfully that she worried they wouldn’t hold her up long enough for her to make it out of the car, passing otherworldly eyes in the shadow.

  ***

  “Impossible. The chances...”

  “Outcome renders chance irrelevant.”

  Autumn has come to her parent’s estate and the air is saturated with the smell of burning leaves, as the garden staff struggles to control acres of ancient maple. Later, she will jump in the piles that indulgent servants arrange for her, carefully fishing out errant sticks before they let her leap into the crackling leaves, as brilliant as if she were jumping into fire.

  Camping under the unreal stars of the Waste, exposed and predatory. She cannot sleep, but when she sits up, the fire has gone cold and Jenny has disappeared. In her place, Fenrir sits with his eyes livid with laughter and unspeakable, sensual malice.

  Watching a log burn in the great fireplace in her father’s library, a room that she has never actually seen her father visit. Her brother is reading at the big desk, but she prefers the deep purple animal skin by the fire, soft as silk, tickling her bare legs when she changes position. She turns the book over and over again, but the words remain unreadable no matter what she does.

  Picking gravel out of a scraped knee, watching her hopelessly bent bicycle tire rotate slowly with the dwindling momentum of her fall.

  “The consequences...”

  A compass that will not point north, regardless of the direction she faces.

  An empty zoo, the cages leering at her as she wanders silent pathways, acutely aware of the noise of her footsteps.

  Finding Elian in the storm drains beneath the old city by the smell of his horrid cigars, his oddly shy smile and the constant threat of violence from his presence, making her aware of him in a way that she had never been with a boy previously. She is happy to see him and was sure to put on eyeliner and touch-up her nail polish, with the same care that she readied the can of mace in her front pocket. The outlines of his rangy torso underneath a cartoon t-shirt that is far too large, and a funny feeling in her stomach.

  She is chewing gum, but her mouth is too full. If she swallows, she will choke, so instead she grinds her teeth together, like trying to bite through a wad of cotton.

  Watching the sunset from the roof, sitting on the railing of the widow’s walk with her brother’s hand resting lightly on the top of her freckled back. His name so close that she turned to him to speak.

  “And the consequences of inaction?”

  ***

  Yael woke with a maddening urge to sneeze and Tobi curled, purring on her chest, his tail tickling her nose. Something about the cabin was wrong, unsettling. It took a moment to place it.

  “Jenny,” she exclaimed, setting the sleepy and resentful cat aside so she could lean down to the bunk beneath her. “The train is slowing down. We are here! The city! We made it!”

  “Any other way you wanna point out the obvious?” Jenny sat up and stretched; casually tearing away whatever bandages didn’t rip apart in the process. “We started slowing down an hour ago.”

  “Oh. Fine, then.”

  Yael hopped down from her bunk and trotted to the adjoining bathroom. A quick wash of her face and brush of her teeth later, along with a change of socks and underwear, and she felt ready to face whatever the day brought. She was still apprehensive, but at least she felt more or less clean. When she came back in the room, Jenny was pulling her sweatshirt on with obvious pain and difficulty, while Tobi paced restlessly from one side of the windowsill to the other.

  “How close are we, Tobi?”

  “We are approaching the tunnel now. The city is on the other side of the mountain. Five minutes, no more.”

  The train abruptly plunged into darkness, lit only by the feeble gas lamps. Jenny grimaced as she worked her head out of her battered red hoodie. Yael noticed the blood on the hand that had been partially bisected, clucked her tongue in disapproval and grabbed the first aid kit from off the table.

  “No, it’s okay,” Jenny grumbled. “I’m totally good.”

  “Oh, really?” Yael said, gesturing at the small but growing pool of blood between Jenny’s sneakers. “Give me your hand.”

  When Jenny moved too slowly, Yael snatched it from her, setting it carefully on a piece of gauze spread across her thigh, then began to clean and sterilize it.

  “You should let me take a look at the other ones, too.”

  “No thanks,” Jenny said, inexplicably flinching when Yael tried to apply antiseptic, requiring her to take a firmer hold of her wrist. “I’m fine. I heal really fast.”

  Yael had to admit that was true. Jenny’s hand had been cut almost in half not twelve hours before, but now she had little more than an ugly wound between her fingers, extending to the palm of her hand – unpleasant, to be sure, but not dire.

  “That’s good, given how stupid you are. You should probably get a tetanus shot, you know.”

  “A what-shot?”

  “Tetanus? You know, when you cut yourself on metal? It’s almost always fatal.”

  “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

  “Never mind,” Yael said, unrolling fresh bandages. “You never told me. What do you plan on doing here?”

  “This and that,” Jenny evaded, still trying to wriggle away from Yael’s ministrations. “Getting into trouble. The usual.”

  “None of those are answers.”

  “Well, they are as close to answers as you are getting.”

  “How will you find Fenrir again?”

  “I won’t,” Jenny said, pulling her hand free and poking at the bandage until Yael smacked her hand away. “He’s not my dog, Yael. We are associates. And he is dangerous – particularly to you.”

  Yael pulled Jenny’s sweatshirt up and then shook her head at the ugly wound in her shoulder. It wasn’t infected, but she could still see yellow fat exposed beneath the skin. She sighed and started with the antiseptic.

  “Why to me?”

  “Because you are a nice girl, Yael. And that’s what Fenrir likes.”

  “Then why is he with you?”

  “Ha! Not bad. We like the same things, I guess.”

  “You are getting quite good at it, you know.”

  Jenny paused in her struggles to look confused.

  “The hell are you talking about?”

  “Well, until then,” Yael said, frowning. “Your language has improved. I think I have had a positive impact on you.”

  She meant to tease, to distract from the pain of the disinfectant, the process of bandaging the open wound. But when she glanced at Jenny’s face, she was surprised to see her giving it serious thought.

  “Maybe you’re right, Yael.”

  The whistle as the train pulled into the station startled all three of them. Tobi almost jumped right into the window.

  “Whatever you need to do, I would suggest you do it now,” Tobi urged. “We have arrived. The ticket checkers will be here momentarily.”

  “Right,” Jenny said, pushing Yael away and straightening her hoodie. “Things to do, people to see, all that.”

  “You mean the people who are about to inquire regarding your lack of a ticket?”

  Jenny threw the nearest object at hand, fortunately a pillow, in Tobi’s direction.

  “Like you got a ticket, vermin.”

  “I don’t need one,” Tobi said proudly, his nose in the air. “Cats come and go between worlds as we please. It is our prerogative.”

  “I am going to put your dumb ass in a bag and drown you.”

  “
Can’t I get us all in with my key?”

  They paused their argument and looked at Yael in surprise. She busied herself with packing her bag, keeping her face down so they couldn’t see her embarrassment.

  “No,” Tobi said, with a trace of pity. “That is for you alone, Yael.”

  Jenny unexpectedly nodded in agreement.

  “It’s right.”

  “He. He is right.”

  Yael pulled her windbreaker on over a long sleeved t-shirt. The key rested snugly inside in her shirt.

  “Then, what will you do?”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Jenny said fondly, patting her on the shoulder. “I’ll get it worked out.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  Jenny grabbed Yael firmly by both shoulders.

  “Don’t you start worrying about me,” she ordered. “Because I am worse than Fenrir.”

  “You are my friend, Jenny. I am not concerned with what else you may or may not be.”

  That shut Jenny up for a few moments, which was a tremendous victory in Yael’s eyes.

  Until Jenny started shaking her, the way she always did when she had a point to make.

  “Yael, I need you to understand something. Whatever you are trying to do – don’t tell me, I don’t wanna know – you have enemies that it shouldn’t be possible for one girl to make. There won’t be anybody you can trust in the city. The Outer Dark can get to anyone, they will find the leverage. I know from experience. Hell, they could be almost anyone they wanted, if they decide to get their hands dirty. You can’t trust anyone. Do you understand me?”

  Yael shook her head and nodded at the same time.

  “Yes – well, I suppose. But, Jenny, surely...”

  “Hush,” Jenny commanded, leaning close to plant a kiss on Yael’s partially open mouth. Jenny’s lips tasted of bubble gum. She smelled like iodine and Band-Aids. “You have to do this on your own, Yael. You will never be sure who your enemies are. You need to understand or someone is going to take advantage of your trust.”

  Yael brushed her lips with her hand, still in shock.

  “I think you just did...”

  “Anybody else, I’d say they were screwed. You, though? You don’t need help, Yael. Me and your cat friend would only get in the way. I don’t know what it is about you, Princess, but I don’t see anything stopping you.”

  “I’ve simply been lucky...”

  “Yeah. Like meeting the cat. Or my sorry ass. Or a hundred other little things since I started hanging out with you. When people get lucky as often as you do, Yael, there is something more to it.”

  “I’m not sure I follow...”

  The train shuddered to a halt and Yael clung to Jenny’s arm for support, almost sending the both of them tumbling. The sound of the wheels slowing was immense and painful.

  “We are here. The ticket checkers will come to this cabin shortly. Be ready,” Tobi warned, moving from his perch by the window to the vacant bunk beside the door. “Yael and I will leave first. I cannot wish you luck, Jenny Frost, as I know you for what you are, but I am grateful for the aid you provided to Yael nonetheless.”

  “I hope you get run over in the street, you filthy animal,” Jenny said fondly, throwing the first aid kit, case and all, in the cat’s direction, splattering the wall with medical supplies and earning a hiss from Tobi. “Warn Ulthar that I’m coming. You know what I want. If you all know what’s good for you, you will stay out of my way.”

  “I will keep that in mind,” Tobi said, cleaning the extruded claws on one of his forepaws. “And I will deliver your message.”

  “What are you two talking ab – ”

  The door to the cabin rattled open, silencing Yael. Two men crowded into the entrance of the car, wearing elaborate and antiquated uniforms and holsters with very modern guns. The one who led the way wore a blue hat that matched his uniform and looked very much like it should belong to a drum major. He stuck out his arm, palm extended, as rigid as a statue.

  “Passport?”

  Yael hesitated for a moment, drenched in uncertainty. Then she fished out the Silver Key from beneath her jacket and let it dangle in the light a few inches above the ticket-checkers palm. He examined it closely, then looked over at Yael with beady, inquisitive eyes. The seconds ticked by endlessly before he gave a curt nod, the tassels on his hat bouncing.

  “Welcome to the Nameless City.”

  He motioned for her to walk through the door. Yael hesitated for a moment, glancing from Tobi to Jenny, then she stumbled forward, pushed by Jenny past the suspicious looking ticket-checkers.

  Tobi hopped down from the bunk into the center of the room, stretched, then yawned and sauntered between the ticket-checkers, who, to Yael’s shock, bowed with obvious deference.

  “Always a pleasure to see you, sir.”

  “I’m not certain that will be true on this occasion, though I do wish you well. The other human lacks a passport and is armed. Be extraordinarily cautious. Backup would be an excellent idea.”

  “Vermin,” Jenny said, grinning at the cat. “Die in a fire.”

  “Tobi!” Yael paused at the mouth of the corridor in horror, staring at the indifferent cat, the suspicious ticket-checkers, Jenny. “Why would you...?”

  “Another time,” Tobi grumbled, urging Yael along. “Come along quickly, would you?”

  “The cat says you don’t have a ticket,” the lead ticket-checker said coldly, one hand on his sidearm. “Is that true?”

  The other guard held a frantic conference with a crackling radio. Though much of what he said was code, Yael assumed that he was calling for help.

  “Why bother lying?” Jenny shrugged, her hands buried in her front pockets. “Guilty as charged.”

  “The Nameless City is restricted,” the ticket-checker said sternly, pulling his gun and chambering a round, though he kept it pointed down. “You will need to come with me.”

  “Right,” Jenny agreed, walking casually to meet him before he could warn her away, then jabbing him in the stomach with her shock prod. He convulsed and gritted his teeth, making an awful sound before he hit the floor.

  The ticket-checker behind him had good reflexes. He spent relatively little time swearing, immediately shifting his attention from the radio to the gun in his holster. He managed to get the pistol free and took a firing position, but the cabin was too small. Jenny cleared the distance between them with ease before he could take aim. She stepped close, batting the gun aside with a forearm, then drove her shock prod into his belly. He only fell to his knees, then Jenny soccer-kicked him in the side of the head, leaving him moaning in a pile on the ground.

  “Oh, God,” Yael whispered. “Why is this happening?”

  “We need to leave,” Tobi urged, winding around her ankles urgently. “We must get out of here before more help arrives and this gets really ugly.”

  “Listen to the kitty,” Jenny advised, taking a bottle from one of her pockets and removing the cap. “You don’t wanna be here, Yael.”

  Jenny upended the bottle on top of the two prostrate men, pausing briefly to shock one of them when he tried to struggle to his feet. Even in the train corridor, Yael could smell the sharp odor of lamp oil.

  “Jenny, what are you doing?” Yael demanded. “Please stop this.”

  “Run away, Princess. Do what you came here to do,” Jenny said, cursing as the first match in her cardboard book refused to light. “Time for us to part ways. We both got what we needed.”

  Yael pulled her mask down over her face so that her expression would remain private. She followed Tobi toward the door and the bleak sunlight beyond it, stumbling and weaving as she went, disoriented by a persistent feeling of unreality, a nagging suspicion that she would wake up.

  “Hey, Yael,” Jenny called out cheerfully, her face demonic in the firelight as the accelerant caught, yelling to be heard above the screams. “It was fun. I’ll see you around, okay?”

  11. The Generous Enemy

  Slee
p is the most precious commodity and the autonomic nervous system’s primary treason. Puffy red eyes at three in the morning, words blurring on a yellowed page of text. Narcotic mercy and amphetamine logic. Consensus separates a memory from a dream.

  Yael ran after the cat, sometimes brushing against other people headed the opposite direction, too hopelessly out of breath to apologize. She darted through traffic after the dancing point of his tail, shuddering at the proximity of the blaring horns. Yael sprinted across empty pavement until her lungs hurt and was forced to stop. Tobi came back for her, which was good, because she didn’t have the energy to catch up.

  The city was either an architect’s nightmare or perverse fantasy. Ancient gambrel rooftops competed for space with the gentle curvature of domes and minarets. Neon adorned the arches of century-old commercial buildings, blocks of dark green stone cut and drilled to allow modern utilities. At the level of the buckled and uneven asphalt, the streets were lined with dusty and heavily-curtained stores. Sidewalks and alleys were crammed with vendors and sidewalk kitchens. Every third building was a tenement, crawling with a dense and diverse population. There was an overwhelming array of signage in the universal language of Babel, which no one seemed to find remarkable. Yael’s mouth watered at the scents of fresh bread and curry, stewing tomatoes and fried garlic.

  “I can’t believe I finally made it,” Yael said, pausing at an intersection to allow traffic to pass and to admire the buildings. The lack of planning was dizzying and grotesque, antique wooden houses cheek-and-jowl with gothic skyscrapers and brutalist concrete apartment buildings. “This is amazing. I think.”

  “This city is many things, including a grave for the unwary. You aren’t out of the woods yet.”

  “I thought you said that you had friends here? That all we had to do was make it to the Night Market?”

  Tobi paused and looked back at her as if she were the difficult one.

  “It isn’t that simple, I’m afraid. The Night Market isn’t the kind of place one simply goes to. First, we need to find someone who knows when and where the market will be held, someone who can offer us protection and guide us to its current location.”