Flintlocked, page 7
Whoever this person was, I didn’t think they had my best interests at heart, so I made to leave the alley. “Well, it was nice meeting you, whoever you are,” I said, giving the stranger a wide berth as I walked by him. “But I have to get going now so I can, um, feed my cat.”
“That’s nice,” the wide-mouthed weirdo said, now walking alongside me. “What’s your cat’s name?”
“Snarf.” The street was just up ahead. Maybe when I got to the street, this scary weirdo would leave me alone.
“Very nice. I’m fond o’ cats myself. Not as nice as humans, but still tasty.”
Tasty? What the hell was the creep talking about? Was he saying he liked to eat people? Not that I was going to ask him about that. I was just focused on getting to the street as I quickened up my pace.
“You seem in a bit of a hurry,” the guy said. “Where you headed? Home, is it? I could come with.”
“No, that’s fine,” I said.
“But you clearly need someone to explain things to you. Do you even know where you are right now?”
“Boot Hill.”
“Yes, but what world are we in?”
“World?” I frowned for a second, wondering what he was talking about until I remembered what Kasbiel said about there being three worlds. “The… hidden one?”
“Yes, that’s right. Your newfound magic just dragged you into here, and now—” The guy with a razor for a hand suddenly stepped in front of me before I could reach the street. “You’re not getting out.”
“What? Step aside, please.”
Razor Guy laughed. “You’re adorable.” He held up the huge razor, light somehow glinting off it, even though it was dark all around. “I’m going to enjoy cutting your skin off.”
Oh, Jesus, he wants to kill me. Not just kill me, but fucking skin me!
I backed off down the alley, and Razor Guy followed, his bloodied aura seeming to pulse in the darkness as his excitement clearly mounted. “You’d better leave me alone,” I said, thrusting my hand out in front of me. “You saw what I did to that homeless guy.”
“I did,” Razor Guy said, seeming completely unconcerned as he grinned like a Cheshire Cat. “But you won’t be able to do that again. Know why?”
“Why?” I asked, despite myself.
“Because when you unleashed all that energy earlier, you used up a lot of your life force. With such a burst, I’d say you drained most of your battery, so to speak.” He kept walking forward as if killing me was inevitable. “Tell me, do you usually look like you’re in your fifties?”
“What? No, of course not.”
“Well, you do now. Know why?”
“Because… I used my life force?”
“Bingo! And because you are so clearly new to magic, your life force is just flowing from you like a river. I can see it leaking out of you. You’ll look like an old man soon, and you know what that means, don’t you?”
“What?” I asked, all my joints now suddenly aching, acid reflux burning my chest like fire.
“It means I need to cut your skin off before it gets too wrinkly. I don’t like wrinkly skin. It tastes like leather.”
Fuck this.
Razor Guy went to slash me with his terrifying weapon, and I quickly turned and sprinted up the alley away from him, running as fast as my now rapidly aging legs could carry me, not daring to look back in case I saw that madman coming up behind me. By the time I reached the end of the alley and turned and headed for the street exit, I barely had a puff left in me. My lungs burned. So did my legs. And all my bones were begging me to stop running.
I couldn’t believe this was happening. How did I go from Superman to old man so quickly?
Flintlock said the magic would drain me, even if I didn’t use it. But using it obviously drained my life force even more, and did so astonishingly quickly. Now, I would have to replace it somehow, and Flintlock hadn’t told me how.
God freaking dammit. I’ve been dumped on again, haven’t I?
Ultimate power? It had to be too good to be true, didn’t it? Jesus. Flintlock had even talked about immortality. What a joke, considering it didn’t look like I would last the next ten minutes, never mind an eternity. Not unless I found a way to replace my rapidly dwindling life force.
When I neared the street exit, I dared stop and look over my shoulder, thankful when I saw no sign of the creep with the razor blade. Though I wasn’t about to hang around wondering where he’d gone to. I had a more pressing matter at hand anyway, which was probably more important than dwelling on the strange fucker who wanted to skin me with his built-in razor.
“I’m probably too old for him now anyway,” I said, stopping for a second as I barely recognized my voice, having developed the tired, gravelly voice of a much older man. With shortness of breath and wide eyes, I dared to look at my trembling hands, gasping when I saw how wrinkled and gnarly they had become. “Oh, Jesus. I’m gonna die of old age before I can even get home to feed Snarf.”
Sciatica stabbed my lower back and left leg as I hobbled out onto the street, wondering now if being alive again was more trouble than it was worth. Maybe I should’ve just took my chances in the afterlife. At least then, I might’ve seen my parents again. Instead, I’d been lumbered with a power that was rapidly killing me, anyway. A power I couldn’t even use. Not to mention, I had been plunged into some strange netherworld with people in it who wanted to kill me. What the hell was next, an entire street full of weirdos who looked like they all wanted to either kill me or suck me dry?
Well…
Doddering out onto the street, I came to a standstill in the middle of the sidewalk, now like a person who’d just realized they were walking on a glass bridge, and if they took one more step, the glass might break under their feet, plunging them hundreds of feet to a horrible death.
I was on Lime Street, and it comprised row houses and a few shops. The buildings were well etched into my mind because I walked this street at least once a day to go to work, and also when I had to visit the local convenience store. The problem was, the Lime Street I knew was not the Lime Street I was now standing before. Many of the buildings looked different, some having really weird architecture. Like the row of houses that appeared to be buckled out of shape, as if they’d been exposed to a great heat. And on the corner, I saw a building I had never seen before, and which shouldn’t have been there. A building made up of brightly colored square boxes set at odd angles, with cylindrical shapes in between, all of which had a little window in them, as if people actually lived there.
And speaking of people, they were even weirder. Even though it was nighttime, many figures strolled up and down the street, with some just hanging around. Everywhere I looked, I saw people that looked human with strange auras surrounding them. Despite my blurred vision and muffled hearing, I could still tell that many of the people looked very odd, from the clothes they wore to the things they seemed to carry on their person. Their faces were also alien. Strangely colored eyes, misshapen features, weird hair. Predatory looks. I didn’t even need to see the looks, for they bored into me from all angles.
Oh, shit. Oh, shit… a street full of weirdos, just like Razor Guy, and they all want a piece of me.
What the hell am I going to do?
I was a tourist in some forgotten country on the edge of the map, the locals not taking too kindly to strangers stumbling into their corner of the world—their hidden world.
“Hey there,” said a friendly voice from beside me, and I turned to look who it was with my failing vision, thinking this was bound to be someone else who wanted a piece of me.
“My skin doesn’t taste very good,” I said to the person before I could even take them in. “I eat a lot of salt, I’ll have you know.”
“What?” the person said, and I focused hard on them to see what they looked like. It was a woman. That much I knew from the voice. Her messy bobbed hair was black with steaks of bright red, though I couldn’t be sure about that. Neither could I be sure of what she was wearing—some kind of dark clothing, leather maybe. Things appeared to be attached to her outfit, though I couldn’t make them out. Her aura I could see well, though. It was a yellowish glow that surrounded her, and looking at it calmed my jangled nerves, dispelling some of the bad thoughts from my mind. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just came to tell you to go back to where you came from. You’re leaking vital and magic like a sieve, and to some of these people around here, that’s an open invitation to feed on you.”
“Feed on me? Seriously? What kind of place is this?”
“Do you even know where you are?”
“The Hidden World, I think. Mysteria, is it?”
“Well, at least you know that much.” I felt her staring at me. “Let me guess, you sold your soul for magic.”
“Yes. Was I wrong?”
“Hardly matters now, does it? You need to juice up before you die. In five minutes, you’ll be dust.”
“You mean get some life force? Or vital, as you called it. I don’t know how.” The war taking place in my body made me wince and groan. “I don’t know how much longer… I can stand for.”
“You need to connect to a battery.”
“A battery?”
“Something that’s going to replenish you. People have the most juice. Gotta be careful you don’t kill them, though. Amid the rush, it’s easily done. Failing that, any animal or plant will do, but those will only charge you a little, depending on the size of the animal or plant.” She stepped closer to me. For the first time, her face came into focus, and I saw her large brown eyes and wanted to fall into them. “Here. You can take some of my juice. Just a little mind, enough to stop you from turning to dust. Though you probably deserve it for being so stupid as to sell your soul in the first place for a power you know nothing about.”
“Give me a break,” I said. “I was dying. A vampire—a freaking vampire!—ripped my throat out. He also turned my friend into one as well. I need to save her.”
“Save her?” The girl raised one eyebrow. “And how to do you plan on doing that?”
“I’m not sure yet. I guess I’ll figure it out.”
“If you live long enough?”
“Yeah.”
“I suppose I’d better make sure you don’t die then. At least not right now. After this, it’s up to you.”
“Sure,” I said, and then promptly screamed like a little girl as I jumped back away from her. “Kill it! Fucking kill it now!”
“Kill what?” she asked, frowning, shaking her head at my outburst.
“The big fucking spider on the ground there! Kill it!”
“Spider?” She looked down and saw what I was talking about. “It’s just a spider.”
“It’s not just a spider!” I screeched, backing off even more now. “It’s a fucking fanged, eight-eyed death machine! Kill it!”
“Jesus Christ. Seriously? What’s wrong with you? You have a fear of spiders?”
“Now I do, yes. Apparently, the magic is to blame.”
The girl nodded, finally understanding. “Yeah, of course. Don’t worry. Whatever fear you have, it’s just temporary.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. Now, I have to be some place, so if we can just get on with stopping you from turning into dust, that would be great.”
“What about the spider? What about all the spiders?”
“Shh,” she said as she came and put her finger on my lips. “Forget about the spider and focus on me instead.”
I nodded, calmed by her touch. “Okay,” I whispered.
When she put her forehead against mine, I had half a notion that she was about to kiss me, which I really wouldn’t have minded, even though I was an old man and I probably grossed her out. But alas, she took her head off of mine after a few seconds, taking a step back as energy the same color as her aura transferred itself in a gentle stream from the center of her forehead into mine. A blissful explosion of vitality entered me that went about refreshing every aging cell in my body. In seconds, it was like a film had been scraped from my eyes, and a chorus of sounds entered my ears. The stabbing pains in my back and legs also dissolved, and I sighed with massive relief.
Throughout the few seconds the girl and I remained attached by this powerful energy, we stared into each other’s eyes. She seemed to be in her mid-twenties, her body tall and slender, her face soft yet full of boldness. As she looked back at me, I was sure she wasn’t thinking how attractive I was. She had the detached look of someone who was just helping a stranger because it was the right thing to do, even though she didn’t really want to be doing it. Still, staring into her eyes for those brief seconds made me feel like I was in Heaven.
“I think that’s enough now,” the girl said as she snapped her head away, breaking the connection between us. “That should do you until you get back to Munday World.”
“Munday World?” I said, noticing the disappointment in my voice at having to leave this girl that I’d only just met.
“The Mundane World,” she said. “Also known as Skyefall. You don’t belong here. You want my advice? Go home and learn how to bring your vital under control. Right now, you’re like a leaky faucet.”
“How do I do that?”
The girl shook her head slightly, and my face reddened. “For those born with magic, controlling the seepage comes naturally. For you, you’ll have to find your own way of plugging the leaks and slowing down the seepage. The best way is to find someone who can teach you. In the meantime, just remember to keep replacing the energy you lose.”
“Can’t you teach me?” I asked her, hoping she would say yes, knowing she wouldn’t.
The girl smiled faintly and shook her head. “That’s asking too much from a stranger, don’t you think?”
“Tell me your name and we won’t be strangers anymore. My name is Zackary. Zackary Schade. Or just Zack to my friends.”
“You have many of those?”
“Friends?” I shook my head. “Not really.”
“I didn’t think so.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked her, though it was mostly a rhetorical question, for I knew better than anyone that I didn’t exactly come across as the most sociable of people. Years of withdrawing into my own private world had reinforced my natural introversion to the point where it was obvious in every aspect of my behavior. That’s something I would have to work on. Especially since it seemed my private world had now been decimated. Or, at least, it was about to be if things kept going the way they were going.
“Forget it. You seem like a nice guy, which is why you need to get out of here.” She turned her head to stare across the street. “See that guy over there? The one with the dark aura who’s been staring at you for the last few minutes?”
I hadn’t noticed until I looked at who she was talking about, seeing a tall, brutish looking man in a dark coat with tattoos all over his face and a look that said he wanted to kill me. “What about him?”
“He can see you’re weak. Only reason he hasn’t come over here is because of me.”
For the first time, I noticed the daggers sitting inside the sheaths that appeared to be sewn into the legs of her dark leather pants. Only the handles were visible, but with my renewed sight, I also noticed the outline of the blades against the leather. Suddenly, the beautiful stranger before me became a lot more intimidating, and the strange new world I was in closed in around me. “What does he want?” I asked, glancing over at the man, realizing the guy could probably tear me limb from limb in seconds if he wanted to. And he looked like he wanted to.
“Anything he can take from you and sell as moolah.”
I frowned. “Moolah?”
“It’s how we trade here. Coin is only a part of it. That guy will take your teeth and trade them.”
“Yeah, I get that impression,” I said, my frown deepening into a scowl as my body tensed. I was completely out of my depth in this place. “Maybe I should get going.”
She nodded as if it was the first sensible thing I’d said. “Yeah. Maybe you should.”
I nodded stiffly. “And just how… would I do that?”
The girl shook her head, as if she couldn’t fathom how I was even still alive. “You need to push through the Haze.”
“What’s the Haze?”
“The barrier between this world and the Munday World. You need to use your magic to push through it.”
“But won’t that use up more of my life force?”
“Yeah, it will. But it’s that or stay here to get stripped down for moolah. Your choice.”
I glanced over at the dude across the street, who was now casually twirling the tip of a huge knife against the palm of his hand. For the first time, I noticed he had on a necklace that appeared to be made from bones. Possibly finger bones. I swallowed. “All right. What do I do?”
“Just focus straight ahead until the Haze appears. Then walk through it.”
“That’s it?”
“Yep. Just be confident it will appear.”
“Confident.” I nodded. “Okay then.” Focusing ahead of myself as the girl said to do, I mustered as much confidence as I could and believed that the Haze thingy would appear. Soon, faint vibrations and tingling sensations went through me, most centered on my solar plexus and the center of my forehead. A warmth spread from these two areas, followed by a wave of energy that rolled out of my chest, changing the air in front of me, making it hazy and almost fluid-like,, the view of the street beyond now blurred. “Wow. There it is.”
“There it is,” the girl said. “You should walk through it now. Try not to come by here again. At least, not until you’re ready. Get some knowledge and defenses first.”
I took a step closer to the Haze, but stopped to look at the girl once more. “And if I came back, and I bumped into you again, what would I call you?”
The girl stared at me for a second, her dark eyes searching mine. Though for what, I wasn’t sure. “My name is Alicia.”
I smiled when she said her name, suddenly feeling like we weren’t strangers anymore. “It was nice meeting you, Alicia. And thank you.”
