didn’t involve me climbing into
any duct work, when something odd happened.
Really, I
should have been ready for it;after all, I was beginning to get so used to the
unexplained that the newness of newness was wearing off.
The walls of
the elevator seemed to flex and blur. For a moment, I was uncomfortably dizzy. Around
me, shadows closed in, moving in slow waves until they solidified into shapes,
into people with faces and detail, smoke-like, but visible nonetheless.
My lips
parted, an objection already in place, but nothing came out. In clear detail, a
male shape in a suit pushed some of the buttons, and the downward arrow above
the doors blinked on in a dull, ghostly glow. I reached out, and, with my
fingers barely feeling it, tapped the same series. The light blinked on; the
elevator dropped. The translucent images faded, leaving me slightly
disoriented.
“What the
hell?”
Jinx chuckled.
“I thought so.”
“You thought
what?”
“Nothing. I’ll
explain later.” But he continued to smile, almost too gleefully, the
triumphant little twerp.
The doors slid
open on the darkened corridor. I hung back, knowing what lay ahead and
unwilling to see it again. He grabbed my hand and winked. “Don’t worry. It’s okay,”
he whispered. “Just go.”
I shook my
head. “I don’t know about this.”
He pounded his
chest with a limp fist. “We’re both the same, Lily. Indestructible. Come on, we
have to. Your visions told us so. If I’ve learned anything today, it’s that I
shouldn’t patronize you about your visions.”
I gave a weak
smile and went before him, but inside, my brain was screaming. His protestations
aside, I’d already turned one indestructible man into compost that day. But
Jinx was behind me, and I could not afford to be uncertain. We were past that
point.
I followed the
tunnel to the door with the keypad and halted. At the end of the corridor, the
two Smiths were chatting in the control room, unaware that their inner sanctum
had been penetrated. From their words, it seemed that Petula had warned the
scout team about the body and that their boss would not be pleased to find out
about it when he returned from dealing with the tongue collector. It seemed we
weren’t the only ones having a bad day.
Jinx nudged
his head at the lock.
I stared at
it, and the same inexplicable event occurred. Wisps of fingers and hands
drifted over the keypad until a pattern emerged, and, at my single attempt, the
lock flashed green.
We entered
unhindered. The girl was hidden as before, wadded up in her old blanket, the
bowl already replaced and refilled with water, though the black puddle against
the wall was still there, ringed in dark tide-lines.
Her face
peeped out, wreathed in curls, and her sunken eyes found us. In them, I saw a
hollow weariness, a fear, backlit by something like hunger. She was almost deranged-looking,
a wild animal caged inside a tiny, useless body. Out of the jhana , I was
repulsed by her and could not honestly say why.
“The
Revolutionary,” she whispered hoarsely. “We meet at last.”
Against me,
still gripping my hand, Jinx stiffened. When he answered, his voice had a new quality
to it, a timbre that could make impassioned speeches, drive masses, loose the
dogs of war.
“ Bonjour,
mademoiselle .” He executed a little, elegant bow, “ Petula ? Really? You
have an amazing sense of humor.”
To my
surprise, she smiled, her eyes dimming in intensity. It was as if her madness had
subsided a little, if only for someone from the “old time.”
“I did not
take the name. It was given to me.” She shifted forward in her seat. “You have
questions for me?”
“I do.” He
stepped forward, picking his way through her discarded toys. He hesitated at
the table’s edge but, after a long gaze at her, took a seat across from her. “This
is Lilith.”
“I know.” She
turned to me, her gaze vacant but somehow piercing. “It has been a while since
I have seen you.”
I got
any duct work, when something odd happened.
Really, I
should have been ready for it;after all, I was beginning to get so used to the
unexplained that the newness of newness was wearing off.
The walls of
the elevator seemed to flex and blur. For a moment, I was uncomfortably dizzy. Around
me, shadows closed in, moving in slow waves until they solidified into shapes,
into people with faces and detail, smoke-like, but visible nonetheless.
My lips
parted, an objection already in place, but nothing came out. In clear detail, a
male shape in a suit pushed some of the buttons, and the downward arrow above
the doors blinked on in a dull, ghostly glow. I reached out, and, with my
fingers barely feeling it, tapped the same series. The light blinked on; the
elevator dropped. The translucent images faded, leaving me slightly
disoriented.
“What the
hell?”
Jinx chuckled.
“I thought so.”
“You thought
what?”
“Nothing. I’ll
explain later.” But he continued to smile, almost too gleefully, the
triumphant little twerp.
The doors slid
open on the darkened corridor. I hung back, knowing what lay ahead and
unwilling to see it again. He grabbed my hand and winked. “Don’t worry. It’s okay,”
he whispered. “Just go.”
I shook my
head. “I don’t know about this.”
He pounded his
chest with a limp fist. “We’re both the same, Lily. Indestructible. Come on, we
have to. Your visions told us so. If I’ve learned anything today, it’s that I
shouldn’t patronize you about your visions.”
I gave a weak
smile and went before him, but inside, my brain was screaming. His protestations
aside, I’d already turned one indestructible man into compost that day. But
Jinx was behind me, and I could not afford to be uncertain. We were past that
point.
I followed the
tunnel to the door with the keypad and halted. At the end of the corridor, the
two Smiths were chatting in the control room, unaware that their inner sanctum
had been penetrated. From their words, it seemed that Petula had warned the
scout team about the body and that their boss would not be pleased to find out
about it when he returned from dealing with the tongue collector. It seemed we
weren’t the only ones having a bad day.
Jinx nudged
his head at the lock.
I stared at
it, and the same inexplicable event occurred. Wisps of fingers and hands
drifted over the keypad until a pattern emerged, and, at my single attempt, the
lock flashed green.
We entered
unhindered. The girl was hidden as before, wadded up in her old blanket, the
bowl already replaced and refilled with water, though the black puddle against
the wall was still there, ringed in dark tide-lines.
Her face
peeped out, wreathed in curls, and her sunken eyes found us. In them, I saw a
hollow weariness, a fear, backlit by something like hunger. She was almost deranged-looking,
a wild animal caged inside a tiny, useless body. Out of the jhana , I was
repulsed by her and could not honestly say why.
“The
Revolutionary,” she whispered hoarsely. “We meet at last.”
Against me,
still gripping my hand, Jinx stiffened. When he answered, his voice had a new quality
to it, a timbre that could make impassioned speeches, drive masses, loose the
dogs of war.
“ Bonjour,
mademoiselle .” He executed a little, elegant bow, “ Petula ? Really? You
have an amazing sense of humor.”
To my
surprise, she smiled, her eyes dimming in intensity. It was as if her madness had
subsided a little, if only for someone from the “old time.”
“I did not
take the name. It was given to me.” She shifted forward in her seat. “You have
questions for me?”
“I do.” He
stepped forward, picking his way through her discarded toys. He hesitated at
the table’s edge but, after a long gaze at her, took a seat across from her. “This
is Lilith.”
“I know.” She
turned to me, her gaze vacant but somehow piercing. “It has been a while since
I have seen you.”
I got
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