by Aaron Hodges
When she’d appeared out of nowhere to save him, Chris had allowed himself to hope they might have a future after all. Her whispered promise that they would talk as they crept through the sleeping Chead had only reinforced that hope.
But the reappearance of Liz’s mother had changed everything. She had taken to spending all her waking moments with the old Chead, though Chris had no idea what they discussed. He was rarely invited to join them. Instead, he was left to wander their campsites alone, surrounded by the hostile grey eyes of the Chead.
Ahead, he caught a glimpse of Liz through the old mud-brick buildings, and picked up his pace. The settlement must have been a mining village once upon a time—he couldn’t think of anything else that could have drawn so many people out into this barren place. The buildings were probably a hundred years old, but in the dryness of the desert, they remained in good condition. A few had collapsed from the slow corrosion of time, but most still stood as they had been built. Inside, the floors were dirt, most of the furniture long removed, but they at least offered protection from the sun.
“Liz!” Chris called as he turned a corner and saw her in the doorway of one of the buildings.
Her blue eyes widened when she saw him. A frown marked her forehead as she turned away from the door. “Chris? What are you doing?”
Chris closed the remaining distance and came to a stop in front of her. Tucking his hands into his pockets, he stared at her boots, struggling to find the words he wanted to say. “I…” He bit his lip, then forced himself to look at her. “I’m not sure,” he finished lamely.
Liz stared at him for a full second, before rolling her eyes and turning away.
“Wait!” Unbidden, Chris’s hand shot out and caught her wrist. “Wait…Liz…can we talk?” As Liz spun to glare at him, he quickly added, “Please?”
“Talk?” Liz’s lips twisted into a frown. “What is there to talk about, Chris?”
Chris swallowed, his nerve failing him. But gritting his teeth, he forced himself to say the words. He needed to know, one way or another. He couldn’t stand this in-between, this being caught between hope and despair.
“About us,” he mumbled. “About why you came after me.”
A softness appeared in Liz’s eyes, and for a moment his heart lifted. Then a steely hardness came over her face. Her jaw tightened, and she gave a curt shake of her head. “There is no us, Chris,” she said. “Not anymore.”
Throwing off his hand, she disappeared into the house. There was no door to keep him out, but Chris made no move to follow her. He stood staring into the shadows of the doorway, then turned away. His legs shook as he stumbled through the settlement, ignoring the stares of the Chead still out in the streets. Their sweet scent pressed in around him, and his stomach twisted with nausea. The need to escape rose in his chest, a desire to spread his wings and fly away, to flee the girl he loved, escape the truth of her rejection.
The Chead made no effort to stop him as he leapt into the air. His auburn wings beat down, hurling him skywards, and he raced up towards the harsh glow of the sun. As the stench of the Chead fell away he sucked in a breath, savoring the crisp, dusty scents of the desert. Angling his wings, he circled the settlement, watching as the last of the Chead disappeared into the buildings. Marking the spot in his mind, he turned away, wings beating hard.
Soaring out over the vast desert, Chris almost felt free.
He knew he’d lost Liz for good, that she could never forgive what he’d done in Alcatraz. He didn’t blame her. Even now, among the clouds, Chris could not escape his own guilt, his own bitter self-loathing.
All that was left for him was Ashley’s command—that he make his life worth something. He had thought by coming here, by stopping Hecate’s slaughtering of innocent people, he might make a difference. But nothing had been as he’d expected. Hecate, the dark, powerful monster from his past, was only a pawn.
It was Liz’s own mother who controlled the Chead.
Chris shuddered and dipped slightly as he remembered Liz’s tale of how her mother had turned. Liz had found her mother standing over the body of her father, in the middle of her ruined house. Outside, all her childhood friends were already dead.
Yet even then, Talisa had spared her daughter.
And now the ancient Chead had welcomed Liz into a new family, a new life.
Tucking his wings, Chris dived. His stomach lurched into his chest as he plummeted towards the distant ground. Blood pounded in his ears and adrenaline flooded his veins. For just a second he felt alive, almost his old self again.
The ground raced up towards him, swelling until it filled his whole vision. Gritting his teeth, Chris snapped open his wings. Pain tore along his back as he lurched to a stop. His wings beat down, stabilizing him.
For a while he drifted close to the ground, his mind lost in thought. Moving into a thermal, he let the hot air gather beneath his feathers and send him soaring upwards. High above the desert, he looked around, a distant flicker of movement catching his attention. Turning towards it, he spotted the dark, glimmering streak of a highway. A van rumbled along the road, a cloud of smoke billowing up behind it. He guessed it must be heading towards Las Vegas.
More movement appeared on the road ahead of the truck. Chris stared as the roadside seemed to come alive. A dozen figures swarmed across the asphalt, barring the van’s path. The squeal of brakes carried up to Chris as the vehicle slammed to a stop. His jaw dropped as he realized a group of Chead had intercepted the van.
Shouts rang below as the Chead tore open the doors of the van. Without hesitating, Chris folded his wings and raced towards the Chead and their prey.
By the time he reached them, the Chead had the occupants of the van surrounded. Kneeling on the scorching asphalt, they looked around at the bloodthirsty creatures, faces pale with fear. There were four of them in total—a middle-aged man and woman, plus two women in their twenties.
The Chead jumped as Chris slammed into the ground nearby. He swallowed as their cold grey eyes turned towards him, counting four of the creatures—until Hecate wandered out from behind the van to make it five.
“Chris.” Hecate laughed. “What are you doing…so far from your babysitters?”
“What are you doing with these people?” Chris replied, ignoring the taunt.
On the road, the humans squirmed on their knees. Chris could feel the heat radiating from the asphalt. It was late in the morning and the temperature had already climbed well above a hundred degrees. The road would be hotter still. They looked at him, mouths clenched closed, probably trying to work out if he was there to help them or kill them.
“Making war,” Hecate growled.
Chris’s eyes returned to the Chead. “These people aren’t any threat to you.”
Hecate’s lips twitched as he raised an eyebrow. “No? Well, let us see.”
Before Chris could move, Hecate grabbed the kneeling man by the scruff of his shirt. Helpless, the man screamed as Hecate lifted him into the air. Chris moved to intervene, but Hecate only laughed and tossed the man at another of the Chead. Leaping, the creature caught the man mid-air.
Gasping, the man tried to break free, but he was no match for the Chead’s strength. As Chris turned towards the creature, it laughed and passed their victim to a third Chead.
Chris staggered to a stop and looked around, realizing the Chead had encircled him. The man screamed as he was sent soaring again. His face had lost the last of its color and he looked close to throwing up. Standing his ground, Chris turned to face Hecate.
“You’ve had your fun,” he grated through clenched teeth. “You’ve proved he’s harmless. Now let him go.”
Laughter whispered around the circle of Chead as the man was passed again. This time though, he twisted as the next Chead caught him, his foot sweeping up into the creature’s groin. Roaring, the Chead hurled the man at the ground. He bounced once on the asphalt before coming to a stop. Groaning, he tried to crawl away, but the Chead he’d st
ruck bounded forward and drove its foot down on his skull. A sickening crunch ended the man’s cries.
As one, the remaining passengers screamed and scrambled back towards the van. Hecate leapt to intercept them, but Chris was faster still. He tacked Hecate to the ground and slammed his fist into the Chead’s face. Before he could land a second blow, Hecate rolled, sending Chris toppling sideways.
Coming to their feet, they squared off against one another. Chris sneered. “You want to try your luck again?”
Hecate straightened and chuckled. “Perhaps.” He shook his head and nodded at the cowering family. “But not today. What are these…humans to you? You know…what they did to us. To you.”
“Not these humans,” Chris replied.
“They are all the same. Such pitiful creatures…do not deserve our mercy.”
“Leave them be,” Chris pressed. “They have nothing to do with your war.”
Hecate laughed. “They have everything to do with it.” He licked his lips, eyes drinking in the sight of the three women. “But perhaps…you are right. The young ones…do not have to die.”
Chris’s stomach twisted at the look in Hecate’s eyes. He edged slightly forward. “What do you mean?”
The cold grey eyes returned to him. “The Chead are still…too few. We need…mates…to prosper.”
“They’re human,” Chris managed to stammer, mere words unable to express his horror.
Hecate chuckled. “Yes…and we have no more…virus,” he mused, “but…the Chead are strong. If the offspring…are weak…they can be culled.”
Bile rose in Chris’s throat. The girls whimpered, clinging to the older woman that could only be their mother.
Standing in the middle of the road, Chris gathered himself. “I won’t let you touch them. This is wrong.”
“Wrong?” Hecate asked, starting towards the group.
Chris tried to intercept him, but two Chead leapt in and grabbed him by the arms, pinning them behind his back. He fought to break free as Hecate approached the huddled humans. Quick as lightning, he had one of the younger girls by the hair. He pushed her towards Chris.
“Your mate…has abandoned you,” he said, head tilting to the side. “Would you not like…a fresh one?”
Chris growled, trying to throw off his assailants, but together they were more than his match. “Let me go!”
“Not to your liking?” Hecate smiled.
His arm shot out and caught the girl by the neck. The girl opened her mouth to scream, but his hand gave a sharp jerk. A sickening crack broke the desert’s silence as the girl went limp. She toppled face-first to the asphalt when Hecate released her.
“No!” Chris screamed, but Hecate was already dragging the second girl towards him.
“What about…blonde?” the Chead cackled, shoving the screaming girl at Chris.
The girl fought to break Hecate’s hold. Her hands lashed out, her fingernails digging into his arms, but the Chead didn’t seem to notice. He pushed her forward until her tear-streaked face was an inch from Chris’s own.
Her big brown eyes suddenly found his. “Please,” she croaked.
“I…” Chris gaped, hardly able to breathe.
“No?”
Before Chris could reply, Hecate drove his fist into the girl’s back. The sickening squelch of tearing flesh and breaking bones followed. The girl’s mouth fell open in a silent scream. A shudder ran through her body as her eyes rolled back in her skull. As Hecate released her hair, her head lolled forward, but she remained on her feet, propped up by the fist embedded in her back. With a jerk of his hand, Hecate let her body fall.
Chris sobbed as he stared at the dead girls. He hung limp from his captives’ arms now, but behind Hecate the woman screamed and charged the grey-eyed boy. Hecate batted away the woman’s fists with casual ease, then downed her with a blow to the forehead. She collapsed without a sound, dead before she struck the ground. Wiping his bloody hand on his shirt, Hecate grinned at Chris.
“You’re right, Chris,” he said, stepping in close. “These creatures were…beneath us. I’m glad…you set us straight.”
Laughing, Hecate nodded to the Chead holding him. Chris sagged to the ground as they released him. The hot asphalt burned his palms, but he hardly felt it. Unable to tear his eyes from the slaughtered family, he listened to the crunching of stones as the Chead moved away.
Only when silence returned did Chris climb to his feet. Swallowing his horror, he closed his eyes, then forced them back open. He looked at the dead women and man one last time.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t save you,” he whispered.
Then he was turning, spreading his wings, throwing himself into the sky. The wind caught in his feathers, hurtling him back towards the settlement. As the ground fell away, there was only one thought in his mind.
I have to warn Liz!
53
Liz smiled as her mother dismissed another group of Chead. She was still struggling to accept this new reality, this impossible dream come true. How many days had it been now? Three? Four? She’d already lost count, swept away in the wonder of it all. She was afraid to pause and take a breath, lest she wake and the dream end.
Crossing the room, her mother settled down on the crumbling couch alongside Liz. The foam cushions had rotted away long ago, but Liz had found some moth-eaten blankets in the cupboard. Folded up beneath them, they weren’t exactly comfortable, but were still better than the dirt floor.
Liz shivered as Talisa pulled her into a gentle hug. A part of her still flinched at the touch, fearing the deadly nematocysts lacing her skin cells. But like Ashley back in San Francisco, her mother seemed immune, and closing her eyes, Liz returned the embrace. Breathing in, she drank in the familiar scent of her childhood. She hardly noticed the pungent sweetness of the Chead anymore.
“How can you touch me?” Liz croaked when they finally broke apart.
Her mother smiled, the wrinkles spreading across her face. “I am Chead, my daughter,” she replied. “I have spent years wandering the wilderness, gathering our people, providing them shelter. In that time, I mastered our true nature, harnessed my potential. Your venom holds no bite for me.”
“What do you mean, ‘harnessed your potential’?” Liz asked, frowning.
Her mother sighed. “You have witnessed the rage, the uncontrollable madness of our kind?”
A tremor went through Liz. She remembered that anger all too well, the rage that had flooded her mind, burning away all thought and reason. In that moment, she’d felt all-powerful, as though no feat was beyond her strength—even as her control was stripped away, and she found herself in the grip of some inner beast. In that state, she had torn grown men apart, leaving them in bloody pieces on the laboratory floor.
“I have felt it,” she whispered finally.
“You have?”
Liz looked up at the sharpness of her mother’s voice. But the ancient face only offered another smile.
“My poor child,” she murmured, stroking Liz’s cheek.
Liz bowed her head, her eyes fluttering closed at her mother’s touch.
“When unleashed, our rage is a terrible thing,” her mother continued. “In its grip, our true potential is revealed. Our power, our strength is unrivaled. But the madness consumes us. Without our minds, we become mere beasts, unrestricted by the feeble limits of humanity, yet unable to think, to plan, to truly rival our makers.”
Liz looked away. “It was terrifying. I never want to feel that way again.”
Her mother chuckled. “But you must.”
Liz’s head snapped up. Her chest clenched and she found herself struggling to breathe. Her mother stared back, the smile still on her face.
“What do you mean?” Liz asked, her heart pounding. She glanced around, suddenly aware again of where she was. The windows of the abandoned building had been boarded up, but sunlight streamed through the empty doorway.
She shivered as Talisa’s soft voice called her back. �
�Relax, my daughter, you are safe here.”
Liz found herself caught in the cool white eyes of her mother. A warm blanket settled over her mind and the pounding in her ears slowed. Letting out a long breath, Liz nodded. She took her mother’s hand, drawing reassurance from her touch.
“The rage is only one step on a great journey, my daughter,” Talisa continued. “With time, the beast inside you can be controlled, mastered, tamed. Only then will you reach your true potential. Then there will be no fury, but a state of bliss, of mindfulness, that allows you to move beyond the limitations of humanity. It is a state of mind humans have sought for millennia—that their monks and pilgrims spend entire lives seeking. It can be yours, if only you have the courage to grasp it. With it, you can command the world.”
Liz’s fear cut through the warmth entrapping her mind. “It almost consumed me, Mom,” she whispered.
“You are my daughter,” Talisa pressed. “You will not succumb.”
Pain sliced Liz’s palm as her mother’s fingers tightened. Gasping, she tried to pull away, but her mother’s grip was like iron.
Then a shout came from outside. The pressure vanished as they both turned towards the door. Half a second later, Chris burst inside, several Chead hot on his heels.
“Liz!” he cried out, stumbling to a stop. Spinning to face the Chead behind him, he spread his wings. “Liz, we need to leave!”
Liz had sprung to her feet at Chris’s appearance, but now she paused, looking from Chris to the Chead who had followed him inside. Relief swept through her as she recognized them as Talisa’s guards. They stood in the doorway glaring at Chris, obviously annoyed at his unannounced entry, but otherwise made no move towards him.
Scowling, she shifted her attention to Chris. “What are you doing in here?”