Paragenesis: Stories of the Dawn of Wraeththu (17 page)

“So, what news?” she asked.

I slipped off my mask. “There’s
an armed mob that seems determined to find our mutant. Did I
mention armed, as in, with guns? He’s got to leave, Ez.”

“Of course he does, honey.
We’ve been working on it.”

“What d’you think?” Kithara
said, coming into the room. I looked up and burst out laughing. He
was disguised, wearing one of Ez’s leather jackets which looked
huge on him, his bright hair pinned up and covered by a bandana,
and for the final touch, he sported one of Esmeralda’s fake
beards.

“Oh, that’s perfect,” I choked.
“No one will recognize you.”

In the distance, we heard
shouting. “No time to be fooling around,” Esmeralda said. “You
better get going.”

“What can I use for
transportation?” Kithara asked. “I won’t get far on my feet.”

“I’ve been thinking about
that,” I said. “We need to steal a car. But getting the keys will
be a problem and I don’t know how to hot wire one.”

“Not a good idea, anyway,”
Esmeralda said. “They’ll track you down fast if you steal a car.
You should take my motorcycle.”

“No, Ez, you need your
bike.”

“Now don’t you argue with me.
I’m not goin’ t’stand by and watch anyone get lynched. Here’s the
key. There’s a set of saddlebags on the side that can carry some
stuff.”

“I’ve got some water and a bit
of food outside in a cooler,” I said. “You guys load up. I need to
get some stuff.” I went back to my room, got my backpack, and threw
in some clothes, a pocketknife, a comb, toothbrush and other things
he’d need. My glance fell on my tube of choi and the pipe. Shit,
I’d need to go hide in a hole and smoke myself silly after all
this. I stuck them in a pocket on my jean’s leg. Then I crawled
under my bed and pulled out my money jar. Took out a roll of bills,
my savings for that desert island I’d planned to go to. Well, it
would take a little longer now. Besides, I should give Esmeralda
something for that bike. I went into Esmeralda’s room, peeled three
hundred dollars off the roll and set it on her dresser, then stuck
the rest of it in the pack. I went back outside. “Here,” I thrust
the backpack at Kithara. “There’s some money in there. All I could
spare.”

“I won’t forget your kindness
to me,” Kithara said. “Both of you. I guess all humans aren’t scum,
after all.” He kissed Esmeralda’s cheek, then hugged me. It felt so
good to hold him like that, to press our bodies together. I wanted
to stay that way for the rest of my life. Well, not possible. I
started to pull away, but he held on. “Come with me, Jareth,” he
said.

“I can’t.”

“Why not? What’s keeping you
here?”

“A job, for one. Where else in
this world is there a place for someone like me?”

Kithara put a hand to the
burned side of my face. I could feel energy crackling out of him.
“You could have a place with us. You could become Wraeththu,
Jareth. Come with me.”

I was torn, anguished. What was
here for me but shame and degradation? But become Wraeththu? I
wanted all my organs intact, thank you. I slipped away from his
arms. “No, I can’t.”

“Okay.” Kithara leaned over and
kissed my forehead. He climbed on the bike, turned the key and
revved it. It purred into life. “Which way should I go?”

“You need to head for the
mountains, that way.” Esmeralda pointed.

“Go along the track at the back
of the tents there,” I said, “so they’ll be less likely to hear
you. Good luck.”

Then we heard a familiar voice.
“Where do you think you’re going?”

Long coat-tails fluttering in
the breeze, a slender figure emerged from the shadows into the
light cast from the open trailer door. Dr. Sligo. He aimed a long
barrelled pistol right at Kithara; then he laughed.

“I think the beard suits you,
Mutant,” Sligo said. “You can take it off now, you’re not going
anywhere. I’ve misdirected the townies, so we should have a few
minutes while they search trailers on the other side of the
fairgrounds. I know a safe place for you to hide, but you’ve got to
come now.”

Kithara folded his arms. “I’m
sure you’ll understand when I say no, and not only no, but, fuck
you.”

Sligo raised the pistol and
came closer. “Would you rather I turn you over to the lynch mob, or
perhaps blow a hole in your pretty little head before they get
here? Get off the bike.”

Kithara raised his hands,
turned off the engine, then slowly swung his leg off the bike, and
stood up. “I don’t think you’ll kill the golden goose, Sligo.”

“Perhaps not. I just need to
stand back and let them do it,” Sligo replied, jerking his head in
the direction the mob had taken.

We heard shouting in the
distance. Sligo gestured with the gun the opposite way. “Now, make
the right decision here, boy, for all concerned. Make it quick, we
don’t have much time before this whole situation is out of my
hands.”

“You created the situation,
Sligo, when you decided to exhibit me as a freak,” Kithara snarled.
“It’s probably not a good idea for me to kill you and give them a
reason for hunting me down, but then again I’m tempted. There
is
the matter of a cattle prod and a few late night visits
between us.”

“You are laughable,” Sligo
said. “How dare you threaten me? I’m the one with the gun here. I
could kill you right now and that bunch of rubes would give me a
medal.”

“Dr. Sligo,” I pleaded, “you’ve
seen how dangerous it is to have him around. He’s a liability to
us. Please, just let him go.”

Sligo rounded on me. “I see you
and Esmeralda are helping him get away. Not too loyal of you. No,
not loyal at all. I’m thinking that if I put you both out on the
highway, it’ll be two less paychecks to cut. There aren’t many jobs
out there for freaks.” Sligo swung the pistol away from Kithara and
pointed it at me. Esmeralda and I both gasped. All I could see was
that long barrel, cold and clinical, ready to deal out my death. My
heart began thumping madly.

In a sudden blur of motion,
Kithara lunged forward, striking Sligo in the chest with a
flattened palm. There was a white flash and the air seemed to
reverberate with the force of the blow. Sligo flew over backwards
and landed on his back. Unmoving, he stared up at the sky with
glassy eyes. Esmeralda screamed.

“Oh my god, did you kill him?”
I gasped.

“Possibly,” Kithara replied. He
reached down, picked up the pistol, and shoved it into a pocket in
his leather jacket. “Time to go, Jareth. Are you with me?”

Closer now, down the midway, I
heard more shouting. Dark figures were running towards us. In
shock, I stared down at Dr. Sligo lying in the dirt. Hands shaking,
I reached down, felt his neck for that tiny throb.

“He’s got a pulse,” I said to
Esmeralda. “What do we do?”

“I’m calling an ambulance,” she
said. She jerked a thumb at Kithara. “You better get out of here.
Now.”

Kithara mounted the bike,
turned the key, throttled up, and the engine roared. The red tail
light blinked off. He started to pull away. Panic rushed through
me. Oh god, I’d never see him again.

“Wait,” I called, running
alongside until he stopped. Breathlessly, I said, “I’m coming with
you,” and scrambled on behind him.

“Take the backpack,” he said,
wriggling it off and handing it to me. “Hold on.”

“Bye, Ez,” I waved, as I slung
the pack on my back.

“Good luck, Jareth! Be good
now,” she called.

Then we were flying through the
night, bumping along on the dirt track behind the tents. There was
a steep embankment to our right and in the distance I could see the
lights of the highway. I was pumped full of adrenaline, freaked at
what just happened, and yet I knew I wasn’t in control anymore, if
indeed I ever had been. Destiny was pulling me in its wake and, for
once, I did not want to fight.

At that moment, I heard a crack
like distant thunder and a loud whine zipped past my head. I turned
and saw the headlights of a truck. It had just rounded a corner and
was closing in behind us. Another loud report.

“Shit, Kithara, they’re
shooting at us!”

“I know, hold on tight,” he
said. “We’re going for a ride.” He gave the bike full throttle and
pulled away from the truck. Then he turned sharply to the right and
we charged straight up the embankment. Dirt clots flew. The bike’s
rear end shimmied, and then slid. It threatened to stall. Kithara
put down both feet, pushing it along, then gunned it. I heard
another shot and some lighter sounds:
pop, pop, pop
.

Suddenly Kithara lurched
forward. “Oh fuck!” he said.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Damn. Let’s go.” We
reached the top of the embankment. Kithara turned left and drove
like hell along the narrow track on top of the berm. I could see
the lights of three vehicles below us, but they were falling back.
We heard several more faint shots ring out. Too far away to be a
threat. Up ahead the highway appeared like a river of light. The
embankment began to descend. We rode down it, crashed through a
fence, and reached the pavement that led to the highway on-ramp. We
took it heading west towards the mountains.

We’d escaped! Even though I
knew it might not last, I felt silly with relief. I closed my eyes,
feeling the wind rushing by my face. Hugging Kithara’s lithe body
against my chest, I rested the burned side of my face against his
back. He wanted me with him. Me. Whatever came next, this was my
time to savour.

The high didn’t last long. My
face began to tingle and then burn. I jerked away from Kithara, put
my hand to my cheek, bringing away a slick moisture. What?
Something warm and wet was seeping through Kithara’s jacket.

“Jesus, you’re bleeding!” I
shouted against the wind.

“I think I was hit back there.”
He hissed through his teeth. “It’s starting to hurt.”

Oh god! The dark stain was
slowly spreading across his shoulder. “We’ve got to stop!”

“We don’t dare. It’s a matter
of time until they send the cops after us. I want to put miles
between us before then.”

“Sligo wasn’t dead, Kithara.
Maybe they won’t follow us. You
must
go to a hospital!”

“No way in hell,” Kithara
snarled and increased his speed.

“Damn it, at least let me
drive! You could pass out and kill us both!”

“I won’t pass out,” he
asserted.

“Yeah, I forgot, you’re
superman,” I muttered. Right. I pressed my hand to the wound to try
to stop the bleeding. Kithara flinched and then swore. The bike
swerved. Cars whooshed by indifferently while I wondered at what
point this whole nightmare would come crashing to an end. No
premonitions appeared to guide me. I closed my eyes and breathed
deeply, trying not to panic. Meanwhile the back of Kithara’s jacket
grew more slippery under my palm.

In the distance, a police siren
wailed, then another one picked up the cry. “Kithara!” I
warned.

“I hear them,” he said.
“Jareth, I feel so tired, I’m seeing spots.”

“Shit! We’d better get off the
road and hide somewhere. There’s a truck stop up ahead. Pull off
there.”

For once he did as I asked. We
cruised into a big parking lot with several tractor trailer trucks
parked outside a greasy spoon café that had strings of old
Christmas lights blinking around the windows. Cautiously, we
motored up outside. Came to a stop. I swung off the bike and
Kithara fell over sideways into my arms. I eased him down to the
pavement.

“Sit here while I try to find
some bandages to pack around that bleeding. Maybe ice would slow it
down some,” I said. The bleeding was getting worse, spreading into
a puddle underneath Kithara. I was trying to hold it together, but
panic was setting in. My guts felt fluttery. I thought I might
puke.

A man emerged from the café. He
wore a baseball cap over scraggly yellow hair that hung down to his
shoulders, a dirty t-shirt that said
Aliens are among us,
and was bopping to music coming from earphones. Kithara slumped
forward, his head hitting the ground.

“Hey dude, are you all right?”
the guy said. He pulled his earphones down around his neck.

“No, he’s not,” I said, ducking
my head to throw my hair over my face. “He’s been badly hurt. Do
you have any towels or something?” I raised a hand, dark with
blood.

“Oh shit! Yeah. Come over to
the truck here.”

I supported Kithara against my
shoulder and we hobbled over to the guy’s rig. He hopped up in the
cab, fumbled around, and emerged with two towels. Kithara sank down
on the curb with a gasp. I peeled off his jacket and the t-shirt
underneath, which I noticed was one of mine. Christ, there was
blood everywhere! More blood oozed from a little black hole in his
shoulder that had a raised, discoloured welt all around it. I took
the towel and pressed it to the wound. Kithara grunted.

“Wow. That looks nasty. I’d
better call 911,” the guy said, bending over, his face tight with
concern. He pulled a cell from his pocket.

“No, don’t do that,” Kithara
said, menacingly. He scowled. “I mean it.”

“Dude,” the guy said.

In the distance I could hear
the sirens wailing and knew I had to take a risk and hope this guy
wouldn’t turn us in. “Hey man, we need your help,” I said. “Hear
those sirens? That’s the cops. They shot my friend here and I’m
afraid they’ll kill him if they catch us? Savvy?”

“They won’t kill you if you
give up?” The guy hesitated.

“Sure they won’t,” Kithara
said. “We tried that already. That’s when they shot me. So we ran.”
He winced as he peeled off the beard, then looked up at the guy
with that angel face of his, gave him one of his irresistible
smiles, then his face contorted in pain. “Please help us,” he
said.

“Um, well, what do you want me
to do?”

“Which way are you headed?” I
asked.