by Platt, Sean
Abigail was surprised that you could grow anything underground, but apparently some fruits and vegetables could grow pretty much anywhere on this world. Talani and Abigail’s job would be to pick the fruit, wash it, and place it in boxes to go topside for sale at the market, with some of the rarer fruits shipped to The North. Judith’s job was a bit different, and Cassandra asked to be alone with her to discuss it — which, to Abigail, meant it probably involved some sort of criminal element.
As Judith and Cassandra talked in the shop, Talani and Abigail were given permission to explore the general market level — the one they were already in — so long as they didn’t take stairs to any other level.
Cassandra had said “any other level” as if all sorts of untold horrors awaited on every floor but this one.
Which, of course, made Abigail curious. But not enough to go exploring — at least not right now.
She and Talani were walking through a large open marketplace filled with stalls and tons of people buying and selling. Abigail was surprised by how many citizens lived underground. The girls talked about Under Harbor, Abigail wondering if they could actually kill the man they were supposed to take care of, Baltazar, and Talani saying that they had to because they “made a promise.” Abigail kept hoping that Talani would lose interest, but it seemed like finding and killing the man was something she actually wanted to do.
“So,” Talani asked, holding up the two coins that Cassandra had given them both, “how much do you think this’ll get us?”
“I dunno,” Abigail said, still holding hers in her pocket. “I am thirsty, though.”
“Me, too,” Talani said, looking around for a place that sold drinks. “I guess we’re not going to find any soda fountains.”
Abigail giggled. “Larry would hate it here.”
Talani didn’t respond, instead pointing to a stall where some people were standing around talking and laughing. They were holding large glasses of pink liquid. “Think it’s lemonade?” Talani asked, already heading toward the stall to find out.
Abigail followed.
The stall was manned by a short blue man with bushy black eyebrows and big tufts of hair.
He reminded Abigail of a Smurf, so she had to choke back her laughter.
“What can I get for ya, ladies?” the man asked in what sounded a lot like an Irish accent, not that she’d ever heard one in real life.
“What are those pink drinks?” Talani pointed to a couple of women standing nearby sipping from them.
“Those are Miquari fruit drinks, guaranteed to cure whatever ails ya!”
Talani winked at Abigail, “Oh really? Anything?”
“Headache, body aches, nerves, coming down with a foul temper, or a bit of the runny tummy, Miquari fruit drinks will cure ya quick!”
“Wow, sounds like snake oil,” Talani said.
The blue man didn’t get the reference, or that Talani was being sarcastic. He kept on smiling. “Snake oil? I didn’t know snakes produced oil, and if they do, who would drink such a thing?” He made a face like he might vomit. “No, these are Miquari fruit drinks, straight from the Calladian Mountain region. Practically dripping with magick.”
“Magick?” Abigail asked, “what kind of magick?”
Talani spoke inside Abigail’s mind. Come on, this guy is a snake oil salesman; don’t buy the hype.
“Oh, all kinds of magick, me lady. As I said, it cures everything, but” — the blue man leaned closer in a conspiratorial whisper — “it also delivers whatever your heart desires.”
Talani grabbed Abigail by the arm. “No thank you, sir.”
“Wait,” Abigail said, resisting her friend. “How much is it?”
“One piece if you drink it here, four if you take the glass.”
Abigail fished into her pocket, pulling out both silver coins. She looked at Talani, “Want one?”
“No,” Talani said, giving the blue man a dirty look.
“Just one, please, and I’ll drink it here,” Abigail said handing the blue man his piece.
He put the money in his pocket then turned around, grabbed a glass, brought it to a big wooden barrel atop the table behind him, turned a spigot, and smiled as it filled with the pink, frothy juice.
“Here you go, me lady,” he said, handing it to Abigail with flourish.
She liked him. Sure, his juice might not be a cure-all or magickal, but he had a nice smile, and was friendly.
She walked toward where the other people were standing, off to the side of the man’s stall, lifted the drink to her nose, and deeply inhaled.
“Weird,” she said, thrusting the glass toward Talani to smell.
Talani waved it off. “I don’t want to smell that.”
“You have to,” Abigail said, “it smells like oranges and vanilla!”
Talani looked at her suspiciously, then took the glass to her nose.
Her nose wrinkled before a reluctant smile spread across her face.
“You’re right, it does!”
“Wanna taste it? You can have some.”
“Nah, you drink the magick juice,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“Fine.” Abigail grabbed the glass and turned her nose up at Talani. “I’ll drink the whole thing.”
She lifted the glass again, stopping just short of drinking it, and looking closely at the thick glass. She could see tiny seeds — purple, orange, red, and yellow — floating in the frothy white bubbles, and the glass wasn’t particularly cold.
She hesitated.
“Gross, eh?” Talani asked, smiling.
Abigail couldn’t let her friend be right. She shook her head, “Nope, just admiring before I drink it.”
“Uh-huh,” Talani said. “You keep telling yourself that.”
Abigail lifted the glass to her mouth and took a deep gulp.
At first, she gagged, but then, as its flavor flooded her senses, the drink tasted even better than it smelled. She couldn’t quite place the flavor. It didn’t taste like orange or vanilla, but it was sweet and creamy, even if not very cold.
“Well, how is it?”
“Good!” Abigail said with a huge smile. “Very good!”
She took another swig.
“Yeah, is it magickal?” Talani asked, with a grin.
“Ha ha,” Abigail said, finishing the drink in two more huge gulps.
She surprised herself with a loud burp.
“Eww,” Talani said. “Soooo gross.”
Abigail laughed, then so did Talani.
People were starting to stare, but Abigail didn’t care.
“You sure you don’t want one?”
“Fine,” Talani said, her body language and face both begrudging.
Abigail laughed. “I knew you would.”
After Talani finished her drink, and Abigail had another one, they decided to walk the huge courtyard surrounded by shops.
It was filled with gardens, a small babbling brook, and a few trees that stretched to the rock ceiling, and seemingly through it.
She was considering ways to bring up the whole Judith thing when something small and black ran past them, ducking into a nearby thicket.
“Was that a kitty?” Abigail asked excitedly.
Talani looked at her, “A kitty?”
“Yeah, a cat. I think I saw a cat run past us.”
“You act like you’ve never seen one before.”
“Not up close, I haven’t.”
“What? Are you for real?”
“Yeah. My mother was allergic to cats, and Randy wasn’t exactly a be-kind-to-animals sort.”
Talani smiled. “Wow. I can’t believe you never saw a cat. Come on, let’s see if it’ll let you pet it.”
Abigail followed Talani toward the bushes, and squeed with delight when she saw the tiny thing with big blue eyes looking up at them, mewling.
Talani bent down to pick it up carefully.
For a moment Abigail was scared that Talani’s touch might kill the cat. But nothin
g happened.
The cat didn’t hiss or bite, and let her pick it right up.
She handed the ball of fur to Abigail. “Here, you hold it.”
Abigail opened her hands and brought it up to her chest.
The cat let out a tiny cry, its blue eyes looking up at Abigail.
“Oh my God, it’s soooooo cute.”
Talani smiled as Abigail gingerly stroked its head.
The cat started to vibrate, purring so loud that it made Abigail laugh.
“I think it likes you.”
“You think?” Abigail asked, looking down. It was so light and tiny in her hands. “You think he, or she, is a newborn? Where’s your mommy, little guy?”
The cat mewled again.
“Think he’s hungry?”
Talani shrugged, looking around. “Maybe Mr. Magick Fruit Drink Guy has some milk he can give us.”
“Good idea,” Abigail said as she headed back to his stand.
The man was dealing with another customer, so Abigail waited, petting the cat, an overwhelming feeling of joy swelling inside her.
When it was her turn in line, she asked, “Excuse me, do you have some milk to give this kitten? He looks hungry.”
The man looked at Abigail oddly. “You want to feed the cat?”
“Yeah, why not?” Abigail asked.
“It’s a cat,” he said as if the answer was self-evident.
“I know it’s a cat, mister. Do you have any milk?”
The man shook his head. “No, you’ll be hard pressed to find milk in these parts.”
Abigail sighed. “Well, what else do kittens eat?”
He looked at Abigail as if she were crazy.
Talani came up behind them, smiling like she was as happy as Abigail to have found the cat.
“What’s wrong?” Talani asked, sensing something between the blue man and Abigail.
Abigail turned to her. “He doesn’t have any milk. And when I asked what else cats eat, he just sorta looked at me,” she turned to see the man still looking at her, and she pointed, “like that!”
Talani burst out laughing.
Abigail laughed too, though she wasn’t sure why. Suddenly, everything felt hilarious.
Talani repeated Abigail’s question, asking what else cats eat.
“I dunno, find a mouse,” the man said, dropping his kind demeanor then turning his attention, and phony smile, to another customer in line.
“What did I do?” Abigail said, surprised by his reaction.
He walked over to her and whispered, “Maybe you all had a bit too much of the juice if you think it’s funny to harass me with games, asking if I have milk for a damned cat.”
He abruptly turned. Abigail thought he looked like a Smurf again, and started laughing hysterically. Angry Smurf!
People began to give her and Talani dirty looks.
Which, for some reason, made everything so much funnier.
Abigail couldn’t stop laughing.
Nor could Talani.
“Go on,” someone nearby said, “take your cat somewhere else.”
Talani looked at Abigail, her eyebrows narrowing. “Man, people really don’t like cats here, do they?”
“Come on, kitty, let’s take you somewhere else, where people can appreciate you!” Abigail said, turning with a huff.
They began walking back the way they’d come.
“You think we can keep him?” Abigail asked.
Talani’s eyes widened, and she started laughing louder and harder.
“Oh my God!” she said.
“What?”
“I just realized why everyone is looking at us funny.”
“Why?” Abigail asked.
“People don’t keep cats as pets here.”
“They don’t?”
“No. I mean, some farmers keep them to chase vermin away, but they’re not really pets like we think of them back on Earth.”
“Oh,” Abigail said with a frown. “That kinda sucks.”
Talani burst out laughing again.
Abigail, not sure what was so funny, joined in, unable to help herself. She laughed so hard she began to cough.
Suddenly, likely in response to Abigail’s cough, the cat leaped away and ran down the hall away from them.
“No, kitty!” Abigail said, chasing after it. “I’m sorry.”
Abigail ran, trying to keep up, but the cat was too fast, disappearing around a bend before Abigail reached it. She turned the corner and found three forks in the path, tunnels leading straight, left, and right. But Abigail couldn’t tell which one the cat had gone down.
“Crap!” she said as Talani caught up. “I lost the kitty.”
Talani pointed to her nose. “I can smell her. This way,” she said, pointing straight.
They ran as fast as they dared in the narrow dark hallway, past several closed doors that seemed like they might lead into homes, until the hallway ended at a stairwell.
Abigail looked at Talani. “Can you tell which way she went?”
“Down, I think.”
Abigail started down the stairs.
“Wait!” Talani said, “Remember? We’re supposed to stay on this level.”
Abigail sighed. “Oh, yeah.”
She looked down the dark stairwell, suddenly sad that the cat was gone.
“I scared it away,” Abigail said, her lip trembling as her eyes welled up with tears.
Talani began to cry too.
“The kitty’s gone!” Abigail cried louder.
“I’m sorry,” Talani said, coming over and hugging Abigail.
They stood there, pathetic and crying, until suddenly Talani started to laugh.
“What?” Abigail asked, pulling away with a hopeful smile, thinking maybe the cat had come back.
“Oh my God, that drink isn’t magick; it makes us an emotional mess! I never cry. Especially over a cat!”
“He’s a cute cat,” Abigail argued, her feelings hurt, though she didn’t know why.
Then she started laughing, too.
“Never drinking that stuff again,” Talani said, still laughing.
Abigail looked back down the stairs, feeling horrible that she scared the cat off of his level.
“What if he gets lost? What if his mommy can’t find him down here? He might starve.”
“Please,” Talani said. “Stop. Don’t make me cry again!”
“I don’t want the cat to die,” Abigail said, still crying. “We need to go find it.”
“But Cassandra told us not to go upstairs or downstairs.”
The way she emphasized “or” made Abigail laugh — which sent Talani into hysterics, too.
Abigail clenched her jaw. “I don’t care what she said. She’s not the boss of us.”
Talani really started laughing at that, which made Abigail giggle like crazy.
“Fine,” Talani said, “but if we die, I’m gonna kill you.”
Abigail laughed as they descended the stairs in search of the kitten.
Thirty-Nine
Caleb
Caleb opened his eyes to a blurry world.
He was in a bed, in a dark room, but couldn’t remember how he got there or where he was.
A woman’s hand stroked his chest.
Slowly, she came into focus, the blur receding.
A fireplace’s warm glow lit enough of the room for him to see her — a redhead with bright green eyes, long hair, and freckled cheeks.
“Hello,” she said in his tongue, with a thick accent suggesting it wasn’t her language.
“Where am I?” he asked, confused but feeling a deeper bliss than any he’d ever felt.
The thing about pills, or any opiate, was there was never a time like your first. After that, you were caught in a hopeless loop of chasing the next high, needing more drugs to inch closer to that first time. But over time, your senses dulled and the drug could only help you feel normal.
But this, whatever he’d been given, erased all that.
<
br /> This was like tapping into some cosmic bliss that spread warmth and a deep feeling of love through his entire being.
Though some part of Caleb knew he should’ve been concerned that he didn’t know where he was, or whom he was with, most of him didn’t care.
He only wanted to feel more of the bliss.
He reached over, cupping the girl’s left breast, then running his hand down her stomach.
She sighed as he slid his fingers along her lips.
He was instantly hard.
He wanted to be inside her more than he wanted to know where he was, whom he was with, or how he got here.
He climbed on top of her, looked into her beautiful eyes, captivated by her slightly crooked smile.
He leaned down, kissed her, gently at first, then devouring her mouth as every fiber of him exploded with joy.
He thrust himself inside, watched her eyes roll back in her head.
He leaned down to kiss her again, practically growling.
Her fingers clawed into his back, and the pain was euphoric.
He wouldn’t have cared if she cut him. Hell, he almost wanted it.
Wanted to be part of her, one with her, to ravish her, to … consume her.
Her eyes locked onto his.
“Hurt me,” she said in broken English.
Something animal snapped inside him.
His eyes locked onto hers, too.
He smacked her face.
She smiled, biting her lip.
“Again,” she said.
He thrust deeper, harder, suddenly wanting to both fuck and hurt her.
His hands found her throat, and he choked her.
And as he did, he grew harder still.
A part of him tried to make sense of this. He’d never had violent fantasies, but as Caleb hurt this woman, something inside him was responding — exploding, a flood of endorphins, and what felt like a hundred other chemicals in his brain, suddenly energized in a way he’d never felt.
He felt alive like never before.
He looked down at the woman, and squeezed tighter.
Her eyes were glassy, like she was wasted, too.
“Harder.”
He obliged, both in fucking, and choking.
Her eyes suddenly bulged, panicked, as if just waking up to what was happening.