The Rogue Spark series Box Set

by Cameron Coral

  Vance is malicious. Whatever it is could hurt the child. I shove his hand down. "No. Dangerous.”

  He peers up at me, eyes and mouth wide.

  I bend down to inspect what he dropped. A yellow rose lies at his feet.

  The boy slowly edges away, then pivots and runs. I should flee too. But what if I stay and stand up to Vance? Will this endless chase stop?

  It's worth a try. What do I have to lose? My life. A chill races from my fingers to my neck.

  Treading cautiously to the carousel, I pick a spot five horses away from Vance's bench and leap onto the revolving platform.

  "Well, I can't hear you from that far," he says. "Won't you come closer?"

  "What do you want from me?"

  He studies me with his half-metal cyborg face. He concentrates as though he can will me to come closer.

  The hairs on my neck rise, and I shiver despite the mild air. There's something about Vance I can't remember. "How did we get here?"

  "Here." He smiles. "We’ve always been here. And we’ll always be here."

  The carousel spins faster now. I shout to be heard over the din of the organ and the sound of people talking, laughing, living. "I don't understand."

  "You will in time."

  "How do I make this stop?"

  He straightens against the ornate carousel bench, right leg crossed over his left knee. The carousel revolves so fast now that the people outside blur. We're the only passengers.

  "You can get off the ride anytime you'd like.” He shrugs.

  Is this a puzzle? Clearly, he's more in control of this situation than me. I've been the one running, after all.

  I stare down at the carousel floor to steady myself. I can't see the ground outside anymore because the ride spins so fast. If I jump, I could get hurt. Most likely, I'd fall off and land on something that would impale me. Hurting me—that’s what Vance wants.

  I'm so busy concentrating on the ground outside, trying to find a safe spot where I can jump, I don't realize he's moved until he grabs my arm with his cybernetic fist. My muscles tense, rigid as an icicle.

  After months of running, he has me.

  "Ida," he hisses between clenched teeth.

  Perched on the carousel's edge, I angle my head to face his cold blue eyes and crimson pupils. His eyes hold a clue to my past. I can almost put my finger on it—retrieve the memory—but then it disappears into nothing.

  "You don't remember the time before this place, do you?" His steel digs into my flesh, tearing the leather of my jacket. "Perhaps you will recall one day, but know this…" He gets so close, he's whispering in my ear. "I am part of you now…forever."

  I'm disgusted by his breath against my cheek. It's ice cold, not what I expected.

  His proximity, the speed of the carousel—I’m light-headed.

  Vance pulls me closer and touches my right side, my old stab wound, with his other robotic hand. "The truth is inside you." He starts to laugh, a deep, guttural chortling that unnerves me.

  Outside the furiously spinning carousel, a bright flash crosses the sky. Lightning?

  Vance presses his nose in my chin-length red hair, inhaling deeply.

  "What did I see in the big top? What was the shadow on Spark City?"

  He whispers, “War is coming.”

  Shuddering, I glance up at another bright light, only this time, it doesn't dim. Like the aurora borealis, it floats in the atmosphere.

  Outside the carousel, I hear voices. Loud, like people having a heated discussion. Two or three voices rise above the noise of the carnival and the out-of-control ride.

  Vance's grip loosens, and he drops my arm. With a devilish grin, he backs away, weaving through the decapitated plaster horses, and then he's gone.

  I'm shaking and wondering how the hell to get off the ride. Is this how I die? Where did Vance go? Strange, he's never left me alone before.

  I grip the pole of a horse on the edge of the madly spinning carousel. Outside, the bright light shines. Warm, welcoming.

  I'm tired of running.

  I leap from the carousel into the light.

  Two

  "How does this work?" a young woman says. "We've been at it for hours."

  A different woman, her vocal chords bearing the strain of many decades, replies, "Patience, young one." She speaks slowly, without wasting words. "The masalai poison is strong in her. Takes time to pull out."

  I recognize the voices from the carousel before I jumped. Now they're close, as if I'm in the same room with them.

  But that's impossible. Darkness lies before me, endless and all-consuming. And everything's gone—the carousel, the amusement park. Even Vance.

  I’m still. Finally, no more running. There's just one problem. I can't move at all.

  My body’s numb, and my mind screams over the agony of being paralyzed. The worst part: being able to think and hear everything around me, but my eyes feeling like they’re glued shut.

  The old woman mentioned poison. Is that why I can't wake up?

  Then I hear the unmistakable sound of a door opening, and a different woman says, "How are things going, Lucy?" She sounds kind and concerned.

  Lucy. I recognize the name, but I can’t place the memory. Somewhere a train whistles. It's miles away and sounds oddly comforting, even familiar.

  "Alkina says we must be patient. She's working on drawing out the poison—the evil spirit—from Ida's body."

  The one named Lucy says my name as if she knows me well. Why can't I remember her? These people are taking care of me. I must be very sick. How long have I been so ill? I've been running from Vance for what feels like years.

  "We have to feed Alkina and let her rest, Lucy," the friendly woman says.

  "I know, Mom, but can we just stay a little longer? I really hope this time we'll wake Ida."

  "Lucy, please. Alkina has been working for hours without food or sleep. Come eat. You must be starving."

  The old woman says, "Clever women don't eat when cleansing a body. We…what is the word?" She pauses. "We speed."

  Her words hang in the air.

  "You mean fast," says Lucy. "Alkina, the word is fast. When you don't eat."

  Alkina mutters something in a language I don't recognize.

  Cleansing a body? Oh God, am I dead? With all my effort, I will myself to move. Desperate, I want to scream and rise up and push the old woman away. I rage inside against my useless limbs.

  Nothing. Whatever energy I had while running from Vance has disappeared.

  The kind woman's voice interrupts my thoughts. "Clever women. What does that mean?"

  "Clever woman is her position with her people—the aboriginals. She's a tribe elder and a healer. Among her people, clever men and women cleanse those who have bad spirits." After a time, Lucy continues softly, "A healer for a healer. This has to work."

  "Where on earth did you find this one?"

  "Mom, if you're not going to be helpful, then leave," Lucy says.

  "At least let me bring you both some food?"

  "No! Alkina and I are fine. Let her keep working on Ida. I'm not leaving until she wakes up.”

  Silence, followed by soft footsteps and the sound of a door closing. I'm left with Lucy and the elder aboriginal, Alkina.

  I'm not familiar with the term clever woman. A healer. Why has Lucy resorted to using her instead of modern medicine? Maybe I'm a lost cause. It wouldn't be the first time.

  Next to what I assume is my bedside, Alkina chants, her voice soft, melodic, deep.

  I drift off.

  When I come to, blackness surrounds me.

  And then it crushes me—the memory of Lucy.

  My neighbor. A teenager, seventeen. We met and became friends. Well, sort of. She forced her way into my life and asked me to teach her how to defend herself.

  The other voice was her mother, Vera, whom I saved when she overdosed on drugs.

  And Gatz. My friend, I guess you could call him. A genetic mutant—half-huma
n, half-wolf—he was unlike anyone I'd ever met. I remember him most of all, but I didn't hear his voice. Maybe he's not around.

  A flood of memories rushes through me. As if transported, Vance appears in front of me. He’s hardly human—nearly all his body has been transformed into a cyborg. We're in his factory where he manufactures his robotic army. He murdered Nancy—the woman I’d been searching for after he abducted her.

  And he was going to kill me too. No, scratch that. He was dying and wanted me to use my healing ability to cure him of his disease.

  But he was a madman who had built a ruthless army of police androids. I had to stop him before he destroyed Spark City.

  He would have hurt my friends. I had to protect them.

  Lucy and Gatz came to rescue me. In the factory, they fought past Vance’s androids and tried to help.

  But I had to kill Vance.

  They’re not your real friends. I am. Vance's voice erupts inside my head. The sound chills me to my core. My pulse quickens.

  I blink through wet eyes. The darkness doesn't seem so complete anymore. I detect the dim outline of a ceiling and a light above.

  Lying in a bed, I try to wiggle my fingers for what feels like hours. One at a time, the feeling in my digits slowly returns. Progress.

  Next, I try my feet. Yes! I can curl my toes.

  What feels like an hour passes, and I lie in bed and twitch parts of my body one at a time. These tiny movements require all my concentration. My body drips with sweat by the end.

  Finally, daylight peeks through the curtain of the window in my room.

  I’m alive.

  Three

  Lucy found me awake and conscious.

  I hate all the attention. She overreacted, started crying, called her mother, and sent video messages to Gatz. She was practically in hysterics, and I thought she might pass out. I'm so hungry, and I don't have the strength for her frenetic energy.

  “I have so much to tell you,” she says. “I don't even know where to start.”

  Her mom intervenes. “Honey, give her time,” Vera says. “She just woke up, remember?”

  At my bedside, Lucy squeezes my hand too hard. “I'm just so happy you're okay.” She adjusts the pillow behind me. “Are you comfortable? Can I get you anything?”

  “Food,” I say, my voice raspy from disuse.

  Vera brightens at the mention of sustenance. “I'll get you something right away. What would you like?”

  “Doesn't matter.”

  From the corner, the old shaman woman interjects, “Soup.” Lucy and Vera both startle, as if they’d forgotten she was there. “Soup for her. Body weak,” the old woman says.

  “You know best.” Vera stops on her way out and places a hand on Alkina’s shoulder. “We owe you so much for waking Ida.”

  Lucy’s still squeezing my hand and hovering close—too close. I can't take all this sudden scrutiny. I'm exhausted.

  As Vera leaves the room, I spy a glass of water on the bedside table and turn my head, hoping Lucy gets the hint. She doesn't. The old woman notices and taps Lucy's shoulder.

  “I can't even believe you're awake.” Lucy holds the water glass to my mouth and lets me drink my fill.

  I lie back on the pillow.

  “You don't know how worried we were that you might never wake up. We tried everything—consulted with all the medical doctors we could find. Laser therapy, acupuncture, you name it.” Lucy’s long brown hair is tied in a ponytail, and she seems older, her face thinner than when I last saw her. “Gatz told me I was crazy, that you would wake up when you were ready.”

  Several minutes later, Vera enters the room with a small, steaming bowl. The unmistakable scent of chicken soup makes my stomach rumble. I don't care if it's dirty soap water—I want it. Lucy starts to spoon-feed me. Envisioning how ridiculous this looks, I vow to regain my strength soon.

  Lucy continues chattering about the doctors, the renovations to my house, and her fight training as I eat. I try to follow but struggle. It’s time to start connecting the dots. “How long?” I interrupt.

  Lucy pauses with the spoon midway between the bowl and my mouth, then tips it to my lips. I swallow, letting the warmth flow down my throat. The broth is the best thing I've ever tasted.

  Vera watches from the foot of the bed, but glances away at my question. What are they trying to hide?

  “There’ll be plenty of time for answering questions later,” says Lucy. “Right now, we focus on getting your strength back.” The spoon clatters inside the bowl. “Mom, we're going to need more soup. We have a hungry patient on our hands.” She’s unnaturally chirpy, her smile forced.

  “Gatz?” I nod at Lucy’s biocuff, which buzzes against her wrist.

  “He's crazy excited that you're awake. As soon as he heard the news, he dropped everything, but he’s far across the city…on business.”

  My heart sinks a little. It must be important business.

  As if sensing my disappointment, she says, “Ida, a lot has happened since you’ve been asleep. We’ll explain everything in time. It's a lot to take in all at once but—”

  Her cuff continues its incessant buzzing. Lucy can’t ignore it any longer. “It’s him. Let me talk to him alone first…bring him up to speed. I’ll bring in a tablet so he can holograph in. So he can see you.” She springs to her feet. “I'll be right back. Okay?”

  I manage a weak thumbs up. She leaves, Vera trailing her.

  I’m left with the old woman, Alkina. She sits quietly in the corner sizing me up.

  “Tell me the truth.” I figure she’ll be honest while everyone else babies me. “How long was I out?”

  “Year.”

  I let the word sink in. “A whole year?”

  She pauses and assesses me with steely, weather-hardened eyes, shaking her head. “Two.”

  Holy crap, what happened in that time?

  Four

  Two years in a coma. Time wasted, never to be recaptured. I'm reeling, imagining all I could've done. Maybe I could have relocated, finally started my new life—the life I had originally dreamed of before Spark City.

  I study Alkina. The shaman, or "clever woman," as she prefers to be called, has a round face and wrinkled skin. Her nose and eyebrows stand out, but what I’m drawn to most are her luminous brown eyes. "Where are you from?"

  "Australia.”

  I nod. As she gazes at me, I get the feeling that she sees deeper than most people.

  "I wait for you. Long time." She folds her hands in her lap. "I want to give up, but girl did not let me."

  "That would be Lucy," I mutter. "And yeah, she's stubborn as hell. There's no changing her mind."

  "She care for you." She bows, jostling a tangle of curls resting on top of her head.

  "How did you get me to wake up?"

  "Was hard. You stubborn too. Took a long time, and I'm old."

  I can't help but wonder how long she's been attending to me, trying to heal me. Lucy had tried many things. Where did she find this woman?

  "Have you helped many people like me?"

  "Some."

  "I felt like I was in a dream the entire time. Is that normal?"

  "Sleep different for people." She leans forward, slowly raising herself from a comfy green armchair in the corner. "You special. You dream. But he there too."

  My mouth turns dry. "What did you say?"

  "The Metal Man. I see him when I try to wake you."

  "How could…? How is that possible? I was dreaming."

  "No. No dream. He real. He still inside you. Couldn't get him out."

  Five

  Just as I'm processing the fact that this strange healer woman has somehow seen Vance in my dreams, Lucy bursts into the room and thrusts a vidcomm tablet on my bed. A lifelike, digital image of Gatz emerges and hovers a foot above the screen.

  “Look who decided to finally make an appearance,” I say. With the soup and the shock of the old woman's words settling in, I'm starting to get my bitchy att
itude back. Gatz can handle it.

  "Ida," he says. "When Lucy told me, I-I couldn't believe how lucky we were. I’m so glad you're awake."

  It's been a long time since I've seen his wolfish face. Gatz was a victim of genetic engineering when he was young. The scientists, if you could call them that, created half-human, half-wolf hybrids in China many years ago. Gatz made it out, barely, before the laboratory was destroyed.

  From a distance, he resembles your average six-foot-two, well-proportioned, human male. But close up, you notice beastly differences. Dark, shoulder-length black hair frames his sharp jawline, hiding sharply edged ears. Thick, wide-set eyebrows reveal intense, golden eyes.

  Grinning, he flashes a mouthful of sharp teeth, with gleaming large canines. He wears his beard longer now instead of his former stubbly look.

  Spark City is a haven for genetic hybrids like Gatz. Before meeting him, I'd been suspicious, even fearful of them. Many humans were. I had certainly never gotten to know one.

  “Am I not good enough for an in-person visit?” I run fingers through my hair and wonder how I look. Earlier, after realizing my trademark black leather gloves were missing, I made Lucy find them. My hands felt naked without them. Old habits.

  A dark look crosses his features. Is he hiding something?

  “Kidding, Gatz. Long time, no see."

  He chuckles. "I'll say. When you don't want to wake up, you're a tough one to rouse."

  "I need my beauty sleep."

  "It worked," he says quietly.

  "The gang’s together again," Lucy says with a huge grin, sliding next to me onto the bed and mugging for Gatz.

  "Y'all have way too much energy for me. Remember, I’ve been lying on my ass for two years.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I register that Alkina has left the room. Now that I'm awake, I wonder if she'll be sticking around. How did she know about Vance? I’ve got to talk to her again.

  But Lucy doesn’t give up. "The Triple Threat Trio is together again!"