Redemption (10 page)

Isaac cast a
dark look around them.  “I noticed.”  His graceful hand grasped hers
automatically.  “Stay close.”

There was a
breathless sense of foreboding building just behind Rebecca’s breastbone. 
Another challenge was coming, she was sure of it, and she didn’t know if she
had it in her to face the next monster.

They hadn’t gone
much further when the silence around them was disturbed by the sound of
something large moving through the trees.  Branches snapped and treetops swayed
just to the left of the path.  There was a horrible wheezing, grunting sound,
growing closer by the second.  Rebecca’s eyes met Isaac’s and they moved as
one, dashing down the path.

They ran until
they were both gasping, clutching their sides in pain, dizzy from lack of
oxygen.  Finally, they slowed.  Rebecca glanced back over her shoulder, but saw
nothing chasing them down the path.

“Did we outrun
it?”  It couldn’t be that easy.  The hooded man would see to it that they
suffered, that they dredged up something unpleasant from their psyches,
something that would distract them from making it to the key in time.

Isaac started to
speak, but he was interrupted by a horrible crashing near at hand.  They both
looked back in time to see their newest challenge plunge onto the path,
knocking down several good-sized pine trees in the process.  The sound of
splintering wood was deafening.

The thing was
humanoid in appearance, though its features were grossly distorted.  It was
huge, some sort of giant or ogre.  Its arms and legs were roughly the size of
large tree trunks, and knobby with muscle.  It clutched a wooden club in one
massive paw, its arms dangling past its knees like an ape. 

They stood stock
still, rooted to the spot.  Its big, ugly head was perched atop rounded
shoulders that were hunched and misshapen.  It leaned forward and took a long,
snuffling breath through its bulbous red nose.  Its eyes rolled around,
searching for its prey, white eyes with no color and no pupils.

Rebecca took an
instinctive step backward as it turned its blind eyes toward them.  A stick
snapped under her foot and she looked at Isaac in mute horror.  He shoved her
into motion as the ogre launched itself at them, its massive feet eating up the
distance, more than making up for the clumsy slowness of its lumbering
strides. 

The thing took a
blind swipe at them with its club, taking out a few more trees with a horrible
splintering sound.  Isaac had a hold on Rebecca’s upper arm, and he gave it a
vicious squeeze.  “Shit, shit, shit!”  He dug in his feet and jerked her back
against his tall form.

Up ahead, a
massive ravine split the path, and they had almost rushed headlong into it. 
Rebecca’s heart leapt into her throat as a massive foot landed beside her,
nearly squashing her.  She turned and followed Isaac as he pulled her off the
path and into the forest.  This had to be a bad idea, she thought as she panted
and puffed along behind him.  But there was no time for deliberation.  The ogre
was wuffling and snorting behind them, scenting them out.

They ran until
they could go no further.  Finally, they collapsed behind the trunk of a big
old tree.  “What,” Isaac panted, “the hell are we going to do now?”

Rebecca glanced
out from behind the tree.  That sense of foreboding bubbled up in her chest
again and she wanted to scramble out of their hiding space- anything but sit there
waiting.  “I don’t know, I don’t know…”  Running seemed pretty pointless.  They
were both exhausted, and anyway, this was supposed to be some sort of
challenge.  Probably.

The ogre came
crashing through the trees and stood about ten feet away, turning its head this
way and that as it sniffed the air, its gargantuan nostrils flaring.  Rebecca
took a deep breath and stepped out from behind the tree.

“Hey ugly,” she
shouted, her voice ringing like a bell in the deserted forest.  The thing’s
head swung toward her immediately.  Isaac hissed. 

“Rebecca,” he
said in an urgent whisper.  “
Move
!  What the hell are you doing?”

The ogre chose
that moment to take a massive swipe at them.  The club shattered against the
side of the tree where they were hiding.  Rebecca screamed as Isaac was flung
backwards.  The tree had sheltered him from most of the force, but now it was
falling and he lay cowering on the ground while pieces of tree showered down
around them.  She watched in mute horror as what was left of the tree toppled,
but Isaac pushed himself into motion, rolling awkwardly out of the way just in
time.

The ogre seemed
confused by the noise of the falling tree.  He started sniffing again, making
his bumbling way toward where Rebecca stood.  Fear beat at her in waves.  But
it was nothing now.  She knew what the challenge was.

“Fear,” she
called to Isaac.  “It’s blind fear!”

Isaac remained
where he was, crouched near the splintered remains of the tree.  “And?”  He
called in a shaky voice.  Not that she could blame him after his narrow escape.

Rebecca feinted
to the right, making sure to make as much noise as she could.  She scooped up a
big stone and threw it off that way, then darted in the other direction.  The
ogre stared after the noise made by the rock, then started sniffing for her
again.  It seemed to be completely ignoring Isaac.  Maybe it thought he had been
obliterated along with the tree.

She slid across
the leafy ground to Isaac.  “Are you okay?” 

He clutched one
arm to his ribs on his left side.  “Oh, peachy,” he grunted.  His blue eyes
were wide and shocky as they followed the path of the ogre behind her.  “Any
more brilliant ideas?”

She gave him a
quelling look.  “It’s fear.  We just have to face our fear and we can get past
this.”

He looked up at
her with a pained expression.  “How?”

Rebecca cast her
gaze around the forest and fluttered her fingers against her jeans-clad leg
impatiently.  “There has to be something…”

Isaac took a
deep breath.  “Look…I…I don’t think I can stand up.  Let alone run.  My leg
feels like it’s broken- hell it feels like I don’t even have a leg anymore.”

Rebecca looked
at him in horror, realizing as she did so that his right leg was bent at an
unnatural angle beneath him.  “Isaac…”

He held up a
hand as the ogre began lumbering their way, once again hot on the scent. 
“Just…if I stay here you can run away while it’s distracted.”  He looked up at
her, trying to smile, but failing.  “It’s just a dream, right?”

She shook her
head.  “No way.  You know that’s not...who knows what will happen if we don’t
get out of here?”

“Go on,” he said
urgently, his blue eyes pleading.  “If I can help you, then I’m not afraid of
what happens.”

The ogre
stumbled over the remains of the tree, grabbed it, and ripped it from the
ground, thrusting it aside with a grunt.  Twigs, dirt, and splintered wood
rained down on them.  She could smell the awful stench of the monster; kind of
a rotten eggs and sweaty gym socks smell.  But the panic inside her was
ebbing.  As she looked at Isaac, tears welling in her eyes, she glimpsed
something shiny right in the middle of his chest.

“Isaac…”  The
ogre roared, galvanizing her into action.

She stepped
forward and grasped the hilt of the golden sword that was protruding from his
chest.  He looked down, and then back up at her, a confused expression on his
face.  “What?  Run, get out of here!”

He couldn’t see
the sword.  She grasped it and, putting a foot on his shoulder, wrenched it
free of his body.  Isaac gasped and looked at her as if she’d lost her mind,
but he seemed unhurt.  Then his blue eyes sharpened.  “Where did
that
come from?”

Rebecca
grinned.  “Courage,” she said softly.  Then she turned, as if she had wielded a
sword a million times before, swinging the shining blade in a perfect arc.  It
swept the length of the ogre effortlessly, leaving a dark line across his
torso.  The monster blinked at her stupidly for a moment, then there was a kind
of explosion she was thrown backward into Isaac.

Rebecca lay
there for a moment, her face pressed against Isaac’s chest, his elbow digging
into her ribs, wondering if they were still alive.  Then she sat up and looked
around.  The sword was nowhere to be seen.  A furtive movement on the forest
floor drew her eyes to where the ogre had stood just seconds before.  Rebecca
crawled over, too exhausted to stand. 

There, huddled
in the shadow of a fallen leaf, was a tiny, pink, naked thing that cowered away
from the light.  All that was left of fear.  Rebecca reached out a finger and
gently touched its little head.  The thing gave a squeak and disappeared.

~~~~~

Rebecca froze
mid-crouch as a dark figure appeared at her side.  Long, pale hands clapped
slowly as if giving her a standing ovation.  She sighed and dropped to the
ground, hitting her butt a little harder than she’d intended. 

“Oh well done,”
the deep, raspy voice echoed oddly beneath the raven mask.  “You’re both stronger
than I had given you credit for.  Bravo.”

There was more
than a little sarcasm in his praise.  They probably
had
surprised him,
but he certainly wasn’t
happy
about it.  “Now what do you want?” she
said testily. 

Their recent
triumphs, though hard won, had given her a sense of confidence.  He’d thought
Isaac would fail her.  He was wrong.  They were both stronger than any of them-
the robed guy included- had imagined.

“You and that
moronic waste of oxygen have proven surprisingly strong and…loyal.”  He spat
the last word with distaste, as if to speak of something so pure and good was
sickening.  “But I can see what you seem to overlook.”

He crouched
down, placing his skeletal hands on his robed knees, and peering into her eyes
with his black, cavernous holes.  “Death follows you both like an old lover,”
he said in a rasping whisper. 

Rebecca stared
at that creepy wooden mask, shadowed by the massive black hood.  His entire
being seemed as if it would swallow you up in blackness if you got too close. 
And she was definitely too close. 

She couldn’t
look away as she replied.  “No.  You said we had five days.  If we get the key,
we’ll be safe.”

“Ah,” the man
whispered, “but do you want to be?  Safe?  Think of that horrid little life you
left behind.  Do you really want to return to that?”

Anger, helped
along by a good dose of shame, burned in her cheeks.  “Yes, I do!”

“Good girl.” 
The hooded man was still staring at her, and something glittered in the depths
of his eyeholes.  “I’m pulling for you, darling,” this with a sarcastic
sweetness.  “But can you make it out of here alone?  I’ll tell you right now, I
doubt that idiotic pretty boy is going to make it.”

Rebecca surged
to her feet, angry now for entirely different reasons.  “Stop it,” she demanded,
her shaking voice betraying the trace of fear she was hiding behind her anger. 
“Stop insulting him.  He’s not a waste or an idiot.”  She straightened her
spine.  “And I won’t let him die.”

Death stood and
paced close, again invading her space.  “Why?”  He whispered to her, as if
sharing a secret.  “Why do you care if he lives or dies?”

Rebecca, to her
horror, felt heat suffusing her cheeks.  “I just… I can’t let another human
being suffer.”

She expected
laughter and scorn, but instead, a bony, wasted white hand lifted to her face,
as if to caress her cheek.  She jerked back instinctively, crossing her arms
over her chest and backing away. 

The hooded
figure chuckled.  “Pity,” he rasped.  “Your skin looked so warm just now.”  Then,
as if regretting his words, he spun and disappeared into the shadows lining the
path.

I
saac sat down on
a boulder beside the path while Rebecca walked along, picking some sort of
berry.  He’d always been a city rat, but apparently she had taken trips to the
country to visit her grandparents.  Since she seemed to have some idea of what
she was looking for, he left her to it.  Her little gathering expeditions
hadn’t been deadly thus far.  His put his head in his hands, feeling foggy and
listless. 

He thought it
was a bad sign that he could feel so unwell in a dream.  His leg didn’t seem to
be broken after all, but it was a constant ache, and at times he felt like the
world was revolving around him.  Rebecca had proceeded some distance down the
path, far enough that he wasn’t too worried about her seeing just how much he
was struggling. 

Steely grey
clouds rolled in from the west, slowly drowning the last bit of sunlight.  He
didn’t trust the change in the weather.  It had always been mild so far.  He
took a deep breath, trying to brace himself for what was sure to be another
challenge.  He didn’t dare wonder what mythical creature they would meet next. 
His body ached, and there was a heaviness stealing over him.  It had been
getting worse all day. 

What was left of
the light touched Rebecca’s blond hair with a halo-like glow, and his eyes
rested unthinkingly on the inviting curve of her hips.  He wished he could have
met her anywhere but here.  But then again, if they had met in the real world,
she would have hated him.  His hands, unable to follow the impulse to reach out
and touch her, ached for a pencil or a paintbrush instead, so that he could
affix her to paper or canvass, pin her down and make her real.  Because he felt
as if she were about to slip through his fingers at any moment.