A picture of Danielle unconscious body tied to a chair graced his screen. Should he pick himself up and run again, or send something back to his “unknown” caller? Before he could make a final decision, however, the signal faded, and Devon was left with the first option.
He hoisted himself off the ground, the stitch in his side leaving a pang to annoy him as he continued down the corridor. Devon was already tired of the dark, metallic blue of the walls and the low buzzing of the lights above him. The intricate twists and turns of the corridor were enough to make him wonder if he were running in circles – but every so often he saw a new stain, a new corner, a new set of insects, something to assure him that he made progress.
“Goddamnit,” he heaved, body crashing against a corner. “I’m too out of shape for this bullshit.” His only saving grace was the shrinking of St. Lucia. As soon as he entered this world, the statue became no larger than the palm of his hand and as light as the breaths in his chest.
The phone rang again.
He was not sure how he received service, but he was also not going to question it. Devon answered with his short breath and sweaty fingers. “Who is this?”
Miranda wasted no time. “Where are you? You’re not lost, are you?”
“I don’t know where I am. Some corridors. How the fuck do I get out of here?”
“You went left, didn’t you? I should’ve mentioned that you needed to go right.”
“Wow, thanks. Are you sure you didn’t do that on purpose?”
“Yes.” A scream came from the other end.
“Was that Danielle? What’s happening to her?”
Miranda returned when the sob died down. “I don’t know. I need to go check. Don’t worry, though, you know I won’t let anything happen to her.”
“Great. What do I do in the meantime?”
“If you’re that far in, start going right at every turn. Eventually it’ll sort itself out. Just hurry, please.” She hung up.
Devon clamped his phone shut. The memory of Danielle’s frightened scream echoed in his mind until he found the renewed impetus to carry on down the hallway, his feet taking him right at the next fork.
***
Feeds from across the universe beamed into Marlow’s office, each one on different screens he opened with a flick of his wrinkled finger. The one in front of him came from the main Terra III news room, and all it did was show continuous real time coverage of Earth’s status, interspersed with commentary and bellows from family members related to those still trapped on the planet. Marlow propped his head on his hand while Evan kept him company on the stool next to him.
“Boss, you can’t do this all day, you know?” The assistant ran low on stamina. “There’s nothing you can do now, so… maybe you should turn this stuff off and go for a walk. Terra III isn’t going to go anywhere, I promise.”
Marlow continued to stare at the feed. He said nothing, aside from the occasional grunt and demand for water. He even ignored the usual whines and pattering steps of his faithful companion dog. When Charlie did not scratch at his feet, he rubbed up against his master’s legs like a cat. Marlow grew tired of it and pushed him away with his cramping foot.
“Boss?” Evan was on the brink of giving up – there were better things he could do, like assuring his wife their planet was not next like she often believed. “If this is about Commander d’Asshole, then don’t worry about it! He’ll be dead before Dunsman ever attacks again, right?”
Marlow mumbled something about idiots and time wasters.
Finally, Evan slapped his hands onto the desk and threw himself back on his stool. “Hey, you’re a big, bad wizard, right? You know all the other big, bad wizards, right? Then go do something! Go get your julah buddies and raise hell on Earth. Make Dunsman your slave! Scare the shit out of all the ignorant Earthlings! Just don’t sit there and keep being so passive!”
Marlow flipped his hand in Evan’s direction. “Be quiet. I’m studying,” he said.
Evan’s face fell. “Studying? Studying what? Nothing’s changing!”
“Exactly. It’s not falling apart yet.”
“That’s good, right?”
“That’s good.”
“Then go do something!”
If it were Lanelle sitting in that seat, Marlow could count on a quiet, reverent atmosphere as she watched her boss go through his usual motions of witnessing the death of another planet by Nerilis Dunsman’s hands. But Evan was still green to this, and by the look on his fuming face, Marlow did not have much choice to stay silent or say something. “Because it’s not the julah council’s place to interfere with these events. That’s why I got kicked off, or were you not paying attention to that part?”
“Seems like a waste of power.”
Marlow was a rebel to traditional julah, whose ancient culture was centered on observing life in the universe but rarely interfering. In fact, it was Nerilis’s riot that made humans and other sentient species even acknowledge julah as more than spiritual leaders.
“Evan,” he said, an upswing in his tone, “take Charlie out for a walk before he pisses all over my floor.”
“Huh? Yeah, sure Boss.” Evan stood from his stool. “What are you going to do? Sit around and mope some more?”
“Sure, Evan. Run along.”
Evan side-eyed him as he dragged Charlie through a door. Marlow turned off the screens and pushed out of his chair. He pulled a pocket watch out of his trousers and noted the late hour.
“If I were Nerilis,” he mused, “where on Earth would I build my hideout?”
He put the watch back into his pocket and looked around for his jacket. Once dressed, he picked up his cane and proceeded to the swinging pendulum, its hypnotic ticking the last thing he heard for a long while.
***
“That was a good way to end a life,” Syrfila mumbled, her body as languorous as Miranda’s. “I used to say I wanted to die in bed with a beautiful woman.”
Miranda exhaled a short, hot breath. “Glad I could help you achieve your goals.” She did not mention the backhanded compliment.
The bed covers rustled as Syrfila sat up and flung her bare body over the side, rummaging for her jeans. When she found her pack of cigarettes, she leaned back against the wall and lit up. Not until ashes accumulated on the end of her cigarette did she get the idea to cover her breasts with the fringe of the blanket. Without a reason to stare at the mole growing next to Syrfila’s right areola, Miranda considered the dirt beneath her fingernails.
Syrfila blew a plume of smoke. “I’d think I did something wrong again if it weren’t for the fact you were the one who came on to me.”
Miranda pulled a hangnail with a grimace. “There is never much to say afterward.”
“You don’t say much during the act at all. Not like you used to when you were, what? Twenty?”
“Seventeen, actually.” The hangnail stung.
“Really. That young?”
“I was in high school.”
Syrfila closed her mouth. “For some reason, I was thinking that was college.”
Miranda ripped the hangnail out of her skin. “Years start to blend together after a while.”
“Oh, shut up.” Syrfila picked up an ashtray from the table next to her side of the bed and balanced it on her knees. “It’s not like I ever gave you an STD.”
“Yes, because that would assume your body’s make-up can even get them.”
“Don’t be jealous.”
Miranda laughed, a feat surprising her. “It can’t save you from being annihilated.”
Pausing from another drag of her cigarette, Syrfila glared down at Miranda with eyes full of disdain. “Thanks for the cold reminder, babe.” She turned away in a hefty pout.
“Please…” Miranda’s train of thought derailed as she found the lighter left between them. She toyed with it between both hands, its bright, shocking green melding into the dark blues and grays of the room.
“I talked to Dunsman.”
>
Miranda flicked the light so a flame came to life. She closed it again just as quickly.
“He said we’re still on Earth.”
“I told you that.”
“Yeah, well, it’s different coming out of his mouth.”
Miranda stared at the flame again. “I take it he’s not open to the idea of sparing you.”
“Why would he? Face it, I am going to die with you.”
“Oh? Now it’s us?”
Syrfila finished her cigarette and extinguished the last of it. “I have one last shot getting off this planet.”
“What’s that?”
“I know a guy with a ship. I should be able to convince him to take me with him, in a matter of speaking.” She pulled the pocketknife out of her jeans still lingering on the bed.
Miranda stopped playing with the lighter long enough to look at the pocketknife still dried in her blood. “Good for you. If you leave now, you may be able to make it.”
“If an earthquake doesn’t swallow me up first.”
Miranda said nothing. She turned on her side, facing the empty wall while the lighter laid between them like a forgotten trinket. Syrfila picked it up.
“Escape with me,” she said.
Her breath smelled like putrid tobacco smoke – that was all Miranda could think until the words sunk in. “And what? Live a life of constant running with you? Become a criminal? Why?”
Syrfila scoffed at her terse reply. “Is it really worse than death?”
“There’s only one person in the universe I would make such a sacrifice for.”
Syrfila undid her embrace. “You’re still on about that?”
“You don’t even love me!” Miranda’s lips curved into a smile.
“Love!” Syrfila snorted that word. “Who gives a fuck? What has love ever done for me?”
“What could it do for you?”
“What do you know about me and love? For all you know, I’ve been in love!”
“All I’m saying is…” Miranda turned onto her back, the blanket dropping from her skin. “I could never do something like that for somebody who didn’t love me.”
Syrfila conceded. “Fine. I love you. There. Happy now?”
All Miranda could do was sit up and swing her legs over the edge of the bed, her hands reaching down to find her clothing. “No, because you’re lying.” She stood, gobs of fabric spilling from her palms.
Syrfila remained dumbfounded in the bed. In the time it took Miranda to slowly get dressed again, the inept idiot behind her gathered the blanket into her fists and grinded her teeth together. “Then why did you…” She noted the accomplished glow on Miranda’s full cheeks.
“Why did I incite you to have sex with me one last time? Hmph.” Miranda finished buttoning her blouse and shook out her sleeves. “Whatever I say will just go through your ears like butter. So why bother?” She checked her purse for her cell phone. “I’ve got things to do. Run away if you want, but I’m afraid I can’t go with you.”
Syrfila tripped over herself as she dove into the covers, looking for her pocketknife. Miranda produced the small weapon from her pocket.
“Bitch!” Syrfila declared.
“Calm yourself.” Miranda retained her playful demeanor. “It’s because of barbaric tantrums like that you never had any friends.” She was halfway through the door. “You should probably get a move on your great escape from Earth. Bye!”
Miranda let out a huge sigh of relief the moment she clicked the door shut behind her, prepared to hear the raging ramblings of a naked criminal behind it. After informing Devon that he went the wrong direction, she hung up her phone and headed down the hallway. She would have plummeted herself into the deep, cavernous corridors as well, but first she had to check to see that Danielle was still alive.
***
Devon took Miranda’s advice and made as many right turns as possible. When his cell phone rang, he answered with a breathless, strained voice.
“What is it now?”
A pause broke the silence. “Devon?”
“Alicia!” In some part of the universe, God mocked him. “What are you doing? Why are you calling?”
“Geez, Devon, be a prick about it!” Her tone scratched the fuzzy line. “I didn’t realize this was a no call number now.”
He turned his astonishment down. “I’m sorry, Alicia, it’s just… I’m in a really tight spot right now, and…”
“Are you all right?” Her interruption surprised Devon nearly as much as her original phone call. “I heard there was a really big earthquake back out west and I thought maybe…”
“Where are you? Boston?”
Alicia stumbled over her words. “Yes. I’ve been with my parents for a couple days.”
“Do they know you’re calling me?”
“No. I told them that we broke up. What does it matter?”
Devon made no comment about how her parents must have thrown a gala at that announcement. “I’m kinda in the middle of saving the world right now.”
“Jesus… well, be careful, okay? I know we’re not really together anymore, but that’s not a reason for me to want you dead, so…”
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure she’s safe.”
“Make sure you stay safe too, okay?”
“I will. But this could be the last time you ever speak to me, you know that, right?”
Alicia answered quicker than he anticipated. “Yes. I know.”
“In that case, if there’s anything you’ve ever wanted to tell me, now’s the time to say it.”
Static pulsed through Devon’s reception as Alicia mulled over her response. “I’m sorry it couldn’t work out between us.”
He appreciated the closure. “We’ll be okay. I’ve gotta go, Alicia.”
“Wait…”
“What?”
“I’m really glad I met you. I think you may have saved my life.”
“Alicia,” he bantered, “what do you think I’m trying to do right now?”
“Save something bigger than me.”
Devon’s heart stiffened in his chest. “I love you, Alicia. I hope if I die again, I can meet someone like you again next time.”
“Thanks. I never lied when I said I loved you.”
“Good bye.” Devon closed his clamshell phone. Pushing back the emotions he had dumped to make it through a million corridors and right-turns.
“Oh my God, are you just going to stand there and cry while the world ends?” Miranda stood before him, chest heaving for breath. Her feet wobbled in her heels, as if she had run a hundred miles. “Don’t you remember who the fuck you used to be?”
She was the last person Devon wanted to see. “And don’t you know who the fuck I am? What are you doing here?”
Miranda, taken aback by his honesty, stuck up her nose. “I’m here to help you get a move on, because you’re sure not doing it on your own! Didn’t you get that picture I sent you?”
“Is she all right?”
“She’s alive, as far as I know… you’re welcome, by the way. You have no idea what I had to do to make sure that asscanoe didn’t harm her.” That was all the information Miranda would give him about that. “Let’s go. Or are you too exhausted?”
His muscles ached, his breath was short, and his pride stabbed after that encounter, but Devon was not about to give Miranda any satisfaction. “I can’t believe I’m coming with you.”
“Boy, you don’t even have a choice. I’m the only one you can trust that knows their way around here.”
“Trust? Why should I trust you?”
Miranda wanted to slap him across the cheek, but decorum kept her arm down. “Because I’ve got shit to live for, too.”
Without further provocation, Devon attempted to lead the way, but Miranda scuffled on ahead with a dignified trot he could never hope to match. “Just think of it as a mission,” he told himself – or maybe he told Sonall. “The most intense mission ever.”
***
; Not even an hour later, Danielle almost had the knot in her grasp undone.
“Damnit!” she cursed as her finger fumbled around the knot. It wasn’t a grand knot, or even difficult, but the rope was thick and at an awkward angle for her to untie behind her back.
Eventually, she wiggled a finger between the folds and pushed one end through a loop. For a moment, she considered herself the grandmaster of escape. As the rest of the knot fell away, Danielle hoped she could prance down the hallway to safety. But reality came crashing back down the second her shoulders relaxed. She had no idea where she was, who was with her, and whether Earth was even worth saving anymore. It was like running down the stairs on Christmas morning only to see two presents sitting beneath the tree – and both were packs of socks or a bag of rocks.
Danielle attempted to stand. Her legs worked fine, yet she had her neck to worry about. She cupped her fingers around her throat and felt the bruises forming there. Memories of Syrfila holding a blade flashed before her. How close had she come to death? Danielle shook the battered thoughts from her head – there was so much more worth worrying about.
Although unarmed, Danielle creaked the door open and peered into the corridor. A Shadow skulked in the hall, searching for the source of unlimited potential life. Danielle closed the door again. Trapped, like a dog.
She wished she had her gun. Or a knife. Or even her cell phone – better than having no way to defend herself. She leaned up against the door and surveyed the tiny storage room, but all she saw were some empty boxes, the chair, and a coiled pile of thick rope. At that point she would even take Devon’s stupid wit.
A pang exploded in her head. Devon. Where was he? Did Syrfila take him too? The last thing Danielle remembered was Syrfila subduing her while Devon was in the shower. For all she knew, he was dead.
“Stop it,” she chastised herself. There would be time to contemplate death later.
The footsteps stopped outside the crack in the door. Danielle’s blood froze in her veins.
Rebirth (Cross Book 1) Page 49