Page 18

Blood in the Rot

Elite: Alice

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B illie and I sit in a circle on the dry, black grass outside the Elite base, while Evangeline lies on her back, palms pressed into the soil with her eyes closed. I’m disoriented, but they insisted we catch up on things since I’ve taken a back seat with my suspension for a few weeks.

“You’re gonna have to repeat what you said, you talk too fast,” I tell Billie. She’s sitting with her legs crisscrossed and eating from a bowl of potato chips.

“Mildred has some weird nonsense going on over there, but I don’t think King Remington knows,” Billie muffles. She licks her fingers and then digs them into the bowl for more chips. “Ugh, I just love how salty these are.”

I snap my fingers in her face. “Focus.”

“Right, sorry. We couldn’t find anything that definitively confirms she’s involved, but something ain’t right with her. Even the weirdos who stopped Evangeline with tattoos on their hands. It’s all bad news.” Billie reaches the end of the bowl but licks her fingers again.

I watch Evangeline crease her brows. Hands still buried in the ground, her Trace Mark pulses a steady glow. A cardinal bird lands on her forehead, but she just smiles and keeps her eyes shut. Assessing the earth has her paler than usual.

“And Natasha?” I ask, staring at my Trace Mark. It has a filigree pattern that I find myself endlessly tracing with my finger.

“Glad you asked.” Master Azul’s voice comes urgently from the front steps as she approaches in black knee-high boots. She towers over us with her hands on her hips. Rebecca lingers behind her with a clipboard in her arms. “I’ve combed through the surveillance cameras several times and it doesn’t appear she returned after stopping by last night. An announcement will be sent to everyone to not trust any interactions with Natasha. Commander Rebecca filed an official complaint with Queen Oona.”

Billie slouches and stares at the grass.

“So sad how someone we considered family is suddenly our rival,” she mumbles.

“I know. I miss her.” Azul frowns. “Somehow the family was notified she was potentially at Ultima but were kicked out before SOMEONE went ballistic with her hair.” She gives Billie a sour look of disdain. “Did you think I wouldn’t find out, Ms. Castor?”

Billie snickers behind her hand, but I nudge her arm, and she bursts into laughter.

“We have confirmation now, so Mr. and Mrs. Redly are drafting a demand letter to Queen Oona to see their daughter, and rightfully so,” Rebecca adds.

Evangeline opens her eyes and sits up, pulling her soiled hands from the ground.

“It’s bad. The rot has nearly spread through the whole island. I’m sure it’s the same with the others,” Evangeline says. She wipes her hands against the grass, which takes off some dirt, so she wipes the rest on her cargo pants. “Why aren’t the Superiors doing anything? Should we pray?”

Billie and I exchange contorted faces, but Evangeline is too busy staring up at Azul and Rebecca with those big, gray puppy eyes.

“Praying is useless. Don’t be such a loser,” Rebecca snaps.

The pause is interrupted by a hot breeze blowing crumpled leaves down the quiet road. I look across the street and frown at the pond... or what’s left of it. It’s a dry crater, sparkling when the sun hits the coins that sunk to the bottom.

“Master Azul, don’t you have connections with the Superiors?” Billie asks, playing with the dead grass. “Ya know, because you were one of them and all; maybe you can get answers.”

“I’m a fallen Superior. They have little respect for me,” Azul mutter. She whips her blond hair behind her shoulders and straightens up. “I need the four of you to meet in my office in ten. There’s more to discuss. Keep your uniforms on, too.”

Azul and Rebecca rush back into the building while Billie is dramatically wailing and tugging on her uniform jacket.

“What else would we wear?! We don’t own anything else!” she screams.

I meet Evangeline’s uneasy eyes. She pulls her knees to her chest and glances at the drooping forest behind her. The weight of a deteriorating world is crashing down on us. My heart squeezes in my throat at the thought of Evangeline’s tree wilting to death.

It’s been a while since we’ve all hung out, but Evangeline is noticeably thinner. Her uniform looks roomier, and her skin matches the gray in her eyes.

“C’mon.” I stand up. Billie springs up to her feet and heads for the building. Evangeline needs more time to stand, so I grab her arm, flinching from how I can wrap my hand around. She smiles as she steadies herself, but her lips are blue.

“Are you okay?” I whisper, steering her toward the steps. “You look awful.”

“Yeah. Just tired.” Her gulp is apparent through her paper white skin. “Hey, Alice? Do you think we’re the bad guys?”

I blink away my initial confusion but only manage to part my lips with the ghost of my answer slipping out. Of course we’re not the bad guys.

“I think you’re changing the subject. Do you need to go to your tree?” I ask.

Billie is waiting at the top of the steps, arms crossed, intently watching us. The air is dry but hot as we climb the stairs. Evangeline keeps her eyes down and says nothing, so I don’t pester. We reach the top and join Billie inside.

“Do you think we’re going on a field trip together?” Billie asks, smacking on chewing gum. She blows a pink bubble and sucks it back in.

The volume of members hanging in the lobby has increased since the latest dragon attack. The outdoors is no longer desirable since most of nature is dying. The worried glances, murmurs, and fidgeting amongst everyone are evident as we’re passing through. Stacy, the secretary, pays no mind and blasts music like a normal day.

Master Azul is looking at the surveillance screens when we enter her office. She scans each screen and turns to us, phone in hand. Rebecca is sitting in one of the chairs by Azul’s desk.

Evangeline can stand on her own, but she looks ready to keel over any second. I watch her in case she faints.

“Thank you for meeting with me. As you already know, Elite is not being deployed on the dragon matter, however; I secretly sent Alice on a few investigative missions to further assess the issue,” Azul explains. “Commander Rebecca and I have closely monitored everything, but I’m sure your friendship with Alice—Billie and Evangeline—has made you privy to some information, too.”

My face flushes with heat so hot, that I perspire immediately in my spot.

Azul continues, “No worries; no one is in trouble, but we do need to keep this tightly under wraps. The reason Billie and Evangeline were sent to have dinner with King Remington and Mildred was to gather intel, and it would appear it served us well. There’s just one matter I’d like to close the loop on though.”

She turns to Rebecca who stands up with a clipboard and dully flips through a few pages before looking at everyone.

“Evangeline Springtown, you reported that Natasha Redly was residing in Ultima and on her way to Elite last night. You did not cite your source, however; my suspicion led me to believe it was from an insider or Ultima.”

Everyone turns to her. My curiosity has resurfaced since the one time I saw her rushing to the forest the day I met Mildred and the baby dragon.

Rebecca flips to another page as Evangeline looks more uneasy. “Furthermore, we’ve identified a young gentleman who has been frequenting the forest around the same time you leave to recharge at your tree, per your Spirit User conditions. Our security intelligence has conducted a face match to none other than, Drake Strife of the Ultima Organization.”

Master Azul crosses her arms. “Evangeline, do you deny this? Speak, now.”

“N-No,” she croaks.

“And your association with him?” Azul presses.

Evangeline sighs and wraps her arms around herself. “He’s someone I’m seeing romantically.”

Silence spills into the room with its cold, invisible presence. It lurks and continues to seep from Evangeline and Azul until I’m trapped, stuck in the moment.

Azul looks at the floor at first but shifts her attention back to the screens and remains silent.

“Are we the bad guys,” Billie says, her mouth drawn in a straight line with her blue eyes piercing Evangeline. “That’s what you asked me.”

“Same here,” I murmur. My ears are hot with rage, but my stomach is tight, and my chest is heavy. Billie’s face is hard to decipher, but anger wants to be there beside her. Azul turns to us; her brows draw together creating forehead wrinkles in smooth waves. Rebecca sits back down, but her face is a blank canvas. Her large spaced-out eyes appear more tired than anything else, her wavy Trace Mark against her brunette skin flashes erratically.

Evangeline faintly puts her hand on her chest, laboriously breathing. Tears well up in her eyes as she shakes her head.

“I’m... I’m so sorry! I was scared and didn’t know what to—”

I tense up to catch her from collapsing. Azul doesn’t flinch when she walks to her desk phone and page the nurses to come upstairs. Billie shuffles back against the TV, frozen in place. It doesn’t take long for the nurses to arrive, and they’re prepared with a wheelchair to put Evangeline in before rolling away.

“Go,” Azul encourages us. “I’ll text you later.”

“That would be... great,” I mumble, noticing Billie’s trance. “Bills?”

She slowly blinks and meets my worried gaze. “I’m fine. I’m gonna—yeah.”

We leave Azul’s together while Rebecca stays, but Billie catches up to the nurses before the elevator closes and beckons me to hurry. I smile and keep walking to take the stairs and cut through the lobby out the entrance.

Billie finds me thirty minutes later waiting outside, sitting on the front steps. She plops next to me and rests her head on my shoulder. The view is awful with everything wasted away, but Billie’s company radiates warmth. I want to be angry that Evangeline compromised herself with the enemy, but this probably meant a lot to her. She must really like this guy.

“Oi, should we check on her tree?” Billie asks.

“Already did,” I mumble. “It looks fine; took me long enough to figure out how to get back.”

“Is that why you didn’t come to the infirmary?”

“Yeah. I thought it was because of the world dying, but I wanted to be sure,” I note.

Billie grabs my hand and squeezes. “Hey, when she wakes up, let’s be there for her. We’ll listen and make a safe space for her to feel comfortable talking about it.”

“Mhm. What did they say?”

“No underlying illness, so they’re not sure. I’m going to stay with her. What about you?”

The outdoors is eerily desolate but inside is hopeless, too. There’s just something dismal about Evangeline being affected by the dying world and not knowing why or who’s next.

“I need to stay distracted,” I reply, keeping my eyes steady on the clouds blocking the sun. “Azul wants to pause my suspension. She sent me details to check out an abandoned subway. Rebecca is sending Nicholas with me, but without any context as to why. They probably knew you’d stay with Eva.”

“Oi, Nick Hardy is comin’ out to play?!” Billie lifts her head and does that wagging thing with her jumpy brows. “But wait—what subway? Zeala doesn’t have any. Are you gonna be okay?”

I sigh and pull my hand away to rest my arms on my knees. “I’ll be fine, but do you remember the subway before the islands were split? Like the subway that ran all over Zeala? Once the land separated, the subway collapsed, and no one thought to revive them since the Era of Chaos.”

“I remember learning zero percent of that, but SUPER exciting, omigosh!” Billie gushes. She nudges my arm to get my attention. “Maybe, oh gosh—MAYBE government authorities constantly patrol those areas since we’re never allowed to.” She breaks down into a whisper. “If Mildred has Guards on her side, then they may be the ones overseeing the tunnels so no one else goes down.”

“Ah, good point,” I murmur.

The doors slide open; I look back in time to meet a mirror of my golden eyes, except buttery with more wrath. Nicholas approaches us in tan tactical boots with his black cargo pants tucked in. His uniform jacket is tossed over his shoulder, leaving his terra cotta short-sleeve shirt to expose his fit physique.

“Ready?” I ask.

Nicholas’s Topazian glitter lips remain pressed in a hard, thin line. “Yup.”

“Hey, Nick.” Billie quickly waves with a big smile. She turns to me and winks so obnoxiously with a thumbs-up. “Have fun, you two!”

I roll my eyes. “Keep me posted on Eva. Be back soon.”

T he GPS says we’re close, but nothing looks like a possible entrance into the subway. I’m certain the old steps that used to lead below were paved over to extend the sidewalk.

We walk the remaining distance, which pings that we’ve arrived, but there’s just an alley next to a closed coffee shop called Cosmic Rush.

Nicholas peeks down the alley. “It’s too easy, like the movies.”

“I was hoping it wouldn’t be,” I mutter, blowing a chunk of hair from my face. Nicholas looks around suspiciously before walking between the buildings where a sewer lid is half open. “I’m surprised this isn’t more guarded.”

“This is not where an old subway entrance would be. This just looks like a hidden way to get in,” he murmurs.

He lifts the lid to stare down the dark void below with a rusty ladder that’ll lead us to possible answers. I put my phone in my jacket and step back; the smell is atrocious, so I don’t know how I’m going to survive down there with that filling my lungs.

Nicholas takes the initiative to lower himself. I wait for maybe a whole minute before he shouts something I can’t make out because it’s echoing too much. There’s no way to know if this is the right spot, so I send a quick text to Azul, ready to lose service and plunge into the darkness.

It’s dark and smells like musty, sour urine. I concentrate on my quivering shield, but my thoughts are too woozy to even summon it. My eyes can’t adjust to this tenebrious area until a small light emerges from where Nicholas is standing. He outstretches his hand toward me with a baby flame dancing in his palm.

There isn’t any indication we’re in a sewer tunnel. No running or dripping water but I think we’re in a smelly, hard enclosure. Nicholas leads the way, even though we almost run into the wall a few times until we find the path. The metal floorboards under me shift into firm brick as we’re walking. Nicholas’s flame brightens and stretches itself into a bigger ball, illuminating more of the surrounding area.

The further we walk, the less we need the flame as a source of light reveals itself when we walk into the bronze antechamber built entirely of brick. Nicholas’s flame extinguishes from the clench of his hand, but the oil lamp hanging from the ceiling is a warm enough glow to see the large dripping red text on one of the curving walls.

“Holy crap,” Nicholas whispers.

I try to read it, but yelp from a rat scurrying across the room. My echo reverberates in the small chamber, causing Nicholas to cackle with his mouth unnaturally large and a slight twitch in his brilliant eye. I back into the wall, ignoring the cobwebs littered at the corners of the room, and wait for him to recover.

“Are you one of them?” I ask. “I just need to know if I should kick your butt now or not.”

Nicholas wipes his nose as he powers down to a small chuckle. “No, sorry. Obviously, I don’t get out a lot. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s fine,” I grumble. My hand stays glued to the wall, but I crane my neck to look at the text written. “What’s it say?”

“Nonsense. ‘Welcome to our home, where we gather under safety and wellbeing. Our friend, Mildred Anguine, is the founder of our humble family. She has helped us through our darkest moments and will pave the way into a new light—a new world.’”

Holy Superior, this is feral.

I finally move from my spot and examine the text, a ribbon of panic wraps around me.

I jump from Nicholas touching my shoulder. My hands have been shaking this whole time. He frowns and squeezes my shoulder, his spiky brown hair glowing in the low lighting.

“It’s gonna be okay,” he says.

“No, dude, w-we need to get outta here right now.” I frantically breathe. “ This is how they have so many recruits. Everyone who comes down here is done for!”

“Welcome.”

A third voice enters the bunker space, but this time, my senses are prepared. We look back at the older gentleman, donning a red robe that conceals his body except for his neck and head. He stands in front of the titanic granite door we haven’t proceeded through yet. Nicholas shifts his position and stands defensively beside me against the wall.

“You wish learn more,” the member says.

My hands are still shaking with my thundering heart. All I can think about is getting out of this space alive. I can’t believe we came all this way in broad daylight and have exposed ourselves with no escape plan.

“Correct.” Nicholas’s body heat radiates from his skin. I’m nervous about what’ll happen if this creep touches him.

The member takes a few steps forward, so we tense in sync. I point to the wall, sweating. “What does this text even mean? Is this written in blood?!”

The man grimaces. “Everyone had a difficult past they’ve weathered through, but we’re given a second chance by Mildred. As an act of devotion, yes, we made this with our blood, but not by her request. She hates the idea of us inflicting pain on ourselves.”

He brings up a full smile and holds out his hands, the drapes of his robe swinging outward. “Your hesitancy only speaks to your own troubles you’ve faced. I know this is unbelievable, but sometimes it’s easier to experience something for yourself.”

I’m trembling so violently that my breathing is haggard. Nicholas is sweating and looks constipated. The member takes another step forward, more assertive this time. The air buzzes around us as the squeak of the ceiling light intensifies.

“Come,” the man offers. Nicholas’s stiffness breaks with a slump against the wall. I try to keep my eyes on both of them, but my body loosens and relaxes.

Nicholas steps forward.

“N-Nick!” I whisper.

Nicholas faces me, shrugging. “Let’s hear him out.”

Skylar’s presence ruffles through me, waving off the buzzing. Static fizzle away from my thoughts, so I grab Nicholas’s arm and pull him next to me so I can wrap my shield around us. He rapidly blinks and jiggles his head.

I glare at the man, suspicion elevating.

“Who are you? Where’s Mildred?”

“I am just a simple man with a new future ahead of me. I want to bring you to Mildred, but you must come with me.”

We back into the wall, but I’m closest to the void of our exit. The member reaches forward, and I catch the infamous red A Billie told me about branded on his hand before he flinches back from the shield.

But of course, another rat scurries by, breaking my concentration and dropping my barrier. The man quickly reaches again for Nicholas’s wrist with an even bigger smile than before. Big mistake.

“There’s no need to fear,” he says.

A deep growl erupts from Nicholas. “DO NOT TOUCH ME.”

He bursts into flames, so I duck and roll out of the way as the tiny brick room is engulfed in his raging inferno. Fire sparks touch the ceiling light, which explodes and pops off into raining fiery ash. The member’s robe is on fire as he yells and throws it off, revealing a gas mask. We’re inching toward the creeping darkness from where we came, but the member wears his full Guard uniform with a menacing scowl. His right forearm, now exposed, reveals a glowing white glyph on his arm—a Trace Mark.

No. Freakin’. Way.

Fear rocks through me, so I rush through the spiraling fireballs raining from the ceiling light, pushing through the Guard and pulling on the giant door to open. Nicholas tangoes with the man before swiftly sidestepping from his punch and puts him in a headlock until he passes out.

The door finally drags open from my long attempt, and Nicholas rushes to push from the other side until I’m able to slip through with him.

Darkness wraps around us as our sight is lost. Nicholas huffs and conjures up mini fireballs that skip through the darkness, lighting two paths at the L-shaped fork ten feet into these tunnels. A fireball also hangs out between us, so I’m able to see Nicholas’s face.

“Hey. What was that? Back there. You were gonna switch sides?” I ask.

“Something told me to; it was humming in my ears.”

“Me too. He’s a Spirit User,” I tell him. “His influence is potent.”

Nicholas sighs. “Yup and a Guard, too. That’s so messed up and wrong.”

I stare at the path ahead, unsure of which tunnel to take. The mini flames dance around the halls, almost illuminating the tunnels for us, but Nicholas seems disgruntled. His eyes dart around, lips progressively tightening by the second until the flame next to his ear hides behind my shoulder.

“Which way should we go?” I ask.

“Nowhere. There’s nothing here.”

I turn to him. “What?”

“I have eyes in each flame, spreading far and wide through this whole place. Nothing is here. No sign of life. Meaning—”

“No...” My hitched breathing echoes softly down the hall. The flames rush back into Nicholas’s palm, growing until the last one behind my shoulder reluctantly joins the giant fireball waiting. Nicholas quivers as veins rise on his neck and forehead.

“It’s a trap,” he whispers bleakly, turning toward the metal entrance door that slowly groans open from the sketchy Guard staggering in. The walls wheeze around us with a metallic smell filling my nose. The gas caresses us, prickling my skin and creating an emptiness inside me.

Skylar? Are you there?

Silence.

“Solincium gas, clever” Nicholas whispers, staring at the Guard. He’s finally through the door, wearing his gas mask. “Without our powers now, eventually they’re going to outnumber us if he has backup lurking somewhere.”

“What?” I gasp, looking at him, but he’s focused on the man advancing. He outstretches his hand, so Nicholas grabs my shoulders and gives me a tight hug that I’m too startled to return.

“Listen to me, Alice,” he whispers. “When I let go, run. Don’t ask questions. Just do it.”

“N-Nick, no.”

His hug stiffens around me as he pulls away, eyes cloudy and distant. He twitches, grunts, and clenches his fist. The fireball near him vanishes.

“Run!” he growls through his teeth.

My heart’s panicked thumps propel me forward right when my mind wanders on how good of an idea it would be to join Mildred’s cause.

I am Alice, and I must stop Mildred. I am—

I freeze in mid-sprint, staring down at the man I must get past to leave. Nicholas is still shaking, trying to fight off the influence coming over him, and already infecting parts of my mind.

Mildred is... evil. No—she is doing a good thing. She’s helping people.

“It’s okay to give in,” the Guard encourages. “Just let go and let Mildred help you with your struggles.”

I... am... Alice.

A knife hurls by my head, causing the man to duck and roll out of the way as it hits the metal door and clangs against the ground. My muscles relax enough to look at Nicholas down on one knee, sweating. He meets my gaze and nods.

“It’s... okay, Azul knows. She told me... everything. You have to go before it’s—” He’s rigid again, but I don’t wait another second. The man is already up and approaching us down the tunnel’s hall. My thoughts whirl, conflicted about stopping Mildred. This is a bad idea, but I sprint head-on toward the Guard, blocking out all the thoughts to concentrate.

I pull out my dagger when I’m close enough to whip and slash the man’s arm. He winces and stumbles back, so I push him to the ground with the little strength I have left and continue for the door. I look back, wanting to grab Nicholas, but knowing I don’t have enough time. I have to leave him behind.

Azul knows.

But I didn’t.

My arms tingle from all the strength I shove into opening the door enough to slip through, scramble back to my feet, and race into the darkness until I can find the ladder to escape.