The Regenerates (20 page)

“When did I say I was concerned?”

“Just die,” she snarled.

A large splash sounded behind them. They wheeled around and fell back in horror. Something was sticking its head out of the dark pool. It appeared to be a man’s face.

“What–”

The face stared at them in silence for a moment. Then, without warning, it opened its mouth and let out an ear-splitting scream. As they clutched their ears, they realized that the man’s jaws were far from human. They were twisted and contorted, and lined with hundreds of long, thin teeth.

“What
is
that?”

“We need to get out of here…find the exit, where’s the exit?” Coralie whimpered. She looked around. The only one she could see was the one they had come through. If the monster chased them all the way there, they were doomed. There was no way back up out of the pit.

Kayn pulled out Coralie’s pistol. To her terror, the creature was slowly beginning to rise up out of the pool. Its body was thin and skeletal and its arms unnaturally long. Its yellow eyes narrowed as it looked at its prey, and its mouth stretched into a horrible grin that reached halfway up its cheeks.

Coralie shook. She spun around frantically, and all the while, she and Kayn backed up against the wall. Then she saw it. On the other side of the ledge where they had retrieved Kayn’s bag was a small opening.

“There,” she whispered, not taking her eyes off the monster. She pointed in the direction of the cave. Kayn glanced at it and nodded. Without wasting another moment, they dashed across to the water’s edge and jumped as far as they could to the other side. Slipping on the moist ground, they ran to the cave entrance and hurled themselves inside.

Coralie glanced behind her and her heart stopped. The creature’s face was inches from hers. It leered. A horrible stench fill her nostrils.

“
Let’s go!
” Kayn screamed.

Making it a point not to look back this time, they ran, rapidly turning corner after corner, tripping on sharp stones. Coralie could hear its feet as it closed in on them…

Streams of light illuminated the rock wall. They scrambled towards the light, just as the terrifying creature grabbed Kayn’s leg and began to pull. He aimed Coralie’s pistol at it, but it seized the gun with its teeth and it snapped in two. Kayn grabbed a rock wedged in the ground.

Coralie stared down at him, suddenly relishing his helplessness. It occurred to her that she could end his life right now. All it would take was one little stomp on his now-sweating fingers and he would be gone from the world forever. Her father would be avenged, and she would never have to look at Kayn’s hideous face again. Then Kayn made eye contact with her. His face was contorted in pain from the creature’s grip on his leg.

After a moment, he smiled and looked away. Coralie felt a heat surge in the pit of her stomach.
I should let you die a pathetic death, just like my father did.
She lifted her foot slightly.

There was a bang as a shot hit the creature between its eyes. Coralie leaped around. Standing behind her was Ven, bruised and beaten. He shot again. The creature looked startled for a moment. As soon as it loosened its grip, Kayn kicked it hard in the face and with Ven’s help got to his feet.

They ran through the final exit.

“Block it!” Ven shouted at Kayn, pointing to a massive slab of rock and wall lying nearby. Coralie joined them. Together, they lifted it and shoved it at the entrance, blocking the way. The creature stuck its arm out from the cracks but Coralie grabbed Ven’s blaster and shot a dozen rounds at it. It screeched, then slunk away.

They fell to the ground.

“How did you find us?” said Coralie to Ven, reaching out and hugging him. She pulled him away from Kayn.

“Ow!”

“What’s wrong?” she said, letting go.

“It was back there, with that bug thing,” he said. “I climbed on this ledge to crush it under these boulders, but I guess I’m not cut out for heavy lifting. Did you get the dagger?”

“Yeah,” said Coralie. She pointed to the bag in Kayn’s hand.

“I jumped down that pit you guys fell into,” said Ven. “Which hurt a lot, by the way, I didn’t realize how deep it was. Anyway, when I was looking around, l fell down this slide and ended up in another tunnel. Since you didn’t answer when I called, I assumed you had fallen down a different slide, so I had no choice but to follow the tunnel I was in. It led to this groundwater pool, and then I heard your voices and the rest is history. Oh, while I was investigating, I discovered
that
.” Ven pointed behind them to a large, rusted elevator.

Coralie laughed in relief. “Does that elevator lead to Crion?”

“It has to. There’s no other elevator. I think it’s quite a ways up, though.”

“That’s so dangerous,” said Coralie. “They really should try and demolish the entrance. It would just take one stupid, curious person to discover the elevator, take it down here and get eaten by that thing back there.”

“People
have
come down here by accident,” said Ven darkly. “Look down.”

Below them, the ground was littered with bones. Coralie gasped.

“Let’s get out of here,” said Kayn. “Now.”

Kayn shot Coralie a sneer as they made their way to the elevator. She kept close to Ven’s side. She wasn’t afraid of Kayn, but if it hadn’t been for Ven, she easily would have killed him. Would Kayn make her pay for it later?

They fiddled with the control panel on the elevator and climbed onto the platform. It rumbled and then slowly began to rise. It was indeed a long way up. They rode the elevator for almost seven minutes until finally, they reached the top.

They stepped off the elevator platform and found themselves in a large, abandoned metal factory, just as Tanner had said. Holding their breath, they walked to the other end of the factory and together, heaved open the massive brass doors. Once the doors were open, they were hit with a blast of cold night air.

Then they spotted something a short distance away, and their jaws dropped.

Before them was a blinding kaleidoscope of lights, steel and color that they had never seen before. They had reached the city of Crion.

V
en had to squint his eyes. Even in the darkness of night, Crion’s city lights were blinding. Everywhere he looked, there was neon, glass and steel. The towering structures were so high they had to crane their necks and could still barely see the tops. The noise was almost deafening. Cruiser engines hummed and whirred as the strange vehicles buzzed past them in the air. From somewhere in the distance, Ven could hear music, shouts, cheering and a deep bass sound. The wide streets were packed with people, bustling in and out of immaculate shops. Groups huddled together, friends sharing drinks and women carrying shopping bags. It was a loudness that hurt his ears, yet it amazed him. Ven’s mouth hung open.

Compared to all of these impeccably dressed people, Ven felt the three of them stood out like a sore thumb. Crion had the strangest fashions he had ever seen, and yet everyone was so…good-looking. While the women of Renneth wore frilly dresses and elaborate hats, Crionian women wore loose, knee-length dresses cinched with metallic belts and pointy shoes. Some wore fitted trousers and flowing shirts, while their male partners wore heavy boots and dark, collared jackets. The running theme seemed to be metallic, from grayish blue to bronze.

Beside Ven and Coralie, Kayn tightened the scarf around his head and looked suspiciously around at everyone.

“Calm down,” said Coralie. “No one cares. If they stare it’s because we look like we’ve been through hell and back. Right, Ven?”

“Hmm? Oh, right.” Ven gazed mesmerized at his surroundings, barely hearing her.

Coralie was right about the staring. People eyed them and began to snigger. Coralie blushed.

“We really should change clothes,” she said, trying to hide her ripped sleeve. “My pants and shoes are all wet, too.”

“How?” said Ven. “We don’t have enough money for newer clothes. I’m willing to bet they’re expensive.”

“I have an idea,” said Kayn. Ven and Coralie looked at him, then followed him into a lavish boutique.

“Honestly, could he not have picked a more pretentious place?” Coralie scoffed. But Ven wasn’t about to complain. His eyes lit up as he gazed at the strange, beautiful clothing. Kayn turned to the young saleswoman and smiled. Coralie made vomiting gestures and Ven had to put his fist to his mouth to keep from laughing.

“They really don’t pay us enough for acting so well,” said Kayn said to the woman. “Especially when some jealous moron comes by and decides to steal our real clothes. Maybe it was our good luck, though. The clothing here looks far better than in that dump we bought them from last time. So, care to humor us and lend us an outfit or two? We’ll give you front-row seats to our next musical.”

The woman was so smitten she didn’t seem to register half of what he said. While she was distracted, Ven and Coralie grabbed some clothes, stuffed them in their bags and walked out as nonchalantly as possible. Coralie picked out the ugliest possible outfit for Kayn. On seeing the outfit, Ven collapsed into a silent fit of laughter.

“Thanks, we’ll be sure to come again,” said Kayn to the saleswoman, who blushed and waved. To the dismay of his companions, Kayn was already carrying clothes in his hand, and as always he had picked the very best. He looked down at the hideous outfit in Ven’s arms. “Well, if that’s your thing,” he said, and started to walk away.

Ven and Coralie stared down at the outfit, disappointed.

“Um, you may not be aware of this,” said Coralie to Kayn as they left the shop, “but they don’t have ‘musicals’ in Crion. They’re called ‘films’.”

“So?”

“So, you’re going to give us away as being foreigners if you keep displaying your social ignorance. Don’t worry, it’s not your fault you don’t know anything about the entertainment trends of different cities. I don’t think that was on your list of necessary leadership qualities.”

Ven gave her a
stop talking right now
look. She shrugged. To his shock, Kayn flushed and said nothing.

They found an empty alley to change their clothes.

“Not bad, Ven,” said Coralie upon seeing his outfit. He was wearing a dark, silver-rimmed jacket and dark pants. Underneath his jacket, he had on a deep blue shirt with a bronze collar. On his feet he wore gray boots.

“I can say the same for you,” he said. She wore fitted, bottle-green pants and a beige silk blouse.

She wrinkled her nose. “These pants are annoying,” she said, tugging at them.

Ven tilted his head. “I think you’re supposed to tuck in the blouse.”

“You are so weird. At least my boots are nicer than yours.”

Ven opened his mouth angrily just as Kayn threw a piece of garbage at his head.

“For goodness’ sake, be quiet. We need to look for that mapmaker, Doon.” As Ven and Coralie had expected, Kayn looked better than all of them.

“It’s a shame I wish he was dead,” said Coralie as he walked ahead of them. “He really is a looker.”

Ven frowned at her.

“What?” said Coralie.

“Do you really wish he was dead? You seem to be…fine with him being around.”

Her expression turned cold. “Do I? Because back at the tunnels, if you hadn’t shown up, I was this close to stomping on his hands and letting that thing eat him alive.”

Ven shrank.

“He’s the reason my father is dead and my mother missing. One day, I’m going to make him pay for it in the cruelest way possible.”

There was an iciness in her voice that Ven hated. He turned away from her, uncomfortable.

They asked around for directions to Doon’s map shop. Eventually, an old couple showed them the way. Doon’s shop was so conspicuous they would have noticed it themselves if they had passed by. The window was filled with large, beautiful maps, each lined with gold trimming. The store’s large sign was riddled with moving brass compasses and dials.

A bell tinkled as they entered.

“Welcome!”

A bellowing voice came from deep inside the shop. A very tall man in a glimmering gold vest appeared, clapping his hands together. They jumped, as did the few others in the shop.

“What can I do for you beautiful children?” he said.

Ven took out his map and handed it to him. Doon reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a long, thin lens.

“Our map is a little out of date,” said Ven. “We need directions and a new one.”

Doon narrowed his eyes. “Whereabouts are you three from?”

“Uh,” said Coralie.

“Ah…I think I know.” Doon leaned in closer. “You’re from Cor, aren’t you?”

Ven felt his breath stop.

Doon burst into laughter. “Relax, darlings. I’ll save punishment for illegal entry to the authorities. I only care about maps, and this one is making my blood boil.”

“How did you know?” asked Coralie.

“Almost every major city marks their maps with a seal at the bottom left-hand corner. Cor doesn’t. Something about not wanting to follow the crowd, I think.”

“More like wanting to protect individuality,” said Kayn coldly. Ven wanted to punch him.

“We’re sorry for him,” said Coralie.

“No worries. You certainly are a unique bunch,” said Doon. “Outrageously patriotic, even if your methods are a bit of overkill. To each their own, I suppose. Anyway, about this map. I’m not even going to bother fixing it. You may as well get a new one.”

“Thank you,” said Ven. Suddenly, he realized that they had nothing but a few Koins to pay him with. He pulled out his pitiful wallet and showed it to Coralie. She shook her head, exasperated. Kayn pulled out his own. It jingled pathetically.

“Right, this is the one you’ll want,” said Doon. He handed Ven a beautiful map. This, too, had gold trimming and was very detailed. At the upper corner, behind Ellor Peak, was Hygon Pass, written in small gold writing.

Ven beamed at him the mapmaker. But his happiness was short-lived. “We…we lost most of our money. This is all we have left.” Ven and Kayn emptied whatever coins they had left onto his desk.

Doon looked amused. “I would have been extremely surprised if refugees from Cor were walking around with their pockets overflowing. With that being said, I was going to ask where you got your lovely clothes from.”