Between (Alternate Places Book 2)

by Power, P. S.

  In the Node room, they hid, Maria gesturing for quiet and looking out the door occasionally. After several minutes, she spun suddenly after popping her head out.

  “They're coming! Quick, go through the line!” Her words held urgency, even though no one had been out in the hallway at all, not even normal traffic.

  “I'm out!” Cruxias glared at her. “Pass me some power, quick!” He held out his hand, expecting her to give a bit of her own energy to him, so that he could flee. Instead she took his arm and rushed past him into the line.

  “No time! They're here!” She yelled, pulling him into the Node with her.

  “What, that's not... Line Walker!”

  Maria walked onto the void, taking the Demon with her. She was impressed at his quick uptake however. She really didn't look like Zack at all. Even the tight blue jeans she wore were her own, bought off the back of a truck, for a very good price.

  In the void, Cruxias it turned out, wasn't a Demon at all, being larger by far than any of that kind Zack had ever seen. He reminded him of the arch-Demons he had seen once, though slightly smaller. Slightly less powerful.

  Cruxias kicked off from him suddenly, moving through the void easily, twisting and laughing, the Demon, Arch-Demon Zack figured, called out to him.

  Did you really think you could just lure me here and kill me like some kind of insect? I think not.

  The space around Zack began to boil, his left hand, what would be his left hand, bubbling away suddenly, he moved right, fast, focusing his mind to as near a single point as possible without ceasing to be. Cruxias slowed greatly, until his movements crawled compared to Zack's. He fired back, using his own abilities, which looked a little different, but had a similar effect on space near the other being.

  They went back and forth like this for a while, days, months, it finally seemed. Neither one giving ground. The space around them soon became littered with disruptions that couldn't be passed through, which gave Zack an idea.

  Cruxias, kept talking, trying to distract him, though he barely noticed it.

  Do you know why I had the woman killed? Why I raped you over and over again as a child? Not for my own pleasure! I did it because those were my orders.

  A wash of disrupted space moved close to Zack, nearly taking him, he returned, missing, hitting a spot behind the other, then tried again, with similar effect.

  Everything has been about stopping you, even before you became anything worth bothering over at all. That is how brilliant my master is! And now I'll destroy you for good, fulfilling his plan!

  Another wash of disruption came for him, again taking part of his self with it, this time what would be his right leg in the physical realm.

  Zack struck again and again, missing each time, forming a rough half sphere behind the giant shape of Cruxias.

  Now, Zack realized, after more time had passed, if he could distract him for only a moment.

  Your master is so clever? Did it ever occur to you that your master made me what I am? If you'd have taken me camping instead of selling me to sex slavers, we wouldn't be here now! Maybe the plan isn't what you've been told at all? Think about it. You made me into what I am!

  This caused Cruxias to pause, if only for the barest instant. In that moment, Zack struck, forcing the Arch-Demon back into the sphere he had carved into space, leaving only the option of moving into that hollow bowl, sealing the front off.

  Then, carefully, Zack closed the space within off, filling it with greater and greater disruption, keeping this going for days, focusing almost to the point of dissolving himself into space. After a time, through his total focus, he heard it. The voice of his oldest friend, the Big Shadow. Awareness took a while longer however, and the message had to be repeated for him.

  It is gone now, destroyed. You cannot profit from destroying it more. Let this go now, Little Shadow. You've done well. Better than any could have hoped, but we have things to do, before you can go home.

  Zack finally stopped, after a very long time.

  I.... don't think I can go back now. Too much of me is gone, destroyed in the fight. If I leave here now, like this, I'll simply die.

  A chuckle resonated through space then.

  Don't worry, this damage, in this space, is within my right to fix. Our enemy has sent an Arch-Demon after you, bending the rules more than a bit, from the moment that Cruxias did more than what a Demon could. It's fair, I think.

  Things went black for Zack. When he could think again, he found himself whole.

  Then, instead of sending him home immediately, Big Shadow insisted that he clean up the mess he'd made. It took a long time, but eventually he smoothed the space around them back into the calm pool it had been before he had gotten there.

  The Big Shadow left him then, signaling that it was time for him to go home.

  He stepped back into the Candles and More, it being the most familiar Node to him in all existence.

  Then, after a single step, Maria, whose form he still wore, collapsed, everything going dark again.

  Chapter fifteen

  For once, even though it had been a hard fight, Zack realized that he could wake up on his own, and didn't even need more healing. As he climbed to his feet, one of his breasts bumped into his arm, reminding him that he still wore the Maria form, not his normal one.

  Lisa came out of her office and gaped at the woman in front of her, whose clothing was missing over the left upper half and the lower right leg of her body.

  “May... I help you?” Lisa started, staring at the girl who looked familiar somehow, possibly from television, or maybe an Alede she'd forgotten. Her Shadow struggled to remember where she had seen this lovely woman, knowing that it felt important.

  “Lisa...It's me, Zack. I have news. I need to see Val first though.” She looked down to see a dark colored nipple hanging out of the left side, where the material had been destroyed in the fight.

  “Could I borrow your jacket, though? I don't really want to call this much attention to myself.”

  Lisa scrambled for her jacket, in her office, not really getting what had been said yet. She was just nice like that.

  “Zack?” She stared, remembering having seen Zack turn into this shape once before, if only for a moment.

  “Right. Disguised. It worked. Let's go get Val, and the others.” She pulled the beige jacket on over her ruined shirt, it turned out to be too tight to button up all the way, Lisa being considerably smaller across the chest than Maria. It worked well enough to keep her covered though, as long as jogging stayed off the menu.

  On the way past Maria called out to Claire, who looked shocked for a second, then smiled and came running. Not wanting to go over everything ten times, the darker girl simply took the Vampire's hand and walked to Beautiful Plus.

  Everyone joined them in Patty's office, at least those that could fit.

  After hugging Val, who recognized Maria as Zack instantly, having seen him that way before, she spoke to everyone.

  “Cruxias is dead. Gone forever. He wasn't a Demon though.” She paused as Devon pushed his way to the front. “He was an Arch-Demon pretending to be a Demon. I know he worked for someone else he kept calling his Master, but I didn't get more than that.”

  Devon stared for a bit.

  “He was an Arch-Demon? Are you certain?” His posture looked hostile suddenly, then relaxed. “It's not completely unheard of, but it always means that bad things are about to happen. You killed him though? Not just his body, but the creature within?”

  Maria nodded, long hair rubbing on her neck just a little.

  “He's gone, totally. Though he did nearly kill me a few hundred times before I got him. I don't know how long I was gone here, but...Yeah, that took a long, long time. We fought for at least a year, non-stop.”

  She shrugged, everything pulling differently than she remembered, probably due to Lisa's borrowed jacket being so tight.

  Maria found herself starving, and craving some frozen yogurt, which she
hadn't had in a long time. Several of them went to Claire's for a snack, after Val stopped crying, her nightmare, if not over, at least held a little bit of relief for her, finding out that the last one of her mother's murderers couldn't hurt anyone ever again.

  They told her as they walked down the Mall, that she'd been gone for nearly a month, their time. The house had been moved and everyone would be glad when a shortcut could be set up, since the commute took about half an hour each way.

  Laughing, she ran a hand behind her head, tossing her dark hair out from under her collar, where it had been trapped.

  Troy stood behind the counter, which was a bit of a surprise. He was wearing a white shirt and a red and white striped apron. Smiling cheerfully at them.

  The head Vampire winked at Maria, still holding her hand.

  "Troy has taken up several day shifts per week here. That means I should be able to have a day or two off regularly as soon as he's fully trained. He's doing better than Blake already, which shows promise." She turned to address the boy, her face pleasant. "Now, Troy, would you please make one of everything on the menu? For here, I think?"

  "Got it. That won't be but..." He glanced at the wall and shrugged. "Um, about half an hour? I'll try to go faster than that. It's a lot of stuff."

  Clearing her throat, Claire chuckled, it was a dark and almost sexy sound. Like she was flirting with her employee. Maria for one felt shocked. Not really though. Troy... was kind of cute. As Zack she never really saw it, but now she could. It was... odd. She stopped though, since once she turned back, Zack might just have a problem with those kinds of thoughts.

  Her Vampire looked directly at Troy and snapped her fingers. "Ten minutes, Mr. Lopez. Don't stint on the quality either. This is a test." There was a smile with it, and the man started moving fast enough to please her it seemed.

  As Troy finished the first one Maria went to the counter to get it.

  For his part, her roommate looked at her with interest, checking out the dark flash of nipple that showed as she took the large treat he'd built. It had mounds of whipped topping and caramel sauce. Plus two cherries. Since that was the best part.

  "Why, hello. Are you new here? I don't think that I've seen you before. I'm Troy. Troy Lopez. Please tell me you're single?" Then, realizing that Hilda was in the room, he got a strained smile on his face. Not that Hilda would mind. She would have happily let them have sex in front of her, and not thought anything of it, if Maria had that information right. Or at least done no more than go about her business.

  “Oh, no. I've been here for months. We've met before. Many times.” She smiled at him, a friendly smile that didn't promise anything. “Troy... It's me, Zack. Well, Maria right now, but don't try to get me into bed, it will be awkward later. Oh... Cruxias is dead.”

  He looked at Maria for a second, and then whooped.

  “All right man! So, things can get to normal again now? We've been living like prisoners for weeks. Ever since you left. Hey, uh, dude, this shape change thing, you can undo it right? Cause you're a little too hot for me to be comfortable around you...” He laughed then.

  Patty called out from where she sat, in a yellow booth in the center of the far wall.

  "She can go back and forth with help. You can too, if you like? You should try it at the very least. It will help you understand the female mind better." It was said charmingly, but no one laughed. It seemed like it was a real offer.

  After eating for nearly an hour, Troy going through the whole menu twice, Claire declared that he was ready to take on the day shift alone.

  Looking at him, she seemed oddly proud.

  "Mr. Lopez already has a good handle on the political structure. I've been coaching him on it. Vampire politics. I'm grooming him for an official position here." Her Shadow turned to Zack however, and looked far more serious.

  We'll lose him on days when he's brought over.

  Then before he could even comment on that same level, they all decided to get Maria home, which she facilitated by simply opening up a permanent shortcut directly from the back of Something Wonderful to the new house. Libby and Claire went with her, finding her some clothes.

  “So, uh, Maria... Are you going to stay this way long?” Libby asked, hoping that she'd get to sleep with her before turning back.

  Laughing, Maria kissed the Bat-girl for a bit, then did the same with Claire, who grabbed at her playfully.

  “Tonight only, I think. Since I should get back to work in the morning. I didn't mean to leave everyone hanging for this long. I do have a date to keep with Lisa, if she wants. I promised her that a long time ago. I'll need to get back and feed the Alede first though. Hence the nice clothes. Don't worry, I'll make sure I get to you before Patty turns me back.”

  Libby kissed her on the cheek and didn't let go of her for a long time. Her Shadow form explaining how the novelty of the situation intrigued her more than anything else. Like the ultimate in role playing. To her, regardless of external form, he remained Zack. Just like she was always Libby. Even when she was a Bat.

  It made sense when he took a few seconds to think about it. Libby lived in a world where almost everyone had more than one form. Unlike the Alede, that viewed each form as separate and unique from the other though, to the Weres each form held the individual. Brian the wolf-man would always be Brian to her and Keeber didn't change even when he became a bear.

  Changing clothes and makeup took longer than she'd thought it would, mainly because of her hair, which Claire finally helped her with, putting it up for her and holding it in place with two decorative wooden pins, about five inches long each. The ends had a complex, but meaningless pattern on them. The man who'd designed them had only been trying to come up with a simple decoration at the time, according to the imprint he'd left.

  She wore a simple black dress, one that hit her at about mid thigh, showing off her legs. Patricia had picked it out, which meant that it should look fairly sexy. The Alede had to work to not be sexy. They couldn't help it. This meant that they naturally picked the best clothing and makeup for others too. Well, she reflected, the best, as long as you wanted to look hot. They kind of sucked at 'business casual', she'd noticed.

  She walked into Candles and More, making Kaitlyn, who recognized her from past experiences and Felicia who had no clue, both stop and stare for a bit.

  “Felicia, come here! I want you to meet somebody.” Kaitlyn stood next to Maria, putting an arm around one shoulder, in a way that meant this person was special, but not someone to have sex with in Alede code.

  “Felicia, this is...” The girl looked at her at a loss suddenly.

  “Maria.” She put in.

  “Ah, that's a pretty name, you already know Felicia of course.” The girl dimpled, figuring out that this person had to be someone she knew.

  “Felicia, Maria is Zack's other form.”

  The girl nodded and hugged her, simply accepting that Zack, even though not one of her kind, could have another form if he wanted to. Obviously. She was Hartley, after all.

  “You're so hot as a girl! Are you going to stay this way? We can have sleep-overs and stuff. It'll be fun!” The girl enthused.

  “Fraid not, I'm going to be back to normal in the morning, I think. Right now I came to take Lisa out to dinner, if I can get her out of here for a while....I mean, if she wants to.” This made both the girls laugh.

  “We'll cover. If she doesn't want to go with you, I will,” Kaitlyn said, winking at her. “But I doubt that'll be a problem.”

  Maria worked her way back to Lisa's office. Then she knocked on the door lightly, Lisa calling out to come in. Opening the door, the blonde woman stared at her for a while and didn't think. The Shadow within held itself still for several moments, finally smiling at Maria radiantly even while the external form held a blank look.

  “I've come to take you out to dinner. If you want to go, I mean.” Maria remembered to lick her lips slightly, as Patty had shown her how to do. She said that almost eve
ryone viewed it as a seductive move. “Please?” She made her voice slightly pleading. She really did feel hungry, she realized. Horny too. It wasn't all that bad, having not been feeding Alede for a while, or hadn't been. Now that she'd gotten caught up with several of them all at once, it was starting to hit her.

  Lisa laughed after a few more seconds and grabbed her purse. Maria asked for some money from the safe so that she could pay.

  “I mean, I'm asking you out, and since you have to drive it only seems fair.” The girl dimpled and made solid eye contact for a few seconds, broke off and looked back again for six. According to Patty, this too would seem incredibly seductive, at least coming from a woman. As a guy the second eye contact had to be shorter, or people could take it as confrontational.

  They rode in silence for the most part, deciding on Italian food, since Lisa said it was her favorite, which Maria hadn't known. The restaurant seemed busy, but they got in after only a ten minute wait. The waitress suspected they were a couple, but didn't have a big problem with that, and gave them excellent service. The food seemed all right to Maria, who ordered dessert, even though Lisa didn't.

  After paying and leaving a very generous tip, Lisa asked where too next.

  “How about your place? I've never seen it.” Maria sounded innocent, even to her own ears. She casually touched the other woman's arm, stroking it gently while she said it though. It wasn't subtle, but she wasn't trying to be.

  Lisa lived in a house, smaller than the one that everyone had been living in even. It had two rooms, one set up as an office and one a bedroom. It had been decorated nicely, in warm colors, with lots of pillows and soft materials.

  “So, this is your place? Nice!” The girl came over and took her hand gently, then turned and kissed the slightly older looking woman gently.

  As their lips touched, Maria, ran her tongue over her upper lip softly, Lisa responding by thrusting her own tongue a little, circling each other for a bit, they both broke off, slightly breathless. Maria, didn't wait for an invitation, instead, holding on to the other woman's hand, she walked directly to the bedroom.