Nick James - Crimson rising

Theo looked up at him, chin tense, expression grim. “What do you mean?”

Cassius frowned. “The daggers.”

“You still got my knife? That’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made taking it.”

“I’m not scared of you,” Cassius said. “So you can cut it with the intimidation.”

Theo smiled. “Madame’s probably looking for me right now. You’ve pissed her off.”

“Good. Now tell me what you did down there.”

Theo shrugged. “I’ve been tied up like this ever since Syracuse! Of course, it’s not gonna last much longer, but you should enjoy the peace while you’ve got it.”

Cassius stood. His mind flashed back to the Fringes- the energy pouring out of Theo’s eyes, the way he stumbled, almost like he was sleepwalking. “You said Madame picked you up wandering the Fringes?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“You said there was an accident?”

Theo’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe I did.”

Cassius turned around. “You’re a freak, just like the rest of us. You’ve got no idea what you can do.”

Theo stayed silent. After a few seconds, Cassius turned to see if the boy had fallen unconscious again. His eyes were still open. They darted around the cabin, taking in every detail. “This isn’t the cruiser. This isn’t the same room. What happened?”

“Maybe I don’t wanna tell you.”

“You trying to scare me?”

“I guess I was wrong bringing you back. You don’t know a thing. Too bad. I really didn’t want to have to kill you.”

He felt a tingle at his wrist. He looked down to see the bracelet vibrating against his skin. It forced itself around in circles like it was about to bore right through him. He glanced over his shoulder. Theo’s teeth were grit. A bead of sweat dripped down his forehead.

Cassius reached to grab the bracelet with his opposite hand. Before he could touch it, the Ridium pulled upward. His arm went with it, forced above his head in a sprained position. Theo’s concentration remained fixed.

Cassius shook his head. “This is crazy.”

Another pull. This time his entire body was yanked sideways. He stumbled across the length of the cabin, propelled forward by an unbreakable force. The bracelet hit the wall with a heavy clank and stayed there, pinning his wrist to the metal.

He gripped tight, trying to break the pull.

A redness coursed through Theo’s pupils. Nothing as dramatic as back on the Surface, but obvious even from a distance. The bracelet started to collapse inward. Cassius yelped as metal mashed his wrist bones. An agonizing pressure constricted his arm. Seconds more and his entire hand would be crushed. “Stop,” he yelled through the pain. “Don’t you know what you’re doing?”

The door to the cockpit swung open.

“What’s going on?” Avery’s voice sounded behind him, though he couldn’t see her. The cabin began to black out around him. His arm pulsed with panicked blood.

“Stunner!” he shouted. “Grab the stunner!”

The bracelet released its hold. His wrist drooped to his side and he collapsed. The Ridium expanded to its usual, seamless state. Color blurred around him once more.

Through the pain, he stared at Theo. The red washed from the boy’s eyes like rain-wiped watercolors. Within seconds he was back to normal, except for a smile across his bratty face.

Wasting no time, Cassius lunged for the stunner, wrapped his finger around the trigger, and fired right into Theo’s shoulder.

The last of the sun sets beneath the mountains in the distance. I hold Ryel’s cube in front of me, marveling at the sheer sleekness of it. It’s seamless-perfectly uniform. I’m not sure how something so simple can have such a hold on me, but I can’t take my eyes off it. I’ve gotten used to the chill that runs up my arm when I hold it. Now all I want to do is look at the tiny reflection of my face in its gleaming walls.

I’ve never looked worse. Scratches and bruises cover my face. My hair sticks to my scalp, matted by dirt and sweat. A cut splits my bottom lip. I picture all of the insects from the swarm running around on top of me, fighting to crawl up my nose or under my eyes. It’s a miracle I’m still walking at all.

I reach under my shirt and feel the scars on my chest. They seem to fade with each passing hour. The sting is gone too, replaced with a dull, sick feeling every time I touch them.

I am already here.

Ryel’s words repeat in my head. I wish I knew what they really meant.

The cockpit door opens and a pair of footsteps approach us. I turn to see Avery supporting Cassius, who grips his wrist.

“He’s a Shifter alright.” Cassius sits against the wall. “My bracelet… he was able to control it.”

I grab my wrist instinctively. “You wanna drop him now?”

“No,” he replies. “He’s out. I’ve got plenty of tranquilizers. He doesn’t seem to know anything about it. It’s like he becomes a different person.”

“The red in his eyes,” Skandar says. “Like back outside the swarm.”

Cassius nods.

Eva glances at the radar. “We’ve still got approximately two hours until we can think about landing outside Lenbrg.”

“The stunner’ll keep him down at least that long,” he says. “But nobody disturb him. It doesn’t end well.”

I drop the cube into my pocket. “And then what?”

“And then I hit him with another round from the stunner,” Cassius replies. “I can’t shake the feeling… If you can free some more Drifters, maybe they can tell us something about him. If he’s an enemy, he may be more use to us alive.”

Avery frowns. “That’s something Madame would say.”

“Well,” he started. “You don’t grow up in the Lodge without learning a thing or two.”

– 10:30 PM. Our ship sets down a quarter mile from the north end of Lenbrg. The closer we get, the more I start to recognize the scenery. Last time we were here, we were speeding from a Unified Party battalion on our way to Seattle.

After Avery kills the radar, Eva shuts down the engines and we crowd into the cabin. Theo comes to almost immediately, sitting upright. Groggy, he eyes us one by one. He doesn’t smile.

I glance at Cassius. He grips the handle of a stunner and takes a step forward until he’s about two yards from Theo’s chest.

Theo smiles. “You coward.”

Cassius pulls the trigger as his reply. Then twice more. Three darts of tranquilizer pierce just below Theo’s left shoulder. The boy barely reacts, even at the loud thwack, thwack, thwack as the darts stick in his skin. He keeps his eyes locked on Cassius’s the entire time. In moments, his head slumps forward. His fingers loosen on the arm rests and, eventually, his eyes close.

Cassius lowers the pistol. “We have six hours. Maybe seven, given his size. Keep an eye on the time. We get in, we get food… rest. Then we’re out before dawn.”

With that we leave the comfort of the ship for the unbearable warmth outside. We must look like one motley bunch as we approach Lenbrg. We could all use a shower, to say the least.

The moon lights our way, casting a glow on the hilly fringe landscape. We’re heading into the coolest time of the night, not that it means much out here.

Heaps of trash form dark mounds in front of us. They’re the first signs of civilization, George Barkley’s collection of junk piled outside the back of his farmhouse on the northern edge of the town. It’s where the Unified Party ambushed us before. A shiver runs down my spine. I glance at the stars, half-expecting to see the outlines of cruisers following us.

Up until that point, this had been my one good experience on the Surface. Avery and I had been shocked to find a colony in the Fringes banding together to instill some sense of order. Rather than give in to chaos, they scavenge food and power a generator. There are bound to be other Fringe Towns like Lenbrg, but it’s not something you hear about often.