Delphi, Eganene
Agatha slammed into reality as Eganene spiraled into tight focus. She hung her head, disoriented, feeling the effort of Traveling in her bones. Tendrils of color sunk into the air around her, dissipating like smoke in the wind. The concussion she made was beautiful, a four-foot wormhole of spinning light. For someone who could see it, the show would have been extraordinary, an explosion of color circling through the air as it evaporated.
Eyes squeezed tight, she could feel her skin shimmering with majic. It felt wonderful, like the air itself was welcoming her home. There was weariness, too. This was the first time she’d risked a trip back and the effort was exhausting.
With the wall against her back, she steadied herself. In her other life, before she’d lost her family, the trip between worlds had been a simple feat. That had been a long time ago. Traveling had never been an exact science and this time, she’d ended up outside the Eganese version of her apartment.
Agatha blinked, trying to reconcile what she was seeing with the effects of her majical hangover. There were two, very surprised, teenagers sitting across the hall from her. The boy was tall, with broad shoulders and the fuzz of a new beard about his lips. He had sharp features, high cheekbones and aquiline nose. The sister was a prettier version of the same mold, her features softer and more feminine.
They looked stunned and disoriented and she wondered if they had seen her majic or if she’d just appeared before their eyes. “Don’t be frightened,” she said, pushing herself up on shaky arms. “I won’t hurt you.”
Neither shifted from the recess of the doorway. Scottie squirmed in her arms until she set him on the floor. The cat shook dramatically, somehow managing to renew himself to his former puffiness. Agatha took a moment to see if her earrings were still in place and that her necklace was secured around her neck.
Comforted that she hadn’t lost anything, she picked up her cane and smiled at the children, “I’m Agatha.”
For a second no one moved, then, the girl reached down to pet Scottie. “She’s yours?” Her hand darted to wipe at her nose, a childish gesture. She was a pretty, tall with startling blue eyes.
“Yes, he’s mine. As much as cat can be anyone’s.”
The boy might have had his sister’s blue eyes, but they did not regard Agatha with the same warmth. “Who are you?”
“Jamie!” his sister admonished. Scooping up Scottie, she took a couple of steps forward. “I’m sorry about him, it’s just that…” Pausing, she pushed her hair out of her eyes and peered at her brother. In the harsh light from the cheap overhead lights, Agatha could see the salt marks from her recent tears.
“It’s just that we don’t know what happened. I mean...” She shook her head, struggling to explain. “It…we just woke up outside of our apartment. Neither of us remembers…We tried to get back in, but the door is locked.”
“Our friend lives up here, so we came to look for her. And then… you…just appeared.” The girl stopped speaking, her pale eyebrows arching as she looked at her brother. Scottie leapt from her arms and began circling Jamie’s legs, but the boy made no move to pet him.
Realizing her brother wasn’t going to contribute to the conversation, the girl continued, “Our heads are all fuzzy. For a while, I thought I was going to be sick.”
“You were drunk,” her brother offered. “Someone could have put something in your drink.”
The girl put her hands on her hips, “You know it wasn’t that. You said you feel weird, too.”
How had they gotten here? Obviously, they were from the Earth, but since they had arrived before her, she couldn’t have brought them along.
“It doesn’t make any sense!” the girl concluded, wrapping her arms about her chest.
Agatha agreed with her. It was too much of a coincidence. Scottie mewed from the stairwell. But what was she supposed to do with these two? She thumped her cane on the ground. She couldn’t leave them, not without protection. After she found Bekka, she could take them back home. Of course there would be questions, but she would deal with that problem later.
“Listen,” she said. “I’m looking for my granddaughter, Bekka...”
“Bekka! Bekka Radcliff?”
The girl sounded relieved and Agatha nodded.
“That’s who we’re trying to find! We go to school with Bekka.” She turned to her brother, “See, Jamie.”
The boy’s eyes on Agatha’s face, but he didn’t reply. Interesting, she thought. Perhaps Bekka had somehow brought them with her during her adaugeo. Sometimes novice Travelers did unexpected things, latching onto people or things that had meaning to them and pulling them along.
“I’m Agatha,” she said, introducing herself. “You two are the kids Bekka was with last night?”
“Uh, yeah,” the girl replied, her lips twitching. “I’m Elisabeth and this is my brother, Jamie. We moved here a few weeks ago. Bekka was helping us with some school stuff.”
“Um, hum,” Agatha replied. She knew perfectly well what they had been up to, but it wasn’t the time for that conversation. The girl, at least, had the grace to look guilty. “Well,” she continued, purposefully making her voice softer, “we should...”
An ear-piercing screech echoed down from the stairway and all three of them flinched. Agatha whirled with her cane in her hand. It was Scottie. He raced closer, his legs churning to climb her side and bury himself into her arms. She winced as his claws dug through her jeans, but wrapped her arms around his trembling body. “Ok. It’s ok,” she soothed.
His tiny heart pounded against her arm and she stroked him gently, keeping one eye on the staircase. When she was convinced nothing was following, she pried his claws from her sweater and put him back on the ground. Instead of staying by her, he dashed headlong for the window at the end of the corridor. She followed him, whispering calming words. Scottie had never been to Eganene before and while he was the smartest cat she knew, he was probably as confused as Bekka’s friends.
The cat waited on the sill, the pane behind him reflecting the weak hall lights. The window looked naked without its drapes, but she knew the building’s bones were the only things that materialized from Earth. Reaching him, she looked outside the dusty glass to where the storm raged, the snow swirling wildly in the darkness. The weather in Eganene was similar to Earth’s, but the air was much different. To her keen senses, it smelled like the tension before a lightning strike. That, and there was another smell, a smell that she just couldn’t quite place.
“Is everything OK?” Elisabeth asked.
Agatha realized that both children had followed her like little lost lambs.
The girl had her arms clutched tightly about herself, “What spooked your cat?”
“I don’t know. Nothing followed him. I should go look…”
“Where?” the boy asked, cutting her off. His blue eyes were locked onto her face.
He was probably scared and nervous, lashing out because he didn’t understand what was happening.
Elisabeth moved to his side, “The apartment is locked.”
He looked down the hall. Agatha could tell he understood more than his sister, that he had noticed the state of disrepair and absence of furnishings.
“I want to check downstairs,” she answered.
Jamie narrowed his eyes, “For what? What about your room? Doesn’t Bekka live up here?”
Agatha nodded, thinking quickly, “She sleepwalks sometimes. I need to find her.”
“Could we come with you?” the girl asked, purposefully not looking at her brother. “I really don’t want to stay here and wait.”
“Of course,” Agatha agreed.
At the window, Scottie stared out, his ears back against his head. Agatha thought he would rather be out in the snowstorm. “Are you coming?” she asked. The cat turned, gave the window a departing sniff and leapt down.
Walking, she catalogued the differences between Earth and Eganene. The walls were an unhealthy shade of yellow, as if the building were an old diner stained with years of smokers. She stopped for a moment to pull on a piece of the paint. It eased off gently, dragging the exposed chunks of drywall. Even the varnish of the handrail had been rubbed away. It was smooth to the touch, the wood naked and exposed. The damage was pervasive, the halls were worn and old, the ceilings marred by brown water stains. She wondered how much the boy knew or noticed and what had gone so terribly wrong.
At the landing she stopped, peering down the hall. “Bekka! Bekka are you down here?”
Nothing. No one answered.
“We tried knocking on some of our neighbor’s doors downstairs,” Elisabeth said. “No one woke up.”
“It’s not right,” the boy muttered. “Come on. Let’s go back up to your room. I’ll call the emergency number and Arthur can come let us back in.”
Agatha nodded, not sure what to say. She supposed it was possible that Bekka had just Traveled into their own apartment in Eganene and everything was quiet on this floor. She didn’t know what had made Scottie jump, but she couldn’t sense anything out of the ordinary. Well, besides the obvious.
“Can we?” Elisabeth asked.
“Sure.”
Back up the steps they went. Agatha bent to her task, but before she made a flight, the twins overtook her, ascending the stairs by twos. The steps passed slowly. She could feel her age in her achy joints and the weak muscles of her legs.
The girl was standing on the landing, her brother impeding Agatha’s way. His blue eyes appeared black and Agatha wondered if he wasn’t older than she had guessed. Taking her hand from the railing to shoo him from her path, her cane slipped, the edge sliding from the side of the stair.
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There was a sudden, terrifying sensation of falling and her hands shot out, her arms pin-wheeled uselessly. The moment seemed to stretch and she locked eyes with Jamie. His dark eyes met hers and for a moment it seemed he was wiser than she. Throwing her weight forward, Agatha made a last attempt to right herself, but her momentum was too strong. Gravity had her.
She saw him consider. Even as he reached out and caught her, she didn’t know if he intended to, but he grabbed both of her arms with strong hands and hauled her upwards before depositing her gently on the landing. Shaking, her knees collapsed beneath her and she sank to the ground.
“Jeez!” Elisabeth exclaimed, bending over Agatha. “Are you OK?”
Agatha nodded, trying to find her voice, but before she managed the words, Elisabeth was up, a blur of pink pajamas.
“Jamie! You caught her!”
His eyes were still on Agatha.
“Yes,” Agatha breathed, her body shaking with adrenalin. “Thank you.”
The boy shrugged unhappily, dislodging his enthusiastic sister, “Good reflexes.”
“Seriously,” Elisabeth breathed, heading down the stairs to fetch Agatha’s cane.
While Agatha knelt on the carpet shaking, Jamie studied his feet. Not recognizing the awkwardness of the situation, Elisabeth returned, depositing Agatha’s things by her side. She crushed her brother in another hug. “You were so fast!”
Agatha willed her legs to hold her and struggled to her feet, “Thank you.”
“It’s nothing,” he said, not raising his eyes. “You would have done the same for me.” He took a breath, “We should go.” The comment was directed at his sister, but it sounded like an order.
Agatha took a breath and then moved down the hall. At the apartment, she tried the brass knob and was surprised to find it unlocked. If they found Bekka inside, she could gather her strength and then Travel back to Earth. Getting to Eganene had been exhausting and that fall had almost scared the life out of her.
“This is the right door?” the boy asked.
“Yes.”
Elisabeth was down the hall, knocking on each of the doors and waiting for an answer. Jamie narrowed his eyes. “I don’t know where we are,” he started softly, “...and I don’t know how we got here, but I know this isn’t our building.” He waited a few seconds for her to respond. She didn’t, and he continued, “Where are we?”
Abruptly, Elisabeth came back at a run. “No one answered at any of them!” she cried. Scottie had followed Agatha from the stairs and was now pacing in front the door, his tail swishing in agitation.
Jamie didn’t answer his sister. Elisabeth looked from her brother to Agatha and back again. “Are we going in? This is your place, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Agatha lied and tried the switch. She heard nothing but empty clicking. “I think you two should stay here,” she said, unsure if she spoke for their benefit or her own.
“Ok, by me,” Elisabeth replied, taking a small step behind her brother.
Agatha gave them one last look and followed her cat into the darkness. Behind her, Jamie put a comforting hand on his sister’s shoulder and whispered something. The twin shook her head emphatically, but Jamie pushed her back and stepped into the doorframe. Just before Agatha’s white bun disappeared completely, he began to follow.
She could feel him behind her. Broad of shoulder, with an athletic frame and lean muscles, he carried himself with confidence, his footsteps so silent she had to rely on her senses to find him in the darkness.
Only the dimmest light carried into the apartment and she hadn’t had the foresight to bring a flashlight, not that it would have functioned for long anyway. She made her way through the invisible furniture. Scottie’s golden eyes shimmering as he paused in front of her. “I don’t think she’s here,” Agatha said to her cat. “I can’t feel anyone else.”
“There’s no one here,” Jamie answered. He was standing just behind her, his features masked.
Agatha supposed he needed to be close to track her, but it made her feel uncomfortable. She stepped away, “I think we had better check the other rooms.”
He was just a kid, she told herself, strange and rude, but he’d saved her life. She took the lead again, heading towards the bedroom. Her cane thumped noisily against the exposed wood. It was a welcome sound. The silence had been weighing on her.
As she opened the door, Scottie pushed his way inside. There was just enough light coming from the window to expose her bare walls and naked floor. “None of it’s here,” she said with regret. She had hoped…
“Where are we, Agatha?” the boy asked.
She turned to meet him. There was no trace of fear on his face.
“Where are your things? Your furniture?” He looked down at her, “I know this isn’t our building. Everything is old.”
He waited in the doorframe, blocking her way. His face was stoic. She didn’t want to tell him anything. This wasn’t his world and he had no business here. He wouldn’t understand.
But if Bekka wasn’t in the building, then she had a big problem. Wherever her granddaughter had gone, Agatha had to find her. And she was going to need help. Here, as at home, it was better not to travel alone. “I don’t think you’ll like what I’ve got to tell you,” she started. His black eyes watched her. Holding his gaze, she grasped her cane tightly, “And I don’t think you’ll believe me.”
“Tell me.”
“Honestly, Jamie, it is too complicated to explain right now. After we find Bekka, I will get you and your sister out of here. Once we’re back, I’ll explain everything.” She tried to lead him from the doorframe, but the muscles of his arm hardened. He wouldn’t move. She was a child pushing at her parent’s legs. She looked up into his face, “We need go, Jamie.”
He didn’t budge, “Tell me, Agatha. And don’t lie.”
“Oh, for the goodness’ sake,” she said in exasperation. “You are going to need to move.” She pushed at his arm again and his jaw hardened.
“You still haven’t answered my question,” he said. “I want to know where we are.”
Scottie mewed, circling her legs. They couldn’t afford to lose any more time. She had to find Bekka before anyone else did. “Fine,” she said, putting her hands on her thin hips. “If you want the truth, here it is. This world is called Eganene. It is a different place than you are from, although it will appear the same in many ways. You can’t get back to Earth without me, so I suggest you start listening.” When she paused, he nodded slightly as if to bid her to continue.
Irritated, she huffed, “You listen to me. We need to find Bekka and we need to find her fast. There are people here that would do her harm. She’s never been here before, so she is as lost as you are. We will need to search the rest of the building. I will be glad to explain everything to you later, but right now, you are going to get your sister and I’m going to check the other room.”
She expected a barrage of questions, but Jamie nodded and retraced his steps to the front door, disappearing quickly in the darkness. In amazement, she shook her head, her white bun bobbing. “Will wonders never cease?”
While the boy was getting his sister, Agatha worked her way along the wall into the bathroom. Her fingers found nothing. The door to Bekka’s bedroom wasn’t visible, but she found the iron hinges and the knob, cold air seeping from the opening.
“Bekka?” she called into the room. She walked in slowly, feeling along the wall until she came to the corner. Nothing. Shivering, she let her hands scraping along until she was close enough to understand what she was seeing. The window was open, but she specifically remembered shutting it in her apartment. Physical things in Eganene seemed to stay like they were in the other world. If you opened a window there, it would probably open here. But if you opened a window in Eganene, it would close itself a short time later. It had to have been Bekka!
“Bekka!” she yelled, hope and fear warring for control. Scottie jumped on the window ledge and meowed. That was all the confirmation she needed. Her granddaughter was outside. Agatha stuck her head outside, searching. The fire escape was covered in snow and she didn’t see any tracks, but that didn’t mean anything. The snow was falling too fast for any prints to remain, the wind pulling the snow into a wall.
I’ve got to find her, she thought desperately. This weather could kill. Wiping away her tears, she almost missed the shadows blurring together at the edge of her vision. She blinked, confused. She had seen something, as though the blacks and grays were smudging into a quavering mass in the corner.
Now was not the time to be rattled. If she went jumping at every little shadow and… No, she thought, there it is again. She took a couple steps closer, bending down to glare at the floorboards.
This building was old on Earth. Here, the wood was probably just rotten. There were holes in the carpet outside. She took another step, feeling the air from the open window cool the sweat on the back of her neck. Why was she even bothering with this?
Another step, her shoes whispering across the dusty floor. Was it because Scottie had been spooked? Did she want to prove to herself that everything was fine?
It wasn’t fine. She needed to find her granddaughter and get out of here before someone tracked her. Still, something tickled at the edge of her sight, some kind of warning that her body would not disregard. She stared at the darkness. It was just an empty corner-- no furniture, no rug, just the blank wall and rugless floor. Jumping at shadows wasn’t going to do anyone any good. She might be old, but she wasn’t...
As she watched, the shadows grew darker and began to thicken, like dough clumping, the material mixing, changing into something new. Her heart stuttered, heat flashing through her stomach. Agatha backed away slowly, not stopping until her legs struck the windowsill. It couldn’t be what she thought it was.
In the weak light, darkness seemed to flow, to churn and grow in the corner of the room. She knew her mind was playing tricks on her. Creeling didn’t live in cities. They were monsters from the swamps, creatures that lorded over their isolated islands, protecting their children and eating anything unfortunate enough to wander too close.
The darkness ran thickly to puddle and pool, like melted chocolate coating the wood. It grew and grew, its mass unfolding until it was between her and the door. She could hear Scottie mewing from the fire escape, his little voice panicked and shrill. “Scottie?” she whispered. “Come here. Hurry!”
Turning back, she screamed, the sound wretched. The monster had matured further, its body elongating, stretching, so that it was almost four feet long. Its legs and chest supported its narrow head and its long tail dripped darkness. Calling her majic, she hurried to feed the wisps of power from the air into her cane.
It had been so long, too long. She needed to focus her strength. Traveling had almost wiped out her own Power supply. She was going to need help.
Shaking, she watched as the Creeling drew more shadows to its body, its shape growing slowly up from the ground. Its mouth split open from its face and its teeth bursting into reality as though from grey smoke.
Where eyes should have been, shallow holes formed. Darkness seeped from its open maw. It moved jerkily, its leathery, black wings unfurling from its body. Its hind legs bunched, readying to spring. Agatha took a deep breath, gripping her cane with a white-knuckled hand. Her thumbs felt for the carvings of Rae and Wul and a prayer sounded in her head, the old words remembered from her youth.
She yelled and swung. The cane came across the front of her body, striking the Creeling in the head as it bounded. The majical concussion slammed into her mind, her arms feeling the sensation as an immense impact. The pain in her head was immediate.
With a fizz, the monster dissolved into harmless shadow and dirt. Agatha sagged against the windowsill, her cane warm in her hands. Dear gods, she thought, let there be no more. Behind her eyes a great exhaustion had settled. She had been too long from her power and too long from this place. Pain washed across her vision and she steadied herself. She couldn't pass out.
She should have been prepared. As the adrenaline from the fight ebbed away, she wondered what was she doing here. She was an old woman long out of practice, a relic of the past.
It should have been her daughter, Caroline. It should been Bekka’s mother come for her adaugeo, but instead, she was all Bekka had-- a tired woman, who might be too weak to do what needed to be done.
She stood, needing to call Scottie back inside. Listening for him, she was met with silence and then, footsteps.
Heavy, hurried footsteps. Someone was coming for her. Instinctively, her hands shot up and forward, palms out towards her assailant. Her cane clattered to the floor as she gathered energy, her fingertips tingling with vibrations. Memory worked faster than thought and before she could think, her fingers decided. She might be old and tired, but she was all Bekka had. Whatever was thundering towards her was going to rue the day it was born!
As the creature burst through the doorway, Agatha pushed the net, her voice raised in a battle cry. Strands of electricity shot upwards, the blue tendrils extending outward, webbing themselves into a tight mesh. The dark shape saw her release the spell and stopped, trying to jump out of range.
Faster than she expected, it altered its course, leaping directly at her legs, its body moving far too quickly. Thick arms encircled her legs and its considerable weight forced her down.
Then, without warning, the edge of the net caught. Spasming, the creature let out a scream and fell to the ground, its large body writhing on the floor. Its fingers slid from her legs as it curled into a ball, its arms covering its face. Agatha could see the thin blue strands spread over its back and body.
She yelled again, throwing her left hand forward and hobbling to her feet. The bright gleam of the blue lattice paled in comparison to the light now shining from her hand. The flame spun, ropes of orange and yellow shot through with jagged black, forming itself into a ball within her fingers. The orb burned without heat and she cast its white glow about the room.
As her eyes adjusted, Agatha crept forward, the pain in her body forgotten. Below her, she could see the blue strands of the net wound tightly around what looked to be a man. The sickly smell of burnt meat turned her stomach. People were not meant to smell this way. Clearly, he was unconscious or dead, probably the later. She had poured everything she had into that spell.
Scottie hopped through the window and began circling her feet. Agatha released the web, the fine, blue wisps unwinding themselves delicately and disintegrating into nothing. She grabbed her cane and limped forward, pain and exhaustion lancing through her. Her assailant’s arm protected his face, but the rest of his skin was covered with crisscross, blackened burns. She used the toe of her sneaker to push his arm down. It slid off his face, hitting with a sickly thud.
“Gods!” she swore, her heart stuttering in her chest. Falling to her knees, she reached out her hand. Beside her, Jamie lay on his stomach, burned and bloody, only his face untouched by her fire.