Meliora - Emanate - 30

[lady_mab]

Liala Darcy

A sudden cold snap means my breath leaves my mouth is soft gasps of white. I'm freezing despite the sweater and sweatshirt and boots -- and Rhys’ scarf draped around my shoulders and tucked in carefully around my neck.

Christmas carols blare from one open window across the street, but otherwise, the sidewalks are empty. We're the only people stupid enough to step into this cold.

"I can't believe you had to come grocery shopping with me," I moan, earning a curious look from Rhys. "We were supposed to prepare your birthday dinner..."

He smiles and nudges me with his elbow -- both arms ladened with grocery bags. "Lionel had last-minute work. I don't mind."

"Yes, but I mind." I start to sigh, but I can feel it wheeze in my lungs with the promise of a coughing fit so I slow the exhale. "At least he should be home soon..."

Rhys hums in thought, though it trails off into following along with the carol from across the block. "The last thing I want is for you to have to go out on your own with your health is poor."

"My health is always poor," I say with a roll of my eyes.

He at least chuckles at my joke, which is an improvement from years past when he would simply glare or start to lecture me on how to keep myself healthy. "I'll make you some tea when we get home, how does that sound?"

A spot of tea with honey would do you some good.

I have to fight down the shiver and put a smile in place. "I can make myself tea, thank you. As soon as we get home you are going to sit on the couch and have no more hand in birthday prep!"

Rhys challenges me with an amused smirk and an arched eyebrow but says nothing. Instead, he looks at the buildings around us. Christmas lights are only strung up around a few windows and doorways. Most of the decorations have been saved for the city center, where there are still activities and shopping to be done. Out this way, on the eastern outskirts of the third district, there's not much except for apartments.

We walk on for another few minutes in relative silence, broken only by my muffled coughs and sniffles. It's a few blocks from my apartment, and I'm already looking forward to bundling up in comfy clothes before starting on dinner.

My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I have to juggle the bag of groceries in order to fish it out. It's a text from Lio.

Just got off work. New text came in from Kaito.

I glance over at my older brother, who doesn't seem to care that I'm texting. I guess now that I actually have people that aren't my siblings to text, it's not so much of a curiosity anymore. Can you go?

No, not unless you want me to pull that same stunt I did last time. I think it's an elimination round.

A small groan escapes me, though I clamp it back as quickly as I can. Still, it's enough for Rhys to hear and he looks down at me with concern.

"What's wrong?"

Ahh, how to explain?

My phone lights up again with the details of the text, and my words catch in my throat as I study the message.

Rhys interprets that failure of a sentence, and a disappointed frown takes over. "It's from ALICE, isn't it?"

"A new text... Lio says he thinks it's an elimination round." I reread the text again to make sure I got the wording correct. "Here comes a candle to light you to bed, and here comes a chopper to chop off your head. Kaito says this sounds something like the phrase 'the chopping block'. Well at least they don't intend to literally cut off our heads...."

His frown deepens, and the familiar lines around his eyes and mouth reappear in full force. "Do we have to go anywhere?"

"He says to... go to the Old Bailey. Oh, a map is included..." I pull open the forwarded text from Lio and stare at it in confusion. "Well, the blue dot is us." I pointed to the pin on the map, located at the same cross streets as us.

"If that red dot is where we're supposed to go.... That's not the Old Bailey." Rhys leans in over my shoulder to investigate the map. "The prison is south of here -- in the lower part of the Western Block."

"Isn't that down by the Thames?"

"Yeah. It's been flooded over for years. Eminence still considers it part of the fifth district, but no one lives or works out that way now." He squints, then points at the red pin. "Is it moving?"

It certainly does look like it is shifting an infinitesimal amount back and forth. Left, right, left, right. The way a marker does on the map when the GPS is not entirely too certain of your location. "Why would a building be moving?"

Again, my mind jumps to the ALICE agent, towering at the end of the alley. The vacant not-smile as he takes our phones. I hope you learn from this mission. What if he is the one waiting at the other marker? Moving about restlessly, waiting for us to approach. Impatient.

The dot lunges a block closer. I suck in a gasp, jumping in surprise at the sudden movement.

Rhys immediately steps in closer as I start to cough. "What's wrong?"

"It just--" I point, and the dot jumps half a block to the left, then slowly moves back on to the main street. "If this keeps up, I don't think we're going to have to walk anywhere..."

"No..." he says. "Let's get going. I would rather not have it surprise us."

I want to say that I would very much like to stand still and watch its progress. But my heart beats a rapid tattoo inside my chest and my breath strains in my lungs. Perhaps just watching it's inevitable approach would be even worse. At least this way we can cut the anxiety wait-time in half.

As we walk, keeping a faster pace than before, I send a quick text off to Lio. And we’re off.

His reply comes a beat later. Do you have any idea what it is?

I glance at Rhys, who has the map up on his phone and is studying our progress. Not a clue. The 'goal' dot is moving. Sometimes closer, sometimes just sideways. It's definitely alive, whatever it is.

Shit.

"You got that right," I mutter, ducking my chin into the scarf to muffle my words.

Rhys pulls to a stop so suddenly that I collide with his back. The can of soup at the top of my grocery bag threatens to tumble out. I glance up, studying the tense lines of his shoulders, and my voice doesn't respond quickly enough to ask what is wrong.

"Liala..."

I'm distracted by a faint buzzing, the sound that Lio's computers make when they've been running for too long and the fans are struggling to keep up with the work.

"Liala," he says again, louder -- sharper. "Stay close behind me."

"What?" I steal a peek at the map on my phone as I check for a message from Lio.

The red dot is practically right on top of us.

Rhys retreats a step without turning around, forcing me to back up in time. "We're going around."

"But we're almost home--"

"Liala." He always uses my full name, to the point where I can't really tell when he's using it in a way that is scolding versus casual conversation. But I can hear it in his voice now. The astringent tone of command laced with fear. "Turn around. We're going around."

I do as instructed, about facing without trying to see what the red dot is. The humming gets louder, more persistent, but I do my best to block it out.

I manage to take a few steps before I hear a soft displacement of air, a change in pitch of the humming -- frantic, burning, the fans on the verge of collapse.

Rhys' gasp reaches my ears the instant before I hear two bags of groceries hit the ground.

The urge to run races through my limbs, but I know better. My lungs wouldn't allow it. Instead, I reach for the can of soup and whirl around. Ready to attack whoever is approaching

The thing that leans over my brother is barely humanoid. It's hunched over, face almost level with Rhys'. Its long arms drag just above the asphalt, the hands curled into weak fists. Pale skin stands out stark and sallow beneath the overhead streetlight.

Its head swivels in my direction, saucer-sized eyes gazing at me as it tilts its head in confusion.

"Stop--" Rhys manages, but I don't know if he's talking to me or to the creature. "Liala, back away from it."

"But you--"

"It won't do anything." His voice hitches at the end, tripping over some other emotion that his face won't show. "Just make sure you're a safe distance away."

My feet carry me a total of five trembling steps before the creature loses interest in me. Its milky gaze switches to Rhys.

Fear pinches the back of my neck, digs in between my shoulders, yanks me away. I wish Lio was here. I wish Kaito was here. More people to help face down the thing represented by the red dot.

The creature's mouth opens, no more than a slit of darkness in its pale face. A haphazard collection of teeth fill its mouth. The buzzing turns to a faint pant, pant, pant before it breaks into a snarl and lunges forward.

Rhys yelps, tripping over his own feet.

I move despite his warning, but the monster is faster. It catches onto his forearm, making him cry out and try to twist his arm free.

"Here comes a candle to light you to bed--" the thing chants, its voice a jumbled mess of pitches and accents. "Here comes the chopper to chop off your head." It yanks, and Rhys has no choice but to obey.

Some sort of sound works its way up my throat, but it dies as it tries to push its way out. My hand shakes, barely holding on to the can of soup that I've prepared as a weapon. "Let him go." Amazingly, my voice remains steady. It's probably because I can only manage enough breath to force the words out.

"Beware," it growls, the buzzing remaining just beneath the surface of the words. "Beware the Jabberwock. The jaws that bite, the claws that catch." It takes one loping step over the dropped bags of groceries, dragging Rhys toward me.

He's still struggling to free himself, prying at the fingers curled around his bicep. "Liala, stop."

"But you--"

"Don't worry about me!" Whatever else he wants to say is cut off by a strangled gasp of pain.

The monster hurls him at the ground, tossing him aside like an unwanted rag doll.

My heart leaps into my mouth faster than a scream can. I'm ten years old again, separated by an ocean of space. Cold and unable to do a single thing.

Rhys hits the sidewalk hard, glasses knocked off as his head collides with the base of the streetlight. A groan works its way out of his mouth, and I watch his focus slip as the monster leans over him. It is completely ignoring me.

Pant, pant, pant, goes the buzzing. It lifts a finger to the base of the lamp, scratching at the metal. "Beware the defect, the bite of death, the claws of despair."

I throw the can of soup, the scream erupting from my chest -- exploding from deep in the pit of my stomach, a shrill noise I didn't even think I was capable of making.

The monster turns to me just before the can collides with the jut of its spine.

It dissolves into a cloud of shadow, and the can lands hard in the middle of the street, rolling harmlessly to a stop.

I scream again for good measure, a loud and angry cry that comes out as a strained gasp. Maybe the ringing in my ears makes me think I made a sound. Nothing changes in the apartments on the streets around us. No more lights turn on, the Christmas carols continue to sing Emmanuel from the open window.

No one comes to check.

My mouth opens and I'm left gaping like a fish out of water. My lungs have closed up, my heart beating too fast. I can't move, can't stop shaking, can't swat at the tears blurring my vision.

I need to check on Rhys.

That one thought is enough to cut through the fog. I force myself to take a step forward, then another.

Then I'm stumbling to his side, tripping over my own feet when I can no longer manage to stand upright.

There's a welt on the back of his head, but thankfully no laceration. His chest rises and falls with a slightly unsteady rhythm, but he's breathing.

"Rhys," I try, shaking his shoulder. "Rhys."

He doesn't get up.

A sob leaves my body, but I keep pushing onward. I grab my phone from the pocket of my sweatshirt. The red dot is gone.

I have to call someone.

The hospital would be a logical thought, but not when it’s ALICE. Not when they are the ones that are in charge of this game. So I call Kaito.

He picks it up on the second ring. "Lia?"

I can't answer. All I see is the QR code's black boxes on the streetlight's base.

"Lia, is everything okay?" There's a sound in the background, and I can hear Lio's voice raised in question.

A second breathless sob escapes me. "It's Rhys--"

"Where are you?"

I rattle off the cross streets, my fingers carding through my brother's hair.

"Lio and I are on our way. We're at your apartment. We'll be there in five." He hangs up without asking any further questions.

A text message quickly follows before my screen can even fade to black. It's from Lio. Don't move Rhys. Kaito says it could be a concussion.

I don't have to wait long, which is great. I try to distract myself from everything by focusing on Rhys, the steady pattern of my fingers through his hair, the mostly steady pattern of his breathing, the QR code glaring at me from the streetlight.

Kaito and Lio arrive at a jog. My twin immediately moves to my side, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. It's only then that I notice how much I'm trembling. He's still warm from being inside the apartment.

Kaito kneels down on my other side, doing a quick check of Rhys as well. "What happened?"

My voice is soft and shakes just as much as my limbs do. But I do my best to tell him about the monster.

His face is drawn and pinched. He mutters something in Japanese. His fingers absently stroke the part on Rhys' arm that the thing had gripped. I hadn’t noticed the tears on Rhys’ jacket or the angry red marks on his skin until now.

"He's seen it before, hasn't he?" Lio asks.

Startled, Kaito turns to look at us as if he had forgotten we were there. Then, slowly, he nods. "There was an event... back in late September or early October or something. He ran into them in an abandoned graveyard. But that's not important right now--"

Lio makes a sound, like he would love to argue that it is very important right now but I speak up first. "What are we going to do?"

"Call--"

"No," Lio and I say at the same time. "No ALICE."

Kaito snaps his mouth shut, frowning. He's trying very hard to be the adult, but normally that job is left to Rhys. He glances to the side and spots the QR code. "Have you checked in yet?"

I shake my head, so he holds out a hand and I give him my phone. "I don't know where Rhys' went."

It takes a brief search to find it back with the discarded groceries. I keep myself busy by refilling the bags and carefully arranging all the items while Lio and Kaito check in. Behind me, I can hear the tinny, Welcome, Lianel Lions and Welcome, Rhys Darcy.

The mysterious ALICE agent and the horrifying monster. I don't know which one I prefer, but both are very good reasons to avoid the dark streets.

"I'll stay here and try to wake him up." Kaito drops down onto the sidewalk, curling his arms around his knees. "For the record, I think this is a horrible idea and he might need medical attention."

"If he has a concussion, we just need to keep him awake. If it gets worse, then we can decide" Lio argues. He picks up the two bags of groceries and waits for me to fetch the third. "C'mon, let's get you home."

"I want to wait for Rhys--"

"You're going to catch pneumonia again if you stay out here any longer." Lio nudges me with his arm and then, when our backs are to Kaito, he leans in close to me to whisper, "He'll be fine. Okay?"

I can only nod, numb, as I let him lead me back to our apartment.